The Journey of Holiness - Eli Lopez - September 8, 2021

yes good evening clc if we could stand across the sanctuary and thank you for all those that are joining online right now we've been connecting with jesus over the next couple of moments as we've been coming into this sanctuary but let's focus our attention all together in one mind and one accord on what the lord has in store for us tonight regardless of what our day was like and regardless of what worries lay ahead when we get back home and we're not worried about that right now we're going to lay all that before jesus right now and say lord i'm going to dedicate these next couple minutes right now to you i i need strength from you i need the peace from you i thank you for every anybody think of where they once were think about that for a second whoo think about where you once were and where the lord has brought you from jesus we come into this sanctuary right now with thanksgiving in our hearts jesus thank you for bringing us into your salvation thank you for giving us hope refuge and strength jesus we once were lost we once were hopeless but jesus you reached down and you'd reached for us you called us home and jesus we reached to you and that connection was made and we were filled with your spirit baptized in your name and jesus we glorify and worship you tonight for that thank you jesus [Music] and tonight we ask that your will be done in this service in this room right now and across this country that's watching right now online and across this campus jesus in acts 29 in a lifeline let your spirit reign upon this campus right now in jesus name that you'll touch every singer that you'll judge every musician that you're anointed brother lopez as he ministers your word tonight let your spirit reign upon us jesus we submit right now not our will but thine be done right now in jesus name hold together let's clap our hands and shout to god let's thank him jesus [Music] no name greater than yours we honor you tonight [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] i can hear [Music] so precious [Music] [Music] praise the name [Music] is [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] us let's praise [Music] [Music] creations claim your [Music] name every day [Applause] nations every day [Music] [Applause] jesus jesus jesus [Music] [Applause] no day [Music] [Applause] [Music] you're worthy [Music] [Music] [Applause] just in your own way right now can we just lift up a worship to our god thank you jesus for your sweet spirit lord thank you for your presence thank you for your sacrifice for your blood jesus we owe our lives to you lord all that we could ever give we owe to you jesus hallelujah [Music] jesus paid it all [Music] he was [Music] [Music] hearts [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh you watch me clean i'll praise him forever [Music] in him complete jesus [Music] singing out jesus [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] is jesus [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh praise the lord [Applause] [Applause] oh so i can be with you but i can have a relationship with jesus [Music] [Music] one more time in a chorus can we sing that jesus jesus [Music] [Music] just the voices just the voices [Music] sin had left a crimson stain he washed [Music] [Music] the lord is good what a wonderful presence of the lord we feel right now thank you sister courtney praise team we appreciate don't we appreciate the worship team leading us and the holy ghost we're going to go before the lord right now in prayer for this city for this state for this country and of course we have an election coming up on tuesday you should have received your ballot in the mail and both facilities this facility and our 99 facility we'll be having voting there so don't come and pray over people as they're here they'll probably kick you out for that but if you need to drop off your mail-in ballot you don't want to put in the mail but you want to physically make sure it made it you can do that at both facilities here and at the 99 church but if this is not your polling station you can't vote here and replace it but if you would like to vote in person you can still do that just turn in your melon ballot and vote at your polling place but we want the lord's will to be done in this election we want the lord's will to be done in our city in our state in our country we need jesus but we serve a prayer answering god and regardless of what the circumstances are around us we are commanded to bring it before the lord the lord brings brings up rulers and takes down rulers and we trust the lord that his will will be done in this city in this state jesus we go before you right now lord we worship and honor you jesus tonight we thank you lord for the freedom that we feel in this sanctuary the freedom that we have in you the hope the hat that we have in you and jesus tonight we ask that your will be done in stockton california as it is in heaven may or will be done in this state as it is in heaven let your will be done on tuesday in jesus name we pray that you will bring down those that need not be in office and bring up those that need to be in office in jesus name we pray that your will be done in this state we will not give up we will continue to go before you right now saying jesus we love you and we want your will to be done we want righteousness to prevail in jesus name in these last days let your spirit be poured out upon all flesh and we ask that now that you'll touch all of our elected officials that just touched the white house that you'll touch congress and the house of representatives that you'll feel them with your spirit jesus guide them and lead them lord we ask right now that you'll touch our fire department that you'll touch our police department and all law enforcement jesus as they are doing your will and we ask that you'll protect them lord jesus may your will be done in this city [Music] and jesus we right now speak to the north we speak to the south we speak to the east and the west that it must give up the souls that belong to you and to belong into this church and belong into your kingdom help us to be the salt and the light to those we come in contact with we give it to you right now jesus and the holy ghost that is inside of us has given us the boldness to be witnesses for you help us to be bold tomorrow morning help us be bold in our workplace bold in our school that jesus we serve the almighty god the one and only true living god and you are our hope thank you jesus for hearing our prayer lord we worship and honor you thank you jesus [Music] if you've come into this place or you're participating online right now and you have a prayer request if you're online simply talk right now in the text chat if you're in the sanctuary simply raise your hand and say jesus i have a need and brothers and sisters are going to look towards you and put reach their hand towards you if you live in a household that you're sitting next together pray with one another we're going to go before the lord for every need represented right now and every need watching right now in jesus name we know that you are our healer in jesus we know that there are many of afflictions right now in this church and in this area and we ask right now that your spirit of healing will come upon this sanctuary that your spirit of healing will come upon every member of this church and every individual watching right now we rebuke cancer right now in jesus name we rebuke diabetes right now in jesus name we rebuke coven right now in jesus name by your stripes we are healed let your restoration come in jesus name for marriages that are on the rocks we ask right now that love will come into that home that your spirit of unity will come into that home right now in jesus name lord if there's a special financial need we ask right now that that miracle will be taken those that may have lost their job we ask right now though to provide the better one in jesus name we trust you for all that we have all that we are and all that we will be we give it to you right now jesus we thank you for hearing our prayers and acting upon it let's thank him all together let's worship him we thank you jesus [Music] coming up next month october 29th and through the 30th first is going to be ladies advance all the ladies want to make sure you attend that you can go to the website register and find out more information it's now time for our wednesday evening tithe and offering thank you jesus we thank you lord for your many blessings and provision upon this church and us as individuals lord we go before you right now with thanksgiving in our heart giving back unto you what you've given to us in jesus name we pray amen god bless you as you give tonight and online [Music] word of is is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is is [Music] [Applause] [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] ever every place is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the lord is good i said the lord is good you know what the bible says the bible says his mercies are new every morning aren't you thankful that before you woke up today god was in the kitchen baking a fresh batch of mercy for you and me he's a good god he's a wonderful god and one more time we've had tremendous worship tonight but one more time if we could raise our hands and lift our voice and for just a few moments tell god how how great he is to you make it personal this is your praise this is your thanksgiving this is your worship to your god right now [Music] i love you jesus [Music] at the end of last week's lesson we talked about when jesus looked at simon peter and he knew that he was about to deny him he knew all that was going to unfold he said but i prayed for you and he says when you have returned didn't say if the confidence that god had in peter that yes you're going to make a mistake but i know you're going to get back up again and i read over in the book of micah chapter 7 micah the prophet says rejoice not against me oh my enemy when i fall i shall arise and i feel like i'm just standing in front of some people today that that if we be very honest when we look in the mirror we realize that we haven't always done our best on this journey but you know what there's a god who's never given up on us and the devil may not understand it but i'm still here he may have thrown everything in the kitchen sink your way but you're still here you're going to make it you're an overcomer because of who your god is [Music] amen you can be seated tonight if you're still standing and we're going to continue our journey i'm so appreciative of uh sister kutz and the the praise team leading us into uh just the presence of god and uh it is always an honor to share the platform with the laird solomon i'm telling you you know there are some people they they want to feel important so they'll actually pay fake paparazzi photographers to follow them around on a busy street so that they can feel important i'm telling you just just hang out next to laird silliman he is so popular that you're going to feel popular too so my goodness you think i'm joking you go to general conference you'll find out amen we are almost near the conclusion of a journey that that i i have tremendously enjoyed and i'm going to tell you a secret some of you know this because because you're teachers your bible study teachers you've been sunday school teachers or a teacher in some capacity you've taught a small group so you understand what i'm about to tell you the teacher always gets more than the student because the joy that that we enjoy in a service as as the word goes forth and the word is taught and we we are fed by the word that joy is multiplied when you are the one tasked with opening up this precious book and getting alone with god and having god first give it to you and and work you over and challenge you and change you then out of that experience you are able to stand in the pulpit and then share what you have and so the teacher always gets more than the student and i have been so so blessed in this and and things of my christian walk things where i noticed i need to be more committed or more focused in these areas just teaching about him has helped reorient myself to what what i need to be in god so i'm so thankful and i hope that that this journey has been spiritually nourishing to you as well and today we're going to cover a topic that i feel is often misunderstood the five lessons that we've covered to this point we started these uh several months ago and and through uh the challenges of the summer calendar and and on different revival meetings and things like that we've we've stayed the course and so we've um been on this journey and we have covered the call we've covered developing spiritual disciplines we have covered spiritual gifts and we took four weeks just dealing with that one lesson alone because we dealt with the spontaneous gifts the gifts of the spirit resident service gifts resident office gifts we dealt with the fruit of the spirit and we talked about nine fruit are listed but given to us uh with the singular word fruit so the the concept of of this being produced together in our lives then we dealt with the path to perfection second peter chapter one and tonight we're going to continue and we're going to discuss the journey of holiness the journey of holiness and let me say this at the outset as oneness pentecostals when we hear the word holiness many times i was born and raised in this this is all i've ever known my earliest memories are going to church in san jose california in my footy pajamas that as far back as i can remember i was that that's some of my earliest memories going to church we got there so my parents were so committed we were there early i mean so early i was still in my pajamas and my dad was a sunday school teacher and and and so on so forth so we were there early and and before everybody else my dad was part of the ministry team there at that church and this is all i've ever known as church and so when when we say the word holiness i know that we have our own definition of what that means and and often you know when we want to discuss standards of lifestyle or standards of conduct we label that holiness and and there's nothing wrong with that but let let's for this lesson just stick to the way the bible is going to define holiness because you're going to see how it directly impacts our lifestyle and our behavior but but instead of thinking about about rules okay instead of thinking about the thou shalt not holiness is everything that god is think about holiness that think about everything that god is everything that god is his nature his character holiness is everything that god is so for us then holiness is not a matter of rules holiness is a matter of identity holiness becomes a state of being holiness is not what you do holiness becomes what you are it is what we are because of who our god is and holiness is what we are all striving to attain we are all if you say i want to be a christian and i want to be more like jesus and i want to grow as a christian then you are striving for holiness because to strive for holiness is to be like him it's to become more like him to think the way he would want you to think to talk the way he would want you to talk to act to behave to conduct yourself the way he would want you to that is holiness to be more like jesus in our thoughts and our conduct is to grow in holiness so let's pray lord we love you and we want everything that you have for us lord we know that we are imperfect vessels serving a perfect god and we know that your mercy endures forever and that your grace is sufficient so give us understanding as we turn to your word we depend upon you god lord there is a picture in heaven of 24 elders casting their crowns at your feet saying you are worthy god we say those very words now you are worthy we honor you tonight thank you for your goodness to us in jesus name and everyone said all right so let's start out with some keys to understanding number one the journey of holiness is possible because of our new identity in christ holiness is possible because of our new identity in christ you cannot achieve holiness in a state of being lost or being unregenerated or being unsaved you cannot do it holiness is possible because we have been born again we are new creatures in christ all things have passed away behold all things have become new and because of this new life we can now strive we can reach for holiness the journey of holiness number two demands a radical change of thinking that is counter to natural behavior and this is going to come up throughout this lesson it really really really centers on how i think holiness first takes place there's a change in the mind there's a change in the way that i perceive there's a change in the way that i think and i consider holiness starts here in the mind and as i get right concepts of holiness in my mind i start thinking right then my behavior becomes right i'm going to look at verses that deal with the mind and how they are related to holiness so there's going to have to be a radical change of thinking that is counter to natural behavior you see you leave mankind to itself you just look at genesis chapter six god left man to itself and we got into all kinds of of wickedness and nastiness and filth leave us to ourselves and we run towards sin but holiness causes us to have a new way of thinking where we run towards god and in running towards god we turn our backs on sin it's a different way of thinking it starts in the mind everyone said amen so romans chapter 6 verse 17 romans 6 17 now there are a lot of misconceptions conceptions about the book of romans i i teach romans at the bible college i taught it for taught for many years i've actually just handed the class off last year just with all of my duties but i've taught romans i have written about romans i love romans and and there's a misconception that romans um gives license to live any way that you want to live because paul stresses the work of grace and holiness but if you if you have that that misconception my advice to you is read the entire book of romans read the entire book because you will see how sharp and how intense paul is demanding that christians lead a righteous and a holy lifestyle in the book of romans okay romans 6 17 but god be thanked that though you were i love it it's past tense it's not what i am anymore remember is a new identity right i'm born again i'm a new creature that though you were slaves of sin yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered i could stop right here and we could we could end church tonight okay for those who think that paul's view of grace was it doesn't matter what you do just believe and you're saved they have a little trouble with this verse because paul bases our salvation on our obedience you are not saved just because you heard the gospel preached to you you are saved because you obeyed the gospel it didn't matter if god spoke to noah and said build a boat and noah said well that's a great word from the lord noah was saved because he obeyed the word and he built a boat for 120 years he built that boat and you are and i are saved not because we come to church not because we hear preaching but we obey the word when it is preached and when it is taught we come to an altar and we repent we get in water and we are baptized for the remission of our sins we receive the holy ghost it is because of our obedience that salvation comes to you and i don't you ever think otherwise you will not be saved i asked this it was i had a seminary teacher that was just trying to stress grace and i said will you be saved without obedience to the gospel oh i love backing people in those kinds of corners he said well you have to obey okay so if you have to obey does that mean that you have to do what it tells people to do to be saved yeah that's what it means so when the bible says that we need to be baptized for the remission of our sins we would have to obey that well if you want to take it that far i do want to take it that far because that's what the word says i'm not looking for reasons to not obey the word i want to line up to the word every way i can and if there was a scripture in the bible and there's not but if there's a scripture in the bible that said that standing on my head for 10 minutes a day would please god i would stand on my head or i would try to for 10 minutes a day because i'm not looking for excuses to to push away the word of god well i don't have to do that i don't have to obey that and we look for sometimes excuses people do not us but people do sometimes on why they don't have just line up to the word just do what paul said obey the word obey the word obey the word you heard it preached you open up and you read it obey the word of god someone said amen all right yet you obeyed from the heart it wasn't just ah yeah no it it it's it's a you have to believe this with everything inside of you you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine doctrine's important doctrine's important i i've heard perhaps one of the most successful televangelists of our generation i heard him say on on an interview he said people don't care about doctrine anymore but you know who's stupid reset all right do you know who still cares about doctrine god still cares about doctrine and god's people had better always care about doctrine and we are saved by obeying the doctrine someone said amen to which you were delivered so obedience to the doctrine precipitated your deliverance from your past when i obeyed the doctrine that changed me and our present condition is freedom from sin our present condition is freedom from sin verse 18 and having been set free from sin you became slaves of righteousness so we're free from sin that's your present state in my present state now i'll be honest i i have i have days where i don't feel as free as maybe i should be my attitude isn't always a hundred percent what it needs to be and we all have things in our life that that we're working on but i have to confess the reality the truth of the world no i am free from sin and i refuse that you heard me get on this last week i refuse to believe the lie that says you somehow have to fail god every day you don't have to fail god you are free look at what the word declares about you you are free from sin so if there is a sin from your past trying to reach up and grab ahold of you you need to turn and tell that sin to let go because according to god according to the word you are free from those sins confess it confess this new reality having been set free from sin you became slaves of righteousness wow what is a slave a slave right it's a horrible concept when we think of of one person owning another person horrible concept but yet that's that's the terminology that that's the the word picture that's presented to what happens when you and i get get saved we become this new creature now we we are slaves of righteousness a slave doesn't have rights a slave doesn't have the power of choice a slave can't decide uh you know where they're going to do whatever no their their life is scripted for them they're told where they're going to work and what they're going to do and and everything in life is is ordered by somebody else and and and too many times we're so american in fact we're more american than we are christians because we want to fight for our rights and i ought to have the power of choice and blah blah blah but when you got saved the bible says you were purchased not with corruptable things like silver and gold but with the precious blood of christ i'm not my own anymore he bought me with his blood and i am a slave that means i have to do this i don't have the option i have to conform my life to righteousness because i am a slave of righteousness some people act like they're employees of righteous and they want to quit you're a slave of righteousness just as i used to serve sin because i wasn't right we were enslaved to sin we couldn't stop doing it there were habits and addictions and things in our lifestyle that we knew better we couldn't stop we were some sometimes you know people they had their incredible testimonies but they were literally in the gutter because they couldn't control themselves they couldn't stop and maybe your story isn't that extreme but all of us were enslaved to sin and here's the concept just as i used to serve sin now i am to serve god in righteousness and some of you were radical sinners then you need to be a radical saint verse 19. i speak in human terms so and he tells me he said i'm using a human example now some people might find this distasteful but slavery was it was a common condition of the ancient world the world in which the bible was written that's why the bible will speak to it or speak about it in terms because it was a part of their their economic system as a part of their society countries would go to war against other countries was a regular occurrence and when you conquered when you won that other nation you didn't usually kill the entire population you would take captives back and they became your slaves or they had a monetary system that if you had a debt you couldn't pay there was no such thing as bankruptcy you couldn't you're not going to bankruptcy court if you had a debt you couldn't pay and it was a large debt then then all your possessions would be sold and then you would be sold into slavery to satisfy that debt and so this this was the ancient world and so paul's using an example that they were all familiar with in fact in the book of romans paul wrote it to some people who were slaves because we know what their names are one's name is segundus another is tertius second and third this was somebody's second slave this was somebody's third slave and that's why they had those names and so the new testament church had had people that that either had come out of slavery that that they had been able to get their freedom in some matter or they were still slaves i speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh so use an example that that was very well known in their society he says i'm speaking and using a human example and just an example from life because you're having trouble to understand how this is supposed to work in the spirit he said i'm trying to change the way you think but but you're having a hard time grasping this concept for just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness isn't that the pattern of sin right we give we gave ourselves to sin and we were we were slaves of uncleanness just gave ourselves to more and more and more of it and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness he said okay look at that pattern where you gave yourself to sin and you gave yourself to more and more and deeper and darker sins he said now he said just reverse that reverse it present your members of slaves of righteousness for holiness now you are a slave you have to to live righteous and you have to conduct yourself in a way that honors god because because you are enslaved to righteousness it's your master verse 20. for when you are slaves of sin you are free in regard to righteousness think about this when you were in the church you had no obligation to follow the rules of the church let me take it a step further when you were in sin you really were not obligated to line up to what's written here for christians because you had a different citizenship but the moment you became a citizen of this kingdom the moment you became a child of god all of a sudden everything changed for you once before i was saved i was i was free in regard to righteousness when i was a slave of sin i wasn't obligated to do the things that i'm obligated to do now maybe i knew i should be doing some good things maybe i knew i was aware that i should be active in different ways but that obligation wasn't upon me because i was a citizen of a different kingdom with a different ruler a different master but now that i'm a part of this kingdom now that i'm born again now that i'm a child of god verse 21 what fruit did you have then and the things of which you're now ashamed paul said think back over your life and the fruit is is is what that produced he said what fruit did that life produce you're ashamed of that you're embarrassed of that i was a youth pastor for for for a good number of years and and i i've had parents come talk to me and they struggled with being honest with their own children about their testimony they were embarrassed about the life they lived and all their kids have ever known was mom and dad in church and church and church and church and and they they were embarrassed and they asked you know what how do i what do i do what do i tell them you know how do i handle my past with my kids that i don't want them to ever know that world or know that lifestyle or know how i used to be and so that what paul's talking about is real life we look back and we're embarrassed of the things we said we're ashamed of the way we acted before we were saved and we know the end of those things is death the sins that bring so much pleasure to this world the wages of sin produces death people that are out there on social media promoting their lifestyle of sin and smiling and just putting it out there and being influencers they are living under the cloud of doom and death because that's what a sinful life leads to there is no other conclusion the end of those things is death verse 22 but now having been set free from sin again that's our present reality i am free from sin you are free from sin even if we have flesh that we've still got a battle the reality is that i'm a citizen of a different kingdom with a new king a new master a new ruler in my life and i am a new creature i am free from sin you have to make that confession but now we've been set free from sin and having become slaves of god did you notice how before twice it said talked about being slaves of righteousness and now talks about being a slave of god because it's the same concept because righteousness is god it's the nature of god god is righteous so if you are a slave of god the natural way that that is expressed is to live a righteous life because he's a righteous god to be a slave of god is to be a slave of righteousness and having become slaves of god you have your fruit to holiness and look what is the end of holiness and the end everlasting life you ever been around somebody and they they have a mannerism maybe a way of doing something or a word an odd or strange word or a phrase that they use and you find yourself using that same phrase or saying that same word or maybe doing that mannerism as them the more you're around them just what they are rubs off on you and vice versa wouldn't it be wonderful if we got so close to jesus that his mannerisms rubbed off on us we talked like him we moved like him and we interacted with others just like him that's that's holiness as i'm a slave of god my life belongs to him completely there's no part of my life outside of his lordship my life belongs to him completely and as i become a slave of righteous a slave of god there's something that is produced out of that obedience out of that surrender what is produced is holiness where i become more like him i feel the holy ghost right now you see we have to get a revelation that holiness is not rules holiness is being like god and isn't that what we're all reaching for and look at what the end result is everlasting life you want to make heaven your home then reach for holiness reach to be more like him make yourself a slave of righteousness hey what we're talking tonight it's 2021 this is not politically correct because i am telling you to abandon your rights and your wishes and your wrongs your wants and to lay yourself on an altar and say god my life is nothing except what is lived unto you whatever you want that's what i want whatever you say that's what i'll do wherever you want me to go i have no say in anything from this day forward i am a slave of god the fruit of our lives produces holiness which leads to everlasting life and this is what i stress to our college students because i know they're going to have challenges as they begin their ministries and i want to share this challenge with you don't ever believe the lie that your lifestyle doesn't matter you're gonna have people tell you ah that stuff doesn't matter really really it sure matters when i read this it sure matters when i read paul and peter and james and john it sure matters when i hear the words of jesus it sure matters when i read this holy book don't you ever believe the lie that your lifestyle doesn't matter and the world the religious world the christian world may turn its back on doctrine said it doesn't matter just give people a good experience at church that same man that that made that comment that people don't care about doctrine he removed any image or any sign from there being a cross at his church and he said the reason is he says the cross separates people and i don't like people to feel uncomfortable at church you know what the cross does separate it separates me from my sin and i'm not saying when you throw images of the cross up that's that's not what i'm saying but i'm saying that that we we need to not be afraid to be counter cultural in what we preach and what we teach and what we stand for and there is a lie in in christianity today that says your lifestyle doesn't matter friend go back to this book and you'll find it absolutely matters how you live because if you want everlasting life you first have to walk the path of holiness you become a slave of god and you have your fruit to holiness and the end of that is everlasting life everyone said amen all right so oh goodness you've seen me use this example before but let me give you a visual so this chair we're going to put it on one side i don't want to step on any cords there put this on one side of the platform point a and i'll just grab a random chair out here we'll make this point b so everyone can see those two chairs hopefully point a point b on the platform and we're gonna name the these two points we're gonna name this chair this chair is justification chair everyone say hi justification that's justification and uh we'll go to the next slide and the next chair is very good perfect is glorification okay justification to glorification okay so justification this is where i the word justified means to be in right standing with god you're declared to be right so when i get justified i am now in right standing with god i was in wrong standing okay i was a sinner and then i get saved i get born again and god looks over my life and he declares that i am justified i am now in right standing with god it's not by my goodness i didn't do enough good works to earn it but it's by his mercy it's by his grace it's by the blood that washed over me and as i obey the gospels it's preached and i'm washed in his blood now i am justified i am in right standing with god and i am saved at this moment if the rapture were to happen i'm saved the moment you're justified you are in right standing with god okay but then you notice god doesn't take us all to heaven right away the perfect time for god to zap us with a bolt of lightning would be right when we're coming up out of the water in the baptismal tank right then we're coming up out of the water we're speaking in tongues the name of jesus has just been spoken over our lives the our old man our sins are in that watery grave we're coming up that would have been the perfect time for god to kill all of us because think about it i mean the slate is is as clean as could be no one in church has offended you and you've offended no one your attendance record is perfect your tithing record is perfect at that point i mean everything that was the perfect time for god to say you're coming home and yet god didn't do that he allowed you to have this starting point of justification and then he points you and he says now i've got something at the end called glorification and glorification is just what it sounds like it's when i'm forever in the presence of god okay and in and when i'm glorified i'm in that that eternal state the bible says uh we shall see him as he is we shall be like him we shall see him as he is so there's going to be some radical transformation that takes place glorified bodies and i will be forever in the presence of god start it at justification and one day it will end at glorification but the process in between where i go from justification to glorification this is what we call sanctification sanctification is the process of becoming what god declares me to be because look see the catholic church you have to there are certain things you have to do to become a saint you have to do like two miracles and do all this stuff and then after long after you're dead they vote on you and if you pass the test they vote you into sainthood but the bible refers to believers as saints you ever wonder why it does that because you're justified he declares you to be a saint and then he begins the process where you become what you are declared to be i don't always feel like a saint especially as a new believer i don't even know the songs to sing you know i'm just looking around what's going on but but right there i i am fully saved as much as that person that's been living for god for 40 years even if i can't clap on beat and i don't know the hymnal songs him those songs that i think means the same thing all right and yet god puts us on this journey where i am becoming what he declares me to be because when i'm justified he says you are now righteous but now i begin to learn to live out and to be that righteous man that he declared me to be at the point of justification so sanctification is the process of becoming who we are declared to be and in the new testament something interesting happens the term sanctification and holiness are synonymous terms in the new testament to grow in sanctification is to grow in holiness because here's the point here's the goal right when i go i'm going to use me as example when i got saved there was a whole lot of eli and that's not good a whole lot of eli but the goal is that as i walk in sanctification as i become what god has declared me to be as i learn how to be a christian as i grow in grace as i grow in knowledge the knowledge of god and as i grow that i will become less like eli and more like jesus that the things that used to bother me the triggers and all the stuff with my temper whatever else it struggles with all those things the temptations that that i would i would grow when i would learn and i and and what did john the baptist say it was to me it's the most perfect prayer for the process of sanctification he said i must decrease but he must increase and that that to me that describes this process where there becomes less of me and there becomes more of him if i am the same person 30 years into church that i was the day i got saved something is wrong and the problem's not with god and the problem's not with his word and the problems not with the church because if you want to grow in god you can so this process this process of sanctification it's to grow in a holiness it's where i become more like him and more like him and more like him and more like him as you grow in christ things should be changing in your life have you ever noticed maybe i'm the only one that's this ever happened to but there's something that you've done in your life and it's no big deal and one day god knocks on the door of your heart and says i don't want you to do that anymore but god i've been doing this since i've been in church yeah god says yeah but i don't want you do it anymore i don't want you to say that anymore i don't want you to to partake of that anymore what's happening is he's pulling you to be more like him and he's cutting things out and he's taking things away and he's saying just just i want you to be more like me i want you to be more like me and i want you to avoid that because that's not like me and i want you to embrace this because because that that is very much me so this process that god has us on and we're all in this process and so there are three adversaries that we face on this journey on the journey of holiness there are three adversaries that you and i have to conquer if we are going to grow in holiness the way that god desires us to number one is our flesh and this is the biggest battle of all even bigger than the devil the flesh refers to the human will and human desires galatians 5 17. let me open my bible i want to read that for you i think many of us probably haven't memorized galatians 5 17. and it says it this way for the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other there is an a fight that every one of us have until we reach this point of glorification then the fight is over but as long as you and i are are on this earth living in this flesh we will have a battle on our hands the human will the human desires i've got to learn to put down paul says crucified those who are christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lust we read that when we talked about the fruit of the spirit those who are christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lust number two the system of the world the system of the world we are living in an anti-god anti-moral world it's the culture that we are living in we are living in a world that now the bible prophesied about it and it seemed so hard to believe and now we're living in the reality of it that what is good is now called evil and what is evil is now heralded as being good i'm a father with three teenagers and that is the world in which my children are now living what is good is evil in the eyes of this world and what is evil is now promoted and held up as the ideal in first john chapter 2 this is another one that i think a lot of us probably could speak it know it says love not the world it's not talking about the globe that is the earth it's talking about the system the ways of this world the the anti-god immorality that dominates this world love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love the father is not in him goes back to what jesus said you can't serve two masters verse 16 for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh sexual desires that that are out of control like we see in this world the lust of the eyes greed and covetousness and and desiring more and the pride of life the human pride the humanism that dominates our days dominates the the conduct that we live the the exalting of the human mind and the intellect and the power of the human will the pride of life is not of the father but is of the world the world passeth away in the lust of it all the junk this world is going to pass away but verse 17 is give such a promise but he that doeth the will of god abideth forever and that's that's that's that's a fight on this journey i've got flesh i've got to put down the fleshy desires and wants and appetites and cravings whatever whatever terms you want to use to describe the way our flesh will rise up at times but but then there's a system of the world that is conspiring against me on this journey and but he that doeth the will of god abideth forever if i just stay in the will of god if i just do the will of god if i just purpose i'm to be in the will of god then one day heaven will be my home the third battle and he is real whether you want to acknowledge him or not there is an adversary in fact that's what satan means it means the adversary satan and his forces are at work to destroy the faith of the people of god don't you ever ever forget about it and first peter chapter 5 verse 8 says it like this be sober be vigilant that means be on guard why because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour he walks around sometimes i'm convinced he's walking up and down the up and down the aisles of church who's paying attention to their phone and their social media feed while the preaching's going on that's one ready to be devoured who's nodding off because they have time to to spend on everything else but when it comes to god they can barely give him half of their attention before falling asleep seeking whom he may devour i'm not talking about any of you tonight and there is an adversary who hates my god realize this he hates your god but he can't hurt your god he can't throw a stone and hit your god he can't strike out and hurt your god in any way the only way he can get at god is by getting at god at what god cares about about what god loves and god loves you and god cares for you and so the way the adversary tries to get it god is he attacks you and his goal is not just to make your life miserable he he he likes it when you're miserable he likes it when you're having a bad day but his goal is not just for you to have a bunch of bad days his goal is to destroy your faith that's what trials are it's the testing of our faith it's a testing am i going to hold on to god and believe in god through this attack through this storm through this trial am i going to keep believing in god and when the enemy comes in that's not a time to run from god that's a time to run to god when your life's upside down you shouldn't be skipping church you should be coming to church early and staying late because you're reaching for more of god what what what did jesus tell peter we read about it last week satan has desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat but i prayed for you that your faith fail you not the battle is to keep your faith in the face of all of the attacks of hell to say i refuse to let go i refuse to quit believing i'm going to hold on to jesus no matter what and so i have three adversaries to holiness my flesh this world that i'm living in and a very real devil so let's start out we're not we won't get through all of them tonight next week we're going to have a special speaker here on wednesday brother kenneth stewart is going to be with us brother stewart graduated from bible college many many years ago i don't want to put a date on it because i would be wrong but he won our distinguished alumnus award last year and he is for the united pentecostal church he works at headquarters helping uh church planters this man has has a tremendous burden for the loss he's going to come and spend time with our college students about the burden the need to go into unchurched cities and start new churches and so he's going to be with us and now and with the students on monday tuesday and wednesday but then on wednesday night we're all going to come together and have a great time so we won't have this lesson next week but in two weeks we're gonna pick this back up so uh just throw that out there just for whatever so just know that when you come back next wednesday we're gonna have a special service with brother stewart but then um we will continue this so tonight we're not gonna get through all five of these i'm gonna give you five truths regarding holiness we may get one maybe get two uh and then we will we will hit pause here so we can finish this appropriately but truth number one holiness is contrary to what we would do without god's instruction and i made that point earlier you leave mankind to himself you leave mankind to himself we don't trend to what is good our our propensity needs in other words the things that that that we are inclined to do what what we're good at is we we our propensity is towards evil and i often use the example you don't have to teach kids to steal from the cookie jar you don't have to teach your son to hit your daughter on the head with his tonka truck he's going to figure out how to do that on his own they will fight and they will kids will steal and kids will lie and you don't have to teach this bad behavior we as humans are naturally inclined towards that but holiness is contrary to what we would do without god's instruction you can actually find this clip online in in the age of youtube and everything else that we have but on monday march the 30th 1981 69 days into his presidency president ronald reagan was leaving a speaking engagement at the washington hilton hotel in washington dc and suddenly shots rang out i remember when this happened i was a young child i remember three others were shot and wounded when john hinckley jr standing in the crowd pulled out a handgun and opened fire and all begin to flinch and dive away from the noise there's a commotion a scrum and everyone dives away from the noise and in the clip there's a secret service agent by the president and he flinches too he flinches just like everybody else at the noise but instead of diving away he turned towards the noise and he threw himself towards the danger why did everybody else when they heard that noise they all flinched but why did some dive away from the danger and dive towards safety and why did this man go against his natural impulse of self-preservation because we all have it we all have a survival instinct what caused him to flinch like everybody else hearing a noise he didn't expect but instead of diving away he turns and faces the danger and moves towards it what was the difference between him and the others the difference was training he was tr he had made a commitment that if you're going to be a part of the president's detail you're going to be part of the secret service you are have to be willing to lay your life down so there was first a commitment but then after the commitment came a training that taught him to not run from danger but to fulfill his duty in the face of danger man i feel the holy ghost right now i'm talking about something in the natural but i and you have to make a commitment to jesus you have to make a commitment to god lord i'm going to live for you no matter what even if everybody in the church offends me and brother lopez never shakes my hand even if i never get to sing that solo friday night at landmark and even if i never get to do all the things i think i should get to doing and nobody likes me and everybody hates me and and life's just miserable you need to make up in your mind i'm going to live for jesus no matter what there has to be a commitment and then the training starts and while the flesh and the world and the devil would conspire to get me off course the training's going to keep me on course there's a life i'm going to live because this world is not my home i'm just passing through i'm on a journey of holiness there's glorification that that's that's what i'm reaching for holiness is contrary to what we would do without god's instruction first timothy 2 8 i desire therefore that the men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting paul is challenging the men of the church and he's timothy was left in charge of the church at ephesus timothy is a young minister so paul is telling timothy how he is to conduct the church how the church should operate i decided therefore that the men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting this is referring to really the public gathering of the church and paul is saying the men are to take the role of spiritual leadership in the church that is holiness when the men are taking the role of spiritual they lift up their holy hands they are the examples in prayer for the rest of the church that's the responsibility that god has placed upon men but look at verse 9 in like manner also in like manner also that means verse 8 and verse 9 are linked one is built off of the other in like manner also that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety in moderation not with braided hair or gold excuse me or pearls or costly clothing so here's the question how is the concept of men taking the role of spiritual leadership the same as women dressing in a modest manner because these thoughts are joined in like manner also how does one equate to the other when it comes to the church we often just take verse 9 right and that's what we're going to put out there but verse 8 is the basis for verse 9. and here's what i believe paul is telling us both of these are against what would naturally happen without god's guidance because i have found through experience that it's much easier for a man to sit in the background and allow a woman to become the spiritual leader of the home and paul says that ought not to be i thank god for praying mamas i'm here because i have a praying mama but you know what i also had a praying daddy we never called him daddy he was papa and paul says you know you want to be god's people then you got to be counter-cultural and it is easy for a man to slink into the background and allow his wife to be the spiritual head of the home to take the lead in spiritual matters and paul says that ought not to be men you lift up holy hands and you be the spiritual leaders of the church and and this is not being chauvinistic this is understanding god's order well brother lopez that's not politically correct remember we are not living according to the customs of this world holiness is counter-cultural but holiness is right and men we are responsible we are to lift up holy hands without wrath that means we've got to get our temper under control without doubting we don't need to be pessimistic we need to be men of faith in what we speak without wrath and doubt but it's our job as the men of the church to be the spiritual leaders of our homes likewise you see we think these battles are new these battles are not new these battles that we face as humans they were facing them when the church was was a brand new newborn church in its infancy in the book of acts and paul wrote about lifestyle things that affected them like they affect us likewise it's much easier for a woman to cave to the pressures of the world in regard to dress and immodesty just like a man could slink back and say i'm going to let my wife take the lead paul says in like matter also women make sure that the way you present yourself with your clothing honors god man you're going to honor god by your spiritual leadership women you're going to honor god by the way you present yourself in appearance and some you know you you hear the comments well that's not fair men have it easier than not really not if men take do their job right they don't have it easier but it is it is just a a fact of the matter that the the female form it has been used by the devil as an alermant in this world that's why pornography is such an epidemic and and god said i want my women in my church to represent me in the way that they they clothe themselves and what's amazing we're not going to go through in this lesson today but the word for apparel in verse 9 is is is the greek word catastole it's a compound word kata means down upon or down with stole was it was a special robe that would be worn and so this is the only time that word is used in the entire bible for talking about women's dress codastole it is a robe or a garment that is let down it is something that fully covers the body and in classical literature the word code estolia is used to denote a uniform so there is a way i don't want to say uniform i don't want to take it that far but you look at how the word is used in classical greek literature it's only used one time in the bible to talk to describe the way women are addressed but in class there's a uniform or there there is a standard of dress for christian women according to paul's writing that this body is to be clothed in a way that honors god and you see both of these things are counter-cultural but paul said men you take the spiritual leadership of your home and women make sure that you represent christ in the way that you clothe yourself number two and we'll start this point we won't finish this point holiness is a sacrifice don't you ever ever ever misunderstand what i'm saying i am never going to tell you holiness is easy how can it be easy to be like god i'm never going to tell it's a lie if someone says holy see holiness is not easy holiness is a sacrifice but remember you're a slave of god your life belongs to him and this is a sacrifice that he is demanding of those who are committed to serving him romans 12 1 i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god that you present your bodies a living sacrifice martyred him that's that's a one-time payment of a high price i'm going to give up my life for jesus that i'm in heaven but paul said you're to be a living sacrifice every day you get up you lay yourself on the altar and you kill your will and you kill your flesh and you say no to temptation and you give yourself fully to god not one time but every single day that you live you present yourself as a living sacrifice and look at that it's holy acceptable to god which is your reasonable some people say you guys are a bunch of extremists who actually know we're not extremists we're just living out what is reasonable when you think about all that god's done for you it's just reasonable to have this kind of response holiness is a sacrifice verse two do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind i have the word mind underlined because we're going to revisit that when we complete this this lesson he said don't be conformed don't fit in to this world never it's counter cultural don't be conformed but be transformed by the renewing of mind you need to think different if you're going to live a holy life your thinking has to change that you may prove or that you may understand what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of god this is not saying that there are three wills of god this is three ways of describing the will of god it is good acceptable and it is perfect you want to understand what is god's will for life you want to live in god's will you want to walk in god's will then you need to make your body a living sacrifice change the way you think a new way of thinking a new mind allows for surrender to the will of god holiness is a sacrifice would you stand with me tonight brother lopez what do you mean by by that that holiness is a sacrifice a sacrifice will cost you something david made this statement when he was ordered to offer sacrifice and he found the place to offer that sacrifice and david made this statement because the owner of the field or down the jebusite said david you can have it it's yours and david said no i will not offer god that which cost me nothing if it's going to be a sacrifice it's going to cost me something i've had young people ask me when they go on a fast can they do this can they do that can they drink this can they partake of this and i finally one class i just said you know fasting is supposed to be a sacrifice and it sounds like you're just trying to make it as easy as possible you're supposed to feel hunger when you're fasting that's the point a sacrifice thank you brother simon yes the sacrifice will cost you something and some people look at the cost that's all they see is the cost but what you need to look at is the purchase of such a cost yes it's going to cost me something but look at the purchase of such a cost you have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life i'm not saying that we buy our salvation don't misunderstand me [Music] but getting to heaven is going to cost all of us something [Music] it's going to cost us giving up our will it's going to cost our full surrender to god it's going to cost our obedience to god it's going to cost us doing what the word has taught us to do tonight to become a slave of god a slave of righteousness where we become those living sacrifices god my life is yours my life is yours in this holy atmosphere would you would you raise your hands and that that sign of surrender and that sign of worship that sign of yielding to god and would you just would you just tell the lord how much you love him tonight when you think of all that he's done for you the price that he paid for you the sacrifice that he made for you this sacrifice that he's asking tonight it is your reasonable service [Music] we love you jesus [Music] [Music] oh [Music] it's just here it's in this atmosphere god is calling us his people to be living sacrifices would you find a place to pray if you want to come to the altar it is it is wide open if you want to turn and kneel where you're at or just sit in your pew but don't don't you dare leave tonight without having a conversation with god there's a summoning in the holy ghost you can feel in the very atmosphere yes it's counter cultural you're right your flesh doesn't want to do it but you belonged to him you were bought with a price therefore glorify god in your body and in your spirit which belonged to god [Music] i will not withhold and if sacrifice is less then giving you my very best help me remember calvary's cross and be willing to say yes i will give you all i will give you all [Music] if all is what you ask of me i will not withhold and give my sacrifice is less than giving you my very best help me remember calvary's cross and be willing to say yes i will give you all [Music] i will give you all if all is what you ask of me i will not withhold and if my sacrifice is less than giving you my very best help me remember calvary's crossed and be willing to say [Music] i will give you all i will give you all if all is what you ask of me i will not withhold and if my sacrifice is less than giving you my very best help me remember calvary's cross and be willing to say yes i will give you all [Music] i will give you all if all is what you ask [Music] sacrifice is giving you my very best help me remember calvary's cross and be willing to say yes [Music] so [Music] i will give you all i will give you all if all is what you ask of me i will not withhold [Music] if my sacrifice is less than giving you my very best help me remember calvary's cross and be willing to say yes oh i will give you all i will give you all if all is one you ask of me i with not withhold [Applause] and if my sacrifice is less than giving you my very best help me remember calvary's cross and be willing to say yes i will give you all i will give you all if all is what you ask of me i will not withhold if my sacrifice is less than giving you my very best help me remember calvary's cross and be willing to [Music] say yes [Music]

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Length: 101min 44sec (6104 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 08 2021