Growing in Holiness
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Welcome
I hope everyone has had a good week
I am glad to see everyone here this morning!
Our subject this morning is going to be “holiness”
God is perfectly holy
And what He wants for you and I in this life is to grow in holiness as we mature
Now we will never achieve it this side of heaven but we should do everything that we can to live holy lives
God said, “Be holy for I am holy” to the children of Israel
Peter gave us this command in the NT:
but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
God plan for your life is to be holy
Above ministry, above relationships, above a good marriage is God’s desire for you to be holy
God wants you to be holy more than He wants you to be happy
God wants you to be holy more than He wants you to be blessed
God wants you to be holy more than He wants you to live a long prosperous life
When we are holy we reflect the character of God to a lost a dying world
One way we do that is by hating what He hates
Proverbs 6:16
Because God is holy He hates certain things
Has anyone ever told you it is wrong for Christians to hate?
Well that’s just not biblical
There are things that God hates and He calls us to hate them too
We are going to learn this morning 7 things that God hates
And if we want to be more like Christ then we must hate them too
Now notice I did not say hate people who are characterized by some of these
We should never hate anyone
Its the sin we should hate
And the point of this sermon is to do a heart check to be sure we are not harboring any of these things that the Lord hates
What does that word “hate” mean anyway?
an intense or passionate dislike
It’s the complete opposite of love
When we hate something we have passion of dislike towards it
God also calls them an Abomination
That means things that cause disgust
In other words these seven things make our heavenly father want to vomit and they should make us vomit too
We are to never let them into our life
True wisdom does everything it can to avoid them even if it means radical changes
They are destructive
They destroy our lives and relationships
They destroy our spirituality
We are to avoid people who live in these
They will rub off on you
And before you know it you will adopt things into your life that the Lord hates
Verse 17:
#1) A Proud look
#1) A Proud look
Also described as: “Haughty eyes” or “raised eyes”
This is one who possesses arrogance in their heart
It speaks of self-exaltation over another person
Those who wear a proud look think they are better than others for one reason or another
The Bible is very clear we are all sinners saved by grace
And we are all equal in Christ Jesus
And there are only two kinds of people in this world “The saved and the Lost” and the saved are love the lost and try desperately to win them to Jesus not think we are better than them
Everyone has been lost
Therefore we are no better than another
Those who walk with a proud look believe they are of a higher class
There are certain people they will not associate with
There are certain people they turn their noses up to
There are certain things they feel they are “too good” to be around or to do
They walk with a sense of pride in their steps
AND THIS IS EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF WHO JESUS IS
Jesus never turned anyone away because they were of a different status by our world view
Jesus valued all relationships the same
Jesus called himself the Son of Man not the Son of God because of His humble Spirit
Jesus washed His disciples feet.....even the one who betrayed Him and the one who would deny Him
Jesus knew exactly who He was but never elevated Himself
He left that to God and so should we
The reason God hates a prideful look is because what is exhibited toward others is also reflected towards God
Pride is not prejudice
Pride is not selective
If pride is in our hearts it will come out in every avenue in our life including our relationship with God
If pride is in your heart get rid of it!
Confess it to God
Cry out to Him to humble you
Place yourself at His feet
Be obedient to His voice
#2) A lying tongue
#2) A lying tongue
This pictures someone who does not value truth
This person will gladly lie if it places them in a better position
There is no conviction in the heart in regards to truth
Scripture is not the final authority
Truth is not in its correct place in their life
A liar does so because he believes he can get by with it
His accountability is only towards man and not God
He think truth is relative
It’s ok to lie when it takes tension away
The sad thing is: A lying tongue steals the genuine life God has given us
Real Human relationships are never a possibility because they are built upon truth
Lying causes a loss of trust
The relationship is then no longer meaningful and deep
It becomes shallow and dry
And the liar is left with second best
Why does God hate a lying tongue?
Because its the opposite of who He is
John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life”
Pilate said what is truth? Jesus said I am truth!
The Bible is truth!
And the one who lies neither practices the truth of God’s Word nor speaks it
Who are we following when we lie?
John 8:44 Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You are of your father the devil…for he is a liar and the father of it”
When we lie we are truly living like the devil
We are truly speaking his language
If you have a tendency to lie put an end to it today
Even little white lies
Lies are lies no matter how big or how small
And yes to exaggerate is to lie
Be people of truth
Learn to love truth and hate the distortion of it
Be people who stand on the truth regardless of the consequences
#3) Hands that shed innocent blood
#3) Hands that shed innocent blood
Murder is growing pandemic in our country today
Innocent people are being killed everyday and we know its wrong
Even lost people know its wrong to take a human life
But murder begins with hate
The hatred of other people
The hatred of other groups
Kids are being taught to hate police
One political group hates the other
People hate each other just because of the color of skin
The shedding of innocent blood begins with hate
Matthew 5:21: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment”
Murder begins in the heart
Anger turns to hatred and then hatred gives birth to murder
Uncontrolled anger in the heart is in danger of shedding innocent blood
Ask God to change your heart
Ask God to forgive your sin
And learn to love your enemy
But there’s another way that millions of innocent lives are taken every year
ABORTION
Aborting a baby is the shedding innocent blood
Life begins at conception
It doesn’t matter if its done by taking a pill or a surgical procedure
God hates hands that shed innocent blood!
I believe in all my heart no Christian should ever vote for a politician that is for abortion
When you vote do so biblically
Every person is made in the image of God
Jesus said, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him”
God hates murder because Satan is a murderer
Hate what God hates
Place a high value on the human life even if you don’t like them
God never said you have to like everybody
But He did tell us we must love everyone
The cure for anger is forgiveness
Peter said how many times Lord should I forgive my brother? 70 x 7
Free yourself and let God fight your battles! Forgive them even if they continue to sin against you
Pray for them
AND MOVE ON!
Show them the love fo Christ and in doing so you grow in holiness
#4) A Heart that devises wicked plans
#4) A Heart that devises wicked plans
A person who schemes evil in their heart
It’s the willingness to go against the the grain of goodness to get what he or she wants
There is no regard for right and wrong
Notice it says “devises”
This is someone who plots out a wicked scheme in order to gain an advantage
It someone who takes time to plot evil in their hearts
Its like premeditated murder
But its premeditated evil
Anyone can make mistake and do evil
Any sin is evil
To tell a lie is evil
To steal something is evil
And we can do evil in mistake
But to sit down and plan out a strategy to do evil is a completely different thing
For one to plot evil has completely neglected the faith
I am reminded of the Judas and Jesus
Judas pretended to love Jesus
Judas fit right in with the other disciples
No one knew any different except Jesus
AND for thirty pieces of silver he sold the Son of God in a wicked plot to get ahead
Those who plan evil align themselves with what the Lord hates
He plans wickedness upon his bed; He sets himself on a path that is not good; He does not despise evil.
You will never plan to do evil if you despise evil
Teach yourself to hate it
Develop a passionate hatred towards wickedness and you will grow in your walk with Christ
#5) Feet that are swift in running to evil
#5) Feet that are swift in running to evil
This is someone who repeatedly runs to sin again and again
We all sin
We all mess up in life
We all make mistakes
This is called humanity
We are a fallen species
We have a sinful nature
And we all need grace
BUT grace is not an excuse to sin
There are too many believers who use grace as a means to sin
There are too many who depend upon grace rather than conviction
And our feet need to run FROM sin rather to run TO it
This person thinks they can sin and get away with it
They don’t hold themselves accountable to God but to man
There is no conviction when indulged in sin, only regret if they get caught or deal with sin’s consequences
What is Christianity?
Christianity is not a religion but a transformation
It’s a life of sanctification
Its a life of holiness not the abuse of grace
It’s a life that is lived on feet that hate sin but loves righteousness
Jesus said if your right hand causes you to sin cut it off
I think the Word of God is very clear how we should feel towards sin!
Take extreme measure to get rid of it
Run from the things God hates and you will have victory
#6) A false witness who speaks lies
#6) A false witness who speaks lies
Similar to the one with a lying tongue BUT this person is a lying witness
A witness is called to speak truth
A witness is called to speak of what he has seen heard, or experienced
A false witness will lie for some sort of gain
The sad part about this one is sometimes Christians are asked to lie to protect a friend or family member
Never compromise your faith
Never lie for a child to keep him out of trouble
Never lie for a friend to keep him from going to jail
Never lie for a spouse so their sin will not be found out
A false witness will perish, But the man who listens to the truth will speak forever.
We are called to be people of truth even if it hurts because Jesus is truth
#7) One who sows discord among the brethren
#7) One who sows discord among the brethren
This is one who loves to stir up strife between people
disruptive behavior
conflicts
one who like to stir up trouble between people of close association
People like this destroy communities of people
They destroy friendships
They destroy relationships
They seek to tear apart people
They tear families apart
They tear churches apart
They are crafty and subtle in their ways
The word sows means to plant
And in craftiness they scheme ways that will divide one from the other
A group of people from one or another group
A brother from another sibling
A husband from a wife
Those who sow discord are no friend to you
They are not trustworthy
You may be a friend today and will make you their victim later on
What happens to people who live with one or more of these in their life?
What happens to people who live with one or more of these in their life?
(v 17) “Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing”
The destiny of these kinds of people has already been set in motion
Destiny is not something that is delivered to us after a certain period of time
Destiny is created by our own actions
And when our actions are lived out the entire course of our lives we are destined to be judged according to our deeds
“For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, And His ears attend to their prayer, But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
If we are called to live a life of holiness then we have to learn to hate what God hates and love what God loves
This by no means is calling for us to hate people who do these things
It is a message to call us to hate these sins that can creep into our lives
We are to hate them with a passion like God does
They should make us sick to our stomachs to the point where we despise them!
What do we do if we are living with one of these in our lives?
Is it over for us?
Is there hope?
Is our destiny written in stone?
Not as long as Jesus Christ is on the throne!
I was some of these
I had feet that were swift in running to evil
I sowed discord
I had lying lips
I wore a prideful look
But one day God opened my eyes and showed me how much I really needed Him
And I swallowed my pride and stepped out before a church full of people and made a commitment to follow Him
And that day my life changed forever!
It doesn’t matter what you have done Jesus Christ can erase your past and change your destiny!
All your sins can be washed away by the blood of Jesus
All the guilt!
God will give you a new heart!
He will give you the power to live for Him if you will just come to Him
And when your time on earth is done, He will take you to heaven to be with Him forever
YOU COME THIS MORNING AND TELL JESUS YOUR READY!
~PRAYER~