Heroic Holiness - Part 2 - 1 Peter 1:14-16
Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday August 9, 2009
Heroic Holiness
1 Peter 1:14-16 p2
Recap: you are becoming holy by loving and obeying God.
After the dedication of his baby brother in church, Robbie sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. Robert asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, Robbie responded, ‘Pastor Tim said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, but I want to stay with you guys.'
15 behavior = walking | Become holy yourselves in each step you take
The Bible directs us to be aware of each step we take. The guidance of the Holy Spirit isn’t just for major decisions: spouse/ house/career/kids - it’s for every step you take.
God connects His holiness w/ the trivial. Lev. 11:41-45. 11:29-30 defines swarming things. “Never Cry Wolf” – man in the Arctic Circle studying wolves and eating a mouse sandwich. Would you sit at his table? You would say, “If this is what you’re serving up, count me out.” Even as this man made his table something we would avoid, so we make our souls something the Lord avoids when we partake of that which we should not. V43 Do not render yourselves detestable through any of the swarming things that swarm; and you shall not make yourselves unclean with them so that you become unclean.
Worship is kissing the Lord. Would you let mouse man kiss you? (piece of tail stuck in teeth) Does the Lord want the kiss of a mousey church?
Look at the context in which the Lord makes this declaration/ promise. It’s not: don’t commit adultery/don’t murder people for I am holy. It’s: don’t eat a lizard, for I am holy. Dt. 23:12-14
It’s not: don’t rape/don’t kidnap. It’s: have a pooper-scooper w/ you. It is in the minutia of everyday life that the Lord develops His holiness. Become holy yourselves in each step you take.
OT: avoid unclean things. What is the NT equivalent of unclean things? Galatians 5:19-21. Not all of these things, but some of them are daily occurrences for many. Jealousy/fighting/anger/envy/ sensuality/strife – how can you avoid these things – they surround you/so easily erupt from you. Our society swarms w/ these things – they’re creeping and crawling everywhere. Our souls used to swarm w/ these things – but then Jesus took up residence and began to fumigate our souls.
But we’re still human, right? A slip here or there is no big deal – right? So I get jealous sometime, no one is getting hurt. So I become angry when provoked, I’m not killing anyone. So I occasionally lust, I’m not jumping in bed w/ anybody. No big deal – right? These things seem so small and petty in the grand scheme of things. Why does God concern Himself w/ the little things? Isn’t it failure in these relatively small/trivial things that give Christians guilt complexes?
God develops His holiness in us in the little things. 2 Cor. 6:14 – 7:1
He connects His holiness w/ the usual routine, the rhythms and patterns of life. The trivial/the ordinary/the routine are the opportunities of experiencing who He is. We live in the trivial/ routine/ordinary and this is where He declares His beauty is to be seen. Become holy yourselves in each step you take . When David was a child, he told Fran that he doesn’t want to call daddy after he’s in bed, because daddy is so mad at bedtime. Putting the kids to bed is familiar/routine/ ordinary. He wants His beauty to be there. A pastoral candidate who helped his pregnant wife up the steps impressed the church. Become holy yourselves in each step you take.
Many don’t connect the trivial w/ holiness. We think that God isn’t concerned w/ the small/trivial and so we reserve to ourselves the right in the trivia of life. Result: the trivial/small/ordinary become strangers to His grace/holiness. The trivial takes on our flavor and not His. And since we spend most of our lives in the little things, we are so often alienated from His holiness.
Ladies: the buttoning of a single button can mean the difference between you becoming holy or you being conformed to the world.
Men: not taking out the trash can mean the difference between you becoming holy or you becoming conformed to the world.
Someone may object and say that to make God a part of every nuance of human behavior is to trivialize God. Not so – we’re not trying to trivialize God, but to beautify the trivial. Become holy yourselves in each step you take.
Holiness isn’t only separation from sin, but the invasion of the things of life w/ the life of God.
So many attempts at holiness turn into legalism. Holiness is loving God and legalism is avoiding sin. W/ legalism, separation from the corruption of the world and not invasion of the things of life w/ His holiness becomes our focus. Holiness, for so many, is understood as avoiding sin rather than loving God/things of God.
It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. Ex. 34:29
Moses’ face shone not because he hadn’t sinned, but because he had been w/ God and he had the Word of God in his hand. How often the message is: be in prayer/Word. Not: don’t sin. Pharisees avoided sin, but didn’t shine, they were white-washed tombs.
Without holiness you have no credible witness
You may have great doctrine, but you don’t have a believable witness. Without holiness you haven’t lost your message, but you’ve lost your credibility. If your relationship w/ God isn’t from the inside out, but is only painted-on, you’ve lost your credibility. You may have an incredible testimony, but if you are not taking the holiness of God seriously, you don’t have a witness. Some only have a testimony of salvation from a life of sin and don’t have a witness of living a life of holiness. Our witness flows from the trivial and the ordinary because God wants us to become holy in each step we take.
God has a place for you to bury your sin
Have a spade among your tools…God has given us a cross.
Download | Duration: 00:44:19
Heroic Holiness
1 Peter 1:14-16 p2
Recap: you are becoming holy by loving and obeying God.
After the dedication of his baby brother in church, Robbie sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. Robert asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, Robbie responded, ‘Pastor Tim said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, but I want to stay with you guys.'
15 behavior = walking | Become holy yourselves in each step you take
The Bible directs us to be aware of each step we take. The guidance of the Holy Spirit isn’t just for major decisions: spouse/ house/career/kids - it’s for every step you take.
God connects His holiness w/ the trivial. Lev. 11:41-45. 11:29-30 defines swarming things. “Never Cry Wolf” – man in the Arctic Circle studying wolves and eating a mouse sandwich. Would you sit at his table? You would say, “If this is what you’re serving up, count me out.” Even as this man made his table something we would avoid, so we make our souls something the Lord avoids when we partake of that which we should not. V43 Do not render yourselves detestable through any of the swarming things that swarm; and you shall not make yourselves unclean with them so that you become unclean.
Worship is kissing the Lord. Would you let mouse man kiss you? (piece of tail stuck in teeth) Does the Lord want the kiss of a mousey church?
Look at the context in which the Lord makes this declaration/ promise. It’s not: don’t commit adultery/don’t murder people for I am holy. It’s: don’t eat a lizard, for I am holy. Dt. 23:12-14
It’s not: don’t rape/don’t kidnap. It’s: have a pooper-scooper w/ you. It is in the minutia of everyday life that the Lord develops His holiness. Become holy yourselves in each step you take.
OT: avoid unclean things. What is the NT equivalent of unclean things? Galatians 5:19-21. Not all of these things, but some of them are daily occurrences for many. Jealousy/fighting/anger/envy/ sensuality/strife – how can you avoid these things – they surround you/so easily erupt from you. Our society swarms w/ these things – they’re creeping and crawling everywhere. Our souls used to swarm w/ these things – but then Jesus took up residence and began to fumigate our souls.
But we’re still human, right? A slip here or there is no big deal – right? So I get jealous sometime, no one is getting hurt. So I become angry when provoked, I’m not killing anyone. So I occasionally lust, I’m not jumping in bed w/ anybody. No big deal – right? These things seem so small and petty in the grand scheme of things. Why does God concern Himself w/ the little things? Isn’t it failure in these relatively small/trivial things that give Christians guilt complexes?
God develops His holiness in us in the little things. 2 Cor. 6:14 – 7:1
He connects His holiness w/ the usual routine, the rhythms and patterns of life. The trivial/the ordinary/the routine are the opportunities of experiencing who He is. We live in the trivial/ routine/ordinary and this is where He declares His beauty is to be seen. Become holy yourselves in each step you take . When David was a child, he told Fran that he doesn’t want to call daddy after he’s in bed, because daddy is so mad at bedtime. Putting the kids to bed is familiar/routine/ ordinary. He wants His beauty to be there. A pastoral candidate who helped his pregnant wife up the steps impressed the church. Become holy yourselves in each step you take.
Many don’t connect the trivial w/ holiness. We think that God isn’t concerned w/ the small/trivial and so we reserve to ourselves the right in the trivia of life. Result: the trivial/small/ordinary become strangers to His grace/holiness. The trivial takes on our flavor and not His. And since we spend most of our lives in the little things, we are so often alienated from His holiness.
Ladies: the buttoning of a single button can mean the difference between you becoming holy or you being conformed to the world.
Men: not taking out the trash can mean the difference between you becoming holy or you becoming conformed to the world.
Someone may object and say that to make God a part of every nuance of human behavior is to trivialize God. Not so – we’re not trying to trivialize God, but to beautify the trivial. Become holy yourselves in each step you take.
Holiness isn’t only separation from sin, but the invasion of the things of life w/ the life of God.
So many attempts at holiness turn into legalism. Holiness is loving God and legalism is avoiding sin. W/ legalism, separation from the corruption of the world and not invasion of the things of life w/ His holiness becomes our focus. Holiness, for so many, is understood as avoiding sin rather than loving God/things of God.
It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. Ex. 34:29
Moses’ face shone not because he hadn’t sinned, but because he had been w/ God and he had the Word of God in his hand. How often the message is: be in prayer/Word. Not: don’t sin. Pharisees avoided sin, but didn’t shine, they were white-washed tombs.
Without holiness you have no credible witness
You may have great doctrine, but you don’t have a believable witness. Without holiness you haven’t lost your message, but you’ve lost your credibility. If your relationship w/ God isn’t from the inside out, but is only painted-on, you’ve lost your credibility. You may have an incredible testimony, but if you are not taking the holiness of God seriously, you don’t have a witness. Some only have a testimony of salvation from a life of sin and don’t have a witness of living a life of holiness. Our witness flows from the trivial and the ordinary because God wants us to become holy in each step we take.
God has a place for you to bury your sin
Have a spade among your tools…God has given us a cross.
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