As Pastor has declared this year of Holiness, I wanted to dwell on the Holiness this Sunday morning.
Hebrews 12:14
14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
The Bible says in 1 Peter 1:16
16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Why does Bible say God is Holy , so you be Holy?
It is not like a father or mother saying to son- i am a doctor, so you also become a doctor.
i am engineer , so you also become engineer.
In saying those things, parents tries to tell their children that they want to see their dreams coming true in their children,
but when God says Be holy, for I am holy -
We will go in depth. Are you ready to ear the meat?
What is the first thing that God made Holy in this whole world?
Let us look at Genesis 2:1,2
Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Here, after God completed all the works, he ended His work and rested.
Not man kind of rest
When God says rested, it does not mean that He got tired and took rest. No.
It is not like after a man works for 8 hours in a day and comes home and takes rest.
The Bible says He who watches over Israel never sleeps nor slumbers.
God blessed the seventh day and made it as Holy.
so here, we see first time in the bible that God made the seventh day as Holy, sanctified it.
It is the time or day that was made Holy.
In Old testament, this Sabbath day is followed and say on that day you should not work but it is Holy to the Lord.
Why? Sabbath is for whom?
Mark 2 :28 says Sabbath is for man. God established this institution of Sabbath for man to have fellow ship with God.
That is why God made this day as Holy.
Whenever God communes with man, fellowships with man, that time is Holy.
When God says Be Holy , for I am Holy,
the key is this in Holiness - we have fellowship with God.
In Holiness we approach God,
the time we spend with God is Holy.
Never ever consider coming to Church as a routine Sunday thing.
Never ever consider spending time in prayer or meditating the Word of God is some routine task.
Every time you enter into the presence of God, to sing praises, to worship, to meditate the Word - that is a precious holy time.
When we enter into this Holy time of Worshiping God, The key is to connect to God.
Every man/woman has a heart of worship.
Not everyone worships True God, some worship pagan, some worship successful men and women of the world, some worship sport stars. But everyone has this heart of worship in the depths of their hearts.
Psalmist says in psalm 130 , out of the depths of my heart, i cry out to you.
But for a believer, when I say I worship God, the depth of man gets connected to depths of God
The bible says in Psalm 42:7, the Deep calls unto deep
Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
What is the depth of a man?
The depth of a man is not his outward expression, the depth of a man is not the emotions that are shown outside, the depth of a man is the inner most part where there is a deep cry for worship.
What is the depth of God?
1 Corinthians 2 : 9-12
9 But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
The Depth of God is this that where the secrets of God, His Love, His Plans , He Glorious riches.
who knows all these depths of God? only Holy Spirit of God.
The Spirit searches all things of God, yes the deep things of God.
And when the spirit of man ( out of the depths) calls out to Holy Spirit to the depths of God, the mysteries are revealed.
Today you say I am not able to understand the Word of God. I am not able to discern whats going on in my life, i cannot understand what will be my future?
Church, this is the time , for the deep to call out Deep.
The cry of our inner being to connect to Spirit of God and that is the place where we understand His Holiness.
When Isaiah saw the vision of God, out of the depths of his heart, he cried to God and confessed, and God cleansed him.
Isaiah 6:5
5 So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”
In Holiness, you spend time in presence of God, in prayer, in meditation.
By doing this what happens is you are always under the leading of the Holy Spirit, The Word of God will always be your light ( no chance of darkness), you are constantly under the heat.
Why do we have so many meetings in Church always
fasting prayer, bible studies, special meetings.
1 year back one of my friend called me on a Sunday, i was not available obviously and i told him i am at Church, then he called me on Tuesday night, i told him i am at Church and then on Friday at Church,
he got irritated and said, don't you have any life apart from Church.
Whenever i call you , you say are at Church.
Do not allow others to disturb the time you have with God even if it is family members.
Always be under that constant heat.
When a hen lays its eggs, it sits on top of the eggs , warming up the eggs,
in that warming the baby chickens get their features, just like mother, and the mother does not break the eggs but under the heat, when baby inside forms the features then baby chicken breaks the yoke and comes out.
what was happening the heat of mother.
In Genesis when earth was void and empty, the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the earth.
and we see the all the creation followed after that.
When we allow the Spirit of God to hover over us, when we yield our lives to God, to reign over us, we are transformed into the Image of Christ.
Many of us pray, Lord transform me, He is willing and ready but we rarely give the time of fellowship in Holiness.
That is why in Songs of Solomon
Shulamite says to Daughters of Jerusalem,
Do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases.
Songs of Solomon 2:8
7 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,By the gazelles or by the does of the field,Do not stir up nor awaken loveUntil it pleases.
Church, Holiness - the first key God wants to have fellowship with you and me.
Let our inner man connect to the Spirit of God, it is at the place we Love God, and connect to God.
1 Peter 5:15,16
15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
The Bible calls each one of us to be Holy in all our conduct.
the way we live, the way we talk, the way we dress - in all our conduct we should be holy.
Esther 3:8
8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain
Numbers 23: 9
For from the top of the rocks I see him,And from the hills I behold him;There! A people dwelling alone,Not reckoning itself among the nations.
The people of Israel, the dwelling is alone, they are not counted among the nations.
They do not identify with other nations.
Their conduct is different from others.
Galatians 4:8
8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.
They don't observe the days and months, seasons and years.
How ?
The Church is different than the world.
If the world celebrates Halloween, the church doesn't celebrate.
if the world celebrate this day that day - the church is away from it.
For Christians , the only celebration is the Lords table.
If you sneeze, the whole america will come and say Bless you.
Their conduct is different from others.
Noah s family was entirely different from all the rest of the people.
Everybody else was celebrating halloween and all such kinds of festivals, Noahs family only duty was take all the instruments, take the wood, cut the wood, place the wood, build the ark.
this is the only work.
Don't they have feelings? don't they have emotions, can't they enjoy?
Their life is holy. their conduct is holy. their whole life is different from others.
Matthew 24
37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Isaiah 35:8
Highway of holiness:
8 A highway shall be there, and a road,
And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.
The unclean shall not pass over it,
But it shall be for others.
Whoever walks the road, although a fool,
Shall not go astray.
There is a road. This road is narrow road
Matthew 7:13,
Its a difficult road, but it is the highway of holiness. Even if a fool walks in that road, he will not go astray.
In Holiness and obedience, we have fellowship with God.
Revelation 22:11
11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”
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Luke 9:59,60
59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”
But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
Numbers 5:6
6 “Speak to the children of Israel: ‘When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit in unfaithfulness against the Lord, and that person is guilty,
last
Revelation 22: let those who are holy.
let our worship be not a routine work.
I am Holy so you be Holy.
Deep calls out to deep
Psalm 42:7
Psalm 130:1 Out of depths I cry out to God.
Ephesians 3:18 - Depth of love of God
1 corinthians 2: 9 - 16
Depths of God - known to Spirit of God.
Depth of man - known to spirit of man.
Deep calls out to deep
Spirit of man calls out to Spirit of God, then we understand the depth of God's love.
Our worship is in Spirit and truth because only when we worship in Spirit , the deep calls out deep.
We always say read word, pray because in that you are under the influence of Holy Spirit and there your deep calls out to deep.
The hen sits over the eggs to give heat to the eggs and so that the chicKen in b the eggs get their form of mother. And also a mother never breaKS the egg but the chicken inside will come out with form of mother.
Isaiah 35:8
Highway of holiness:
There is a road. This road is narrow road
Matthew 7:13,
Its a difficult road, but it is the highway of holiness.
Even if a fool walKS in that road, he will not go astrya.
In Holiness and obedience, we have fellowship with God.
In garden of Eden, after man was created. on the seventh day, God rested, blessed and made the day Holy.
The first thing God made Holy was a day.
Mark 2:22
27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
Hebrews 12:14
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
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They are not counted in the people,zealous
God looks for these people who are separated.
God gives rain , water all people.
He gives food to all people.
But He lives only among the people who are separated.
Why only Noah family got saved
right from the morning - take the wood, fix the wood, take the bolts,
Noahs time everything was happening - weddings, feastings,, but Noah and their sons did not get distracted but they were building the Ark.
One of my friend called me on a tuesday -
Matthew 24
37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
They have faced persecution, they have faced criticism, they were the subject of mocking.
but the Lord has promised that you are blessed when you are persecuted.
Esther 3:8 -
8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws.
