#4 (THE "WITHOUT"
SERIES)
"WITHOUT HOLINESS, NO MAN SHALL SEE GOD!"
TEXT: Heb.
12:14; I Peter 1:13-16; Titus 2:11-15
INTRO: In this day
of “exciting worship teams, powerful preaching skills, great name speakers, TV
ministries, mega Churches ministries, stirring music, creative programs, large
crusades, and exciting revivals” -- there is one thing that gets little
attention and little emphasis in the church, and in fact gets buried in all the
“stuff:”
HOLINESS!
ILLUS: A FORMER
MISSIONARY IN
And now the problem with most people's
concept of "holiness" … they think it is some state of spiritual depth that
makes them more spiritual than others, or that it is some negative constrictive
lifestyle that is boring and uninteresting. In reality however, holiness in the
Bible is an ACTION concept!
Holiness is not just what we DON'T DO; it
is very much what we POSITIVELY DO!
Holiness in the Bible is almost always
connected with actual lifestyles, not just with some state of
mind.
It is very powerful, and very practical, and very positive!
The basic concept of holiness in the
Bible is that of "separation," a
separation from sin, and a
separation to
God!
PROP.
SENT: The Bible teaches us
that "without
holiness, no man shall see God!" (Heb.
12:14). Holiness therefore
is an absolute necessity as a discipline for the
believer!
I. HOLINESS: ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE! I Pet.
1:13-16
A. Preparation
1. Peter here describes the holy life
as one who prepares his mind for action!
a. The KJV here has, "gird up the
loins of your mind" which meant a great deal to a man of the first
century who wore long flowing robes as his daily attire. If something had to be done quickly he
would gather up his robe and tie it around the loin area so he would be free to
respond without being encumbered or held back! (Today we would say, "Roll up your sleeves" to indicate the
need to be ready.
b. If planning a trip, they would
often gather up the robe and "gird it
around their loins" so that they could act quickly if necessary to anything
that happened on the trip without being slowed down!
2. Notice Peter's meaning and advice
here: "PREPARE
YOUR MINDS FOR ACTION!" 1:13
(NIV)
a. Preparing to live a holy life begins here, IN THE
MIND!
b. While not a popular subject in
church life today, it is important and critical!
c. Philip.
4:8-9 comes to mind here, those things that build the positive rather
than the negative!
3. The point of this preparation is
to be ready for ACTION!
a. Holiness is not some spiritual
state of ecstasy; it is a verb of action!
b. Notice what follows Peter's call to
prepare the mind for action:
(1. "be
self-controlled"... it is in the imperative tense, the man or woman
who is holy demonstrates the characteristic of self-control in all areas of
their life! (KJV has the word "sober.")
(2. "set your hope
fully on the grace to be given you" ... meaning: as you expect Jesus’ coming at any
minute live as though He would be here any second! Purity is the idea here, being always
prepared for Christ's return; how would you live today if this was the day Jesus
returned?
4. Peter says holiness is more than just
rules or laws, it is righteous living!
a. Peter's use of the word "self-controlled" or in the KJV "sober" refers to one who avoids excesses, the
life that is free from self-indulgence or reckless
living.
b. It can mean any excess, even religious excesses!
We are to be in control of our lives to honor God and to serve others if
we are to be "holy!"
5. When one views the real God, the
wonder of Him and His grace, it will drive us to live in a way that pleases Him,
not ourself or others!
ILLUS: IN BILL
MOYER'S BOOK, "A WORLD OF IDEAS II" JACOB NEEDLEMAN REMEMBERS THE LAUNCH OF
APOLLO 17 IN 1975. IT WAS A NIGHT
LAUNCH AND THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF CYNICAL REPORTERS ALL OVER THE LAWN THAT HAD
BEEN SENT TO REPORT ON THIS LATEST OF LAUNCHES. THESE CYNICAL BORED REPORTERS WERE
DRINKING BEER, WISECRACKING WITH DIRTY JOKES, CAVORTING AROUND WHILE WAITING FOR
THE 35 STORY TALL ROCKET TO LIFT OFF.
IT WAS A SCENE OF IMMORALITY WHILE THEY WAITED, THEN SUDDENLY, THE ROCKET
CAME TO LIFE, EVERYTHING AROUND WAS SUDDENLY LIT UP WITH A LIGHT YOU COULD
HARDLY STAND TO LOOK AT, AND THE POWERFUL NOISE FROM THIS ROCKET COMING TO LIFE
WAS FELT THROUGHOUT YOUR ENTIRE BODY.
AS IT LIFTS UP SO MAJESTIC, YOU SUDDENLY REALIZE THAT THERE ARE HUMANS ON
THAT AWESOME MACHINE AS THE FIRST STAGE ROARS TO FULL LIFE WITH A BLAZING BLUE
THAT RIVALS THE STARS. IN THE CROWD
THERE IS COMPLETE SILENCE, AND THEN THEY ALL STOOD IN AWE, HELPING EACH OTHER
UP, ALL LOOKING INTENTLY AND REVERENTLY IN AMAZEMENT AT THE POWER
DISPLAYED! SUDDENLY, THE AWE THEY
ALL FELT MADE THEM ALL MORAL PEOPLE, HELPING EACH OTHER, LOOKING IN AWE, SOBER
FOR THE MOMENT AS THEY CONTEMPLATED THE WONDER OF WHAT THEY WERE SEEING! WHEN WE LOOK AT GOD, DO WE HAVE THE SAME
RESPONSE, THE WONDER OF HIS POWER, AND THE AWE OF HIS GRACE? WHEN SEEN, IT TOO WILL MAKE US RESPOND IN
A MORAL WAY, A WAY THAT HONORS GOD! -- Source
Unknown
6. Peter here also connects "holiness" with the second coming of Christ,
when we truly believe that He can come any second it will have an effect on us
as we live, a life that is holy waiting for Christ to come! (See I Jn.
3:1-3)
a. Thus we are to abandon the "old ways" we used to live
by!
b. Then, we lived in ignorance, we did
what everybody else did, but now our eyes are open to sin and we need to be
aware of what pulls us from God and avoid those
things!
c. Those old evil desires should not
be expressed anymore in one who calls himself a
Christian!
B. Performance 1:15-16
1. The argument Peter uses here is
simple: If God is holy and we have God in us we will live
holy!
2. Peter does not spend the time
arguing why "holiness" is something we should think about,
or why it is right, just that it IS RIGHT because God Himself is
Holy!
3. The call to holiness is based on
the character of God being a Holy God!
It is that simple!
a. We can't embrace
the God of the Bible and fail to embrace a holy
lifestyle.
b. To have the one is to have the
other or you don't have either!
c. Hence the statement in HEBREWS 12:14 "Without
holiness, no man shall see God!"
4. God in the life of a believer will
express Himself in holy living!
There will be a performance!
It is not enough to know what the right desires should be, they must be
acted out too!
ILLUS: A
RESEARCHER FOR A PUBLISHING COMPANY WAS INTERVIEWING PEOPLE TO DETERMINE WHAT
KIND OF BOOKS THEY LIKED TO READ.
THE BIBLE, SHAKESPEARE, AND THE CLASSICS WERE HIGH ON EVERYONE'S
LIST! IN RETURN FOR THEIR
COOPERATION HE OFFERED EACH PERSON A CHOICE OF A FREE BOOK FROM A LIST. TO HIS SURPRISE, THOUGH THEY HAD ALL SAID
THE BIBLE, SHAKESPEARE, AND THE CLASSICS WERE THEIR FAVORITE READING, THE NUMBER
ONE REQUESTED BOOK WAS, "MURDER OF A BURLESQUE QUEEN!" THEIR STATED DESIRES DIDN'T MATCH THEIR
ACTION! SOMETIMES IN CHURCH WE
LEARN WHAT WE SHOULD LIKE AND EVEN PRAISE THOSE THINGS, BUT IN OUR REAL LIVES
THERE MAY BE LITTLE PRACTICE TO THEM! -- Source
Unknown
5. Holiness requires an actual
performance!
II. HOLINESS: ATTITUDE AND PERSONAL! Titus
2:11-15
A. Perspective 2:11-13
1. Titus' teaching about holiness
mirrors that of Peter's here: Holiness is a real change on how we live
and what we think! It is not just a
religious concept; it is a concrete lifestyle!
2. Holy living can alter the
landscape of a nation!
a. It is NOT something however that
can be legislated by man’s laws!
b. It is NOT something that you can
make others do!
c. It Is SOMETHING that we must do in
our own lives and by our example affect others.
3. We can never legislate
morality – the Old Law proved this didn’t work, the best thing we can do is
live morally!
a. The world needs a perspective of
morality seen as a model!
b. Holy living will provide this for
others!
c. If the church and Christians do not
living a holy life our calls for the world to be more holy will only fall on
deaf ears!
4. Notice Paul's teaching here: holiness "teaches us to
say 'NO' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled,
upright and godly lives in this present age." 2:12
a. It is not enough to just say NO ... it also
requires living a positive model of holiness too!
b. Perspective begins in the mind remember, but it then flows
out into action!
5. No one can continue to live the
Christian life that doesn't practice a holy life!
ILLUS: TAKE THE
EXAMPLE OF TWO GREAT CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE RECENT PAST: ONE WAS CLIFFORD BARON, HE WAS ONE OF
THE GREATEST ORATORS AMERICA HAS EVER PRODUCED, ONE RESPECTED PASTOR CALLED HIM,
"THE GREATEST PREACHER SINCE THE APOSTLE PAUL." AUDIENCES EVERYWHERE WERE SPELLBOUND BY
HIS MESSAGES. AT AGE 25 CLIFFORD
BARON HAD TOUCHED MORE LIVES, INFLUENCED MORE LEADERS, AND SET MORE ATTENDANCE
RECORDS THAN ANY CLERGYMAN HIS AGE IN AMERICAN HISTORY! THEN THERE WAS DAWSON TROTMAN, WHO WAS
BRIGHT, ARTISTIC, AND ALSO HIGHLY ARTICULATE. HE LOVED A CHALLENGE, AND AT AGE 27 WITH
BUT ONE YEAR OF SEMINARY AND ONE YEAR OF BIBLE COLLEGE BEHIND HIM, HE SET UP A
DISCIPLESHIP GROUP CALLED THE "NAVIGATORS." HIS MINISTRY DEMANDED HOLY DISCIPLINED
LIVING AND HE HAD HIS SHARE OF CRITICS FOR THE STRONG EMPHASIS ON HOLY LIVING,
BUT HE PRESSED ON, AND MANY HAD THEIR LIVES IMPACTED BY THE NAVIGATORS. BOTH BARON AND TROTMAN DIED BEFORE THEIR
TIME: BARON THE GREAT PREACHER DIED
IN HIS MID-THIRTIES, THE GREATEST PREACHER SINCE THE APOSTLE PAUL DIED FROM
ALCOHOLISM AND SHABBY FINANCIAL DEALINGS, HIS WIFE HAVING LEFT HIM WITH THEIR
CHILDREN, HE DIED IN A THIRD RATE MOTEL ON THE WESTERN EDGE OF AMARILLO, TEXAS,
HE LEFT NOTHING! TROTMAN DIED EARLY
TOO, IN HIS EARLY FIFTIES FROM TRYING TO SAVE THE LIFE OF A LITTLE GIRL WHO WAS
DROWNING AT SCHROON LAKE IN NEW YORK.
HE LEFT BEHIND AN ORGANIZATION THAT EVEN TODAY MINISTERS POWERFULLY
WORLDWIDE WITH A STAFF OF OVER 2500 PEOPLE. ONE LIVED HOLY AS WELL AS PREACHED
HOLINESS; THE OTHER MERELY PREACHED IT BUT DID NOT PRACTICE IT! -- Source
Unknown
6. Paul says here to this young pastor
that God's grace should do two things:
a. Help us “say "NO" to
ungodliness and worldly passions!”
b. And "to live
self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age." (2:12)
7. This is the challenge for all
Christians, to demonstrate to the world our commitment to living a holy
lifestyle!
a. We talk
different!
b. We act
different!
c. Our values our
different!
d. Our perspectives are different --
eternal vs. temporal!
8. Does it really
show!!!????
B. Purity! 2:14-15
1. God's purpose in saving us is
described here by Paul as God's way of purifying us.
a. Salvation is meant to make a
difference in the way we live!
b. It will impact the present age in
the way we live!
2. Jesus gave Himself, as Paul says
here to “redeem us from all
wickedness.”
3. Sanctification is a church teaching
that desperately needs emphasis again!
4. Revival is contingent on repentance
from sin, a turning from sin and sinful passions to holy
living!
5. The very effectiveness of the
Gospel being preached may hinge on the purity of our lives before the world,
they need to see real holiness at work!
a. If the world sees holiness as a
negative thing it is only because WE have made it appear that
way!
b. We can show the world that holiness
is a great POSITIVE!
c. There is NO BETTER way to live than
in God’s holiness!
ILLUS: A SURGEON
WHO SELECTS A SCALPEL IN THE OPERATING ROOM TO HEAL HIS PATIENT WILL JUST AS
READILY REJECT A SCALPEL WITH A SMALL AMOUNT OF DEFILEMENT ON IT AS READILY AS
ONE THAT WAS SEVERELY DEFILED! AS
AN INSTRUMENT USED TO BRING HEALING HE LOOKS FOR PURITY OR HE ENDANGERS THE
HEALING PROCESS FROM TAKING PLACE!
HOW CAN GOD HEAL OUR LAND IF WE ARE NOT CLEAN, HOW CAN WE BE HIS
INSTRUMENTS OF HEALING IF WE ARE DEFILED AS HIS PEOPLE? HOLINESS IS LIVING A LIFE OF PURITY, OF
SELF-CONTROL FROM WORLDLY PASSIONS! -- Source
Unknown
6. Notice too that Paul here states
that not only is holiness a pure lifestyle but that is makes us "eager to do
good." 2:l4b
a. This certainly reflects the
POSITIVE side of holiness!
b. Those that have a clear conscience
and clear life are eager to work for God; they have joy in their salvation and
love to serve the Father that they know is pleased with
them!
c. Paul then tells this young pastor
that these are the things he is to "teach."
7. In a final word to a young pastor
Paul tells him to do two things:
a. "encourage"
-- God's people to live holy!
b. "rebuke" -- those who would ignore this call to
living a life of holiness!
c. Paul's point is for this young
pastor to not be afraid to use God's authority to do what is necessary to have
His people live a life that is pleasing to God, and this will thus reveal to the
world the nature of sin and bring conviction on ungodly and unfruitful
lives!
d. And with a final touch Paul says to
him, "let no
one despise you" -- meaning "don't let anyone get to you" for
teaching the truth!
e. Holiness does not know any age
limit ... it is for all God's people because "without holiness
no man will see God!"
CONCLUSION: For many people "holiness"
has a negative connotation to it; “we don't do this, we don't do that!” Biblically however, holiness has a
strong positive focus, one of positive action! Holiness is a simple concept, it means
being set apart by God to reflect His will in this world. Since God is set apart from the evil of
this world we must be also. "Without holiness, no man shall see God!" Is you life one that reflects true
holiness?