Called To Holiness (Indy22)

Preliminary:

I seen a sign the other day that brought a stark reminder of the fact that this world is changing:

“If you think you are smarter than the previous generation…50 years ago the owners manual of a car showed you how to adjust the valves. Today it warns you not to drink the contents of the battery.”

Oh the world may change - but Jesus never does - The writer of Hebrews says “He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever!!!”

I invite you to 1 Peter chapter 1 tonight.

Thank those who sang the special

Sometimes it is tempting to take a pen and scratch out the word “faith” in Romans 1:17 “The just shall live by faith” and write in “feeling” because its sometimes easier to live by feeling than by faith.

If I went by my feelings tonight I’d play back brother Albert’s message from yesterday morning and just say “ditto”

But by faith, I’m going to preach what the Lord has laid on my heart for tonight -

1 Peter 1 :13 )

When you’ve found it would you mind standing in honor of the Word of God

I want to talk with you tonight about our privilege of being Called to Holiness

Ask Brother Jerry Schenck to pray - Last year as Sister Becky Schenk mentioned in testimony earlier today, she was pushing him in a wheelchair. This year he has been all over this campground working and doing things - he even came down to my cabin and fixed an electrical outlet. I Praise God!!!

Read: 1 Peter 1:13-16

1 Peter 1:13–16 KJV 1900

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

I have asked Bro. Jerry Schenck him to pray for me tonight!!!

Introduction:

It is so easy and yet so tragic that important and valuable things can be looked over or missed. Once-in-a-lifetime opportunities missed simply because we weren’t paying attention or grasping the need of the moment.

On February 6th Queen Elizabeth the monarch of England celebrated her 70th year as queen. There were all kinds of celebrations and speeches and activities, but one of the most interesting was the stories.

One article I read shared perhaps one of the funniest and greatest stories

... told by the head of her security detail. He recounts that one time when the Queen was in her 80s, he and she were picnicking in the countryside near Balmoral, her Scottish residence.

Two American hikers came along, and stopped for a chat. They asked “the old lady” if she lived nearby, and she remarked that she lived in London, but had a place up here too, and that she had been visiting here for some seventy years. The hikers made the observation that they were near Balmoral and that the Queen’s residence was there.

The inevitable question was then asked, had either of the two picnickers met the Queen. The Queen assured them that she had not met her, but her gentleman friend had indeed met the Queen and on many occasions. Cue gasps of surprise and “wows”, and questions about what the Queen was like, to which he replied that she could be a bit gruff, but was actually quite nice.

Following the obligatory photographs with the “man who knew the queen” and a final last photo of the old lady, the two hikers were on there way, at which point the Queen turned to her employee and remarked, “Imagine what their friends will say when they show them their photos!”

Imagine indeed.

Imagine failing to see the real before you. There you were gushing and oohing over the man who said he had met the Queen, but you don’t appreciate the fact that you are standing there in her presence.

It is a privilege for me to stand here tonight an Ordained minister of the Bible Holiness Church

It is interesting we have to qualify the term “holiness” isn’t it

the reason we qualify it as Bible Holiness is there are so many ideas as to what holiness is perceived or thought to be.

The danger is - not all of it is true

Paul obviously had this problem too because he instructed the church at Ephesus to

Eph. 4:24 “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

For “true holiness” to be specified there must be some “false” or “artificial” holiness out there.

Bro. Mike Avery wrote: The subject of holiness desperately needs to be rediscovered and reintroduced into the culture and values of America. That process should begin in the church.

I believe in Bible Holiness

A holiness that is Biblical!!!

A Biblical Holiness means a life that is ordered by God’s Word

Walking just as Chirst walked leaving us an example to follow

1 Peter 2:21 “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:”

Peter both begins and ends this epislte with a call to growth in Christlikeness to walk in holiness.

Being called to holy living isn’t only for the entirely sanctified. If you aren’t progressing in holiness wherever you are on your walk with God, you are backsliding

This passage covers all that God wants to do for us including entire sanctification, but also all of the growth in grace that comes before that and after that.

Dr. W.T. Purkiser answers that in Biblical usage, holiness embraces the concepts of “separation from the profane and unholy and devotement to God,” stressed in the Old Testament, and “moral purity,” predominant in the New Testament. Thus, the basic meaning is “separated, consecrated and/or purified; made free from sin.”

Oswald Chambers makes the bold claim that “The destined end of man is not happiness, nor health, but holiness.”

A call to holiness is a call to relationship over ritual

Someone said, “Holiness is not the way to Christ, Christ is the way to holiness.”

Oswald Chambers later comments: “God has one destined end for mankind, viz., holiness. His one aim is the production of saints. God is not an eternal blessing-machine for men; He did not come to save men out of pity: He came to save men because He had created them to be holy. The Atonement means that God can put me back into perfect union with Himself, without a shadow between, through the Death of Jesus Christ.”

I’m so thankful for the day that Jesus called me and I answered and he brought me into a relationship with Him

I want to cultivate that relationship with Him

I want to constantly be taking that relationship to the next level as the songwriter said

Lord, lift me up, and let me stand By faith, on heaven’s tableland; A higher plane than I have found, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

I’m thankful that this relationship isn’t just one sided

As another songwriter put it:

“And he walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own.”

We can have a vibrant, close walk with God and following the call of holiness will bring that.

A Call to Holiness is a call to Purity over profession (reality, not just facade)

We don’t have to settle for a form of godliness - we can have the Holy Spirit in us leading us in holy living.

Called unto holiness means we live differently (1 Peter 1:14)

1 Peter 1:14 “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:”

1 Thess 4:7 “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.”

1 Thess 4:3 “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:”

Those who are in Christ have a different worldview

Worldview: A comprehensive description of the way that human existence fits into the larger material world of our sensory perception, including the origins of that world of experience and ourselves, any meaning or lack thereof that our existence has.

An explanation for why the various features of our self awareness exists, and the nature of the good life, and how we can deal with issues such as evil and guilt.

Understood in this way, there are religious worldviews that are self-contained worldviews and there are non-religious views that back comprehensiveness but are really related constellations of views that must work together.

Ultimately every worldview entails and requires a “story” of some kind into which a person can encounter a description of the meaning of their lives, how they should live, and why.

Christianity as a whole has a worldview it should be, it is expected to be a Biblical worldview

While those who call themselves “Holiness People” however they define that are still expected to follow and have this Biblical/ Christian worldview

A worldview that is going to be different from those who are not Christian and who do not follow the Bible

It is a worldview that is all-encompassing and totalizing - by that everything is to be under it not just a part of our thinking and behavior

Some scriptures to show what I am talking about:

2 Cor. 6:17 “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,”

1 John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

I could go on but I trust you are getting the gist - when I speak of being called to holiness, I’m talking about an all-encompassing life

Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

1 Thess 5:23 “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Notice the entirety of this “sanctify” and holiness. IN fact, this is the verse we get the term “sanctified wholly” or “entirely sanctified” from.

A Call to holiness is a call to reckless abandon to God and His service

A complete trust in Him and nothing else - On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand

750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers and Writers 365: Knowing God

I heard once about a dear, saintly old woman who was gradually losing her memory. Details began to blur.… Throughout her life, however, this woman had cherished and depended on the Word of God, committing to memory many verses from her worn King James Bible.

Her favorite verse had always been 2-Timothy 1:12: “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”

She was finally confined to bed in a nursing home, and her family knew she would never leave alive. As they visited with her, she would still quote verses of Scripture on occasion—especially 2-Timothy 1:12. But with the passing of time, even parts of this well-loved verse began to slip away.

“I know whom I have believed,” she would say. “He is able to keep … what I have committed … to him.”

Her voice grew weaker. And the verse became even shorter. “What I have committed … to him.”

As she was dying, her voice became so faint family members had to bend over to listen to the few whispered words on her lips. And at the end, there was only one word of her life verse left.

“Him.”

She whispered it again and again as she stood on the threshold of heaven. “Him … Him … Him.”

It was all that was left. It was all that was needed.

A Call to Holiness is a Call To be a thermostat not a thermometer

I don’t know about you - but I get tired of being a thermometer- just going around evaluating and gauging the temperature of everyone else

I want to be a thermostat and set the temperature aound me

It is true that evangelicalism has become the dominant expression of Christianity in America. But it is also true that the moral and spiritual life of the nation has collapsed while embracing its flimsy offers of cheap grace, the promise of heaven no matter how you live, and the disgusting doctrinal conclusions that Christians are just “saved sinners” who while not “perfect” are “forgiven.”...The Biblical call to holiness leaves no room for Christians who want to coddle sin and live in a state of perpetual immaturity and worldliness. Not only does scriptural holiness teach that Christians can be liberated from willful sin and empowered to live lives of obedience to Christ, but it also teaches that the Christian can be cleansed from the inner propensity to rebellion, selfishness and pride through the work of the Holy Spirit. A holy life is a life where spiritual and moral character is taking root and being lived out in a sensible, upright and godly way. Bro. Mike Avery

Are you going to be a thermometer or a thermostat God’s call to holiness is a call to be a thermostat to be the salt purifying agent or change agent in your community and church

A Call to Holiness is a call to To live and long for His smile

If we are going to hear well done good and faithful servant there we are going to have to be hearing it here.

Never tolerate through sympathy with yourself or with others any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God. Holiness means unsullied walking with the feet, unsullied talking with the tongue, unsullied thinking with the mind—every detail of the life under the scrutiny of God. Holiness is not only what God gives me, but what I manifest that God has given me. Oswald Chambers

Graduation escapade

I love the testimony of Charles Weigle, it can be ours as well “Every day He comes to me with new assurance”

But the day will come when “Holiness unto the Lord” will resound throughout the earth and be part of an eternal conversation by those who have pursued that “holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.” I want to be one who promotes the conversation now, don’t you?

APPEAL:

In our pursuit of all kinds of things in life - we better have this one right - pursuing Bible Holiness

It would be a shame to go around just knowing someone who knew what holiness was all the while missing the One whom holiness comes from.

Bro. & Sis. Farless are coming to sing the song “Heritage of Holiness”

I want you to know if you still need to settle the call to holiness right here is a good place to come pray and do that

But I also want to ask those of you who have answered the call, who are saying count me in -

“I’m one of those who don’t want to lose the glory,”

“I don’t want to lose the glory”

I want to ask you to respond in the affirmative - I’ll give you a couple of options

That could be standing up to show you are going to keep on following holiness

It could be by coming to the altar - with no judgment from our brothers and sisters and rededicating your life to God and the call to holiness

It could be by going to a brother or sister and encouraging them to stay on this journey of holiness