Splendor of Holiness

Intro

Isn’t it exciting to think that we will probably be the last generation of people living when our Lord Jesus returns?

Isn’t it exciting to think that we may very well be the last generation of people that get to join with God in His mission to reach the lost on this planet?

That is exactly why there is such an urgency in the Spirit to being completely yielded to God in this hour!

Most pastors and leaders I have spoken with and listen to believe with all of their hearts that they believe we need to be preparing for the return of the Lord Jesus.

Since it is God the Father alone that knows the time, the day, and the hour when He will say:

Enough—time shall be no more. My Son will come in the clouds, the judgment will begin, and eternity will be ushered in...

Do you think that maybe it is God Himself that is creating this sense of urgency in the hearts of His people and His churches, knowing that the hour is short and the time is limited for people to respond?

Do you believe we will face our Lord and give an account to Him for the way in which we have lived?

Romans 13:11–12 ESV

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Revelation 3:11–12 ESV

I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

What a wonderful promise of God!

God is stirring people’s hearts to join with Him in His mission as never before. He is calling us to join with Him here through the efforts of this local body of believers as the Holy Spirit gives us direction and strength.

From the Head to the Heart

Hearing God from His Word is a wonderful way to begin the process of getting to know Him and His will for you. But all the head knowledge in the world will never change your life!

When what you know in your head hits your heart you will not be able to rest day or night until God has become that way in your life.

Someone might want to say , “But I believe Jesus is the Son of God, I believe He is the Savior of man and that is enough.”

All the truth that is believed in a person’s head is also believed by all the demons in hell, yet they are one step ahead of us.

At least when they know the truth in their heads, they TREMBLE.

James 2:19 ESV

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

There is not a truth that you and I can believe in our heads that they do not believe and tremble.

The difference between them and us this morning is that when we decide to let that information settle in our hearts as unshakable truth, we cannot rest until God’s Word is being lived out in our lives!

2 Corinthians 1:20–22 ESV

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

The moment you became united with the Lord Jesus Christ in the saving work of God through the death of His Son on the Cross, every promise God ever made in the Holy Book became YES to you!

Imagine The Possibilities Again

It seems that many in the Church have given up on the promises of God because of one thing or another. Waiting is hard, discouragement can weaken our resolve.

But can you imagine what would happen to change the course or Warrenton, Astoria, Seaside, Lewis & Clark if we believed that one promise with all our hearts?

Brothers and Sisters, we have the greatest single possibility of making a difference because God has given US His promises.

God says He will respond WHEN we respond....

James 4:8 ESV

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you...

It is simple but profound....

Are you taking the promises of God today and literally standing before Him until He is in you exactly as He promises in His Word?

The tragedy in the Church today is that so many are living their lives the same way the world is around them without it disturbing them. They have become desensitized by the world.

We are change agents friends, we are not here to be in agreement with the works of Satan in the earth. The earth and the fulness thereof belong to the Lord.

Do not allow your heart to wander from thing to thing as the world is so prone to doing. Discipline yourself to stay upon the promise of God until you see it fulfilled in your life.

There are literally people’s souls that hang in the balance, waiting for someone to pray for them with the power of God’s anointing, someone to stand in the gap for them when they cannot pray for themselves or believe for themselves.

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you...

Let me tell you something, and some of you already know this and have experienced this. It is absolutely impossible for you to be in the presence of the Lord and remain the same.

Is there a possibility of you becoming more like Christ? Absolutely!! Get into God’s presence! You will be more like Christ every time you return from God’s presence.

Determined To Be Holy

1 Peter 1:13–16 ESV

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

When I first heard this, I thought “Well I guess I’m done!!”

Who is holy but God? But I didn’t understand the righteousness that had been imputed to me.

I still struggled with sin, because I didn’t realize the strength that had been given to me.

Have I overcome every sin? Nope that’s a work in progress in every one of us. But we spend so much time beating ourselves and each other up over these areas rather than celebrating what God has accomplished in us already.

What if we took a moment each day and truly reflected on what God has done, what only He could have done to transform us from what we were to who we are today?

That’s why I am determined to be holy, because it is God who is making me holy as I follow and obey Him.

You might be thinking, but I am just human.

No, you used to be JUST HUMAN, but now you are a child of the King of Kings, indwelt as a temple of the living God, and your life is no longer your own because now Christ is living out His life in you if you will allow it.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Come closer today, become more like Christ. Be filled with the Holy Spirit, you were born of the Spirit to bring light into the darkness and lead captives to freedom!