The Journey of Holiness Part 2 - Eli Lopez - September 22, 2021

so you praise the lord seal see if we could all stand across the building hallelujah hallelujah is anybody excited to be in the house of the lord tonight is anyone excited to encounter god tonight i i i can't help but think when we come into the house of the lord the psalmist said i will bless the lord at all times he said his praise shall continually be in my mouth and i wouldn't want it to be any other way i wouldn't want to come into a service and and just treat it as another wednesday night or another time of coming together and and maybe let the opportunity pass me by where i can bless the lord where where i could praise him where the the fruit of my praise could be a blessing unto the lord is that anybody's heartbeat tonight is that anyone's desire tonight and don't you know how good he's been to you i can't tell you how good the lord has been to me i couldn't tell all of the wonderful things he's done for me but i can demonstrate it in my praise i can demonstrate it in my worship i can demonstrate it in my relationship with him so before the first note is played before the first line is sung why don't we begin to bless the lord tonight why don't we begin to praise him tonight god we are here for you lord we desire god to be pleasing unto you we desire to encounter you tonight jesus all we want lord is to bless your name all we want god is to encounter your presence tonight lord whatever you desire to do is that anybody's cry tonight why don't you begin to yield yourself to the spirit right now why don't you begin to surrender yourself of lord wherever you want to take me tonight god that is where i'll go lord whatever you want to do tonight god that is where those of you watching online i know you're getting a hold of god and if you're not why don't you set the distractions aside why don't you set your mind on jesus for just the next hour the next two hours how long he wants to take it the lord has a plan for you tonight [Music] that's it can you feel the atmosphere begin to shift can you feel the presence of the lord my bible tells me where two or three are gathered there he is in the midst of them let me tell you brothers and sisters the lord is here in this place and he is able to heal he is able to deliver he is able to provide don't let him pass you by tonight don't let it pass you by tonight hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah continue to worship as the praise team comes you may be seated if you like holidays [Music] god we worship your name [Applause] [Music] there is no one else like you you are faithful yes [Music] [Music] your name praise to the only living god praise to the holy faithful one hallelujah [Applause] [Music] hallelujah [Applause] [Music] hallelujah we worship you all names [Applause] there is no one else like you and you are faithful yes you are god [Applause] [Music] pray to the only living god pray to the holy faithful one hallelujah we praise your name there is freedom today in your presence [Music] [Applause] hallelujah hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] we praise your name praise to the only living god praise to the holy faithful wife [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hallelujah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we break your name [Music] [Applause] hallelujah [Music] happy new year [Applause] [Music] you hallelujah let's all just lift our hands in this place tonight and glorify him speak to him all the things that you want to say all the praise all the worship that you want to get [Music] the hallelujah seated on the throne he was filled with glory [Music] and it's altered high [Music] in the train of oh god it filled the temple the angels circled around here [Music] and as they cried before they cried you [Music] oh [Music] are holy lord [Music] is [Music] me oh god for i am unclean jesus for my eyes have seen they see god this holy king [Music] and he collects my [Music] [Music] they stole as the angels cried [Music] is [Applause] [Music] me [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you are oh [Music] [Music] you are you are holy yes lord that's it church just begin to lift your voice don't let this moment pass you by we are in the presence of a holy god of a righteous god yes jesus you are holy lord and we worship you and we praise you god lord we bow in reverence before you tonight god we recognize lord that we though we are unclean lord you chose to come and die for us lord you chose to pray the price that we would be able to come into relationship with you jesus lord we worship you god we praise you hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah lord you're worthy you're worthy hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah yes lord i just love the presence of god that i feel in this place it's such a blessing to come together and and to be able to fellowship one with another but to be able to fellowship with the spirit and i can't help but when we come together to think just how much what i feel in here needs to be felt out there right that those that are on the outside of these walls they don't understand they don't know what it's like to to fellowship with the creator to fellowship with the lover of their souls and and so right now we are going to pray a prayer together in in one mind in one accord and i want to remind us that as we pray this prayer we're coming together in agreement and and the bible says we're to agree on anything it will be done by my father in heaven that's what the lord jesus says in matthew 18 and so right now we're gonna pray we are gonna pray our kingdom prayer we're gonna pray for this city we're gonna pray for this state we're gonna pray for this nation and believe that the lord is going to pour out of his spirit upon all flesh that he is going to pour out on our government officials and he's going to pour out on the poorest beggars in the street because my god is no respecter of persons right now if we can join together lord we come before you today god in faithfulness lord to pray this prayer knowing that you are a prayer answering god i plead the blood lord over the city of stockton god i pray that your spirit would be poured out lord like never before i speak to the principalities and the powers of the north the south and the east and the west to give up the souls that are called by the name of jesus christ to give up the backsliders that have been lost for years lord it's time for our backsliders to come home lord and i pray that you encompass round about our law enforcement those that are doing your work lord in the name of jesus father i pray for this government lord that you would pour out your spirit on our president lord that you would pour out your spirit god from the highest government official lord to the poorest beggar on the street god we believe you for it today god we declare it in jesus name does anybody believe it today does anybody believe that you're gonna see the lord pour out of his spirit that you're gonna see that backslider come home that you're gonna see that co-worker saved that lost loved one saved i believe it today in jesus name in jesus name hallelujah and with that same faith we're gonna present the needs that we have in the body and uh i don't know if many of you know but normally brother tim miller he'd be with us in this service but his father brother gary miller is is battling with covid right now and they have put him in an induced coma and so it's it's serious it's something serious but you know the report may look bad but i know the author and the finisher of our faith i know the one who can turn it all around amen and so that is one need we're gonna present before the lord is there any other needs if you have a need in this place i want you to raise your hand in faith whether it be financial whether it be physical whether it be a healing our god is a healer right now we're gonna go before the lord if you see a need why don't you reach your hand across the aisle why don't you pray in faith right now lord jesus we come before you in faith today god believing lord that you are a prayer answering god lord i pray lord where healing is needed god that you would heal lord where deliverance is needed lord that you would deliver where provision is needed that you would provide god i pray for brother gary miller right now lord in the name of jesus that you would send ministering angels right now lord your your presence would fill that hospital room god and a miraculous move of your spirit lord would raise up that man of faith god in the name of jesus we pray it today lord i pray for brother cisneros right now god that you would touch his body lord that you would heal him lord we believe in you for a miracle today god lord it's all for your glory let there be testimonies of your power from this prayer god let there be testimonies of your miraculous power lord in the name of jesus hallelujah hallelujah why don't we praise the lord for a second as if it were already done church as if it were already done why don't you praise them in advance hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah we worship you lord we praise you you all may be seated just for a moment amen we've got a few announcements this sunday right after sunday morning service all my teenagers we're gonna have a uh a fellowship a meet and greet it's gonna be right after sunday service in the choir room right behind uh the platform and it's gonna be a little time of fellowship and we're gonna get the ministry kickstarted amen it's been a while for our teenagers amen but we're gonna get things rolling amen all my ladies in the house say amen ladies advance it's coming and you guys have until october 3rd for your 50 registration i know that's pretty cheap after october 3rd the prices go up so you guys better get get busy if you're not registered i would register it's going to be a powerful time in the holy ghost and i know one thing when our ladies are on fire our church is on fire amen amen all right some apostolic calisthenics we could all rise for our wednesday evening tithe and offering amen hallelujah the lord loves a cheerful giver and we're going to be faithful to present the tithe and offering right now so if you have it prepare it for for the offering prepare to give amen we're going to pray over that right now lord we thank you for this opportunity god to give lord we thank you for the ability to give to your kingdom god i pray that you would bless this offering right now lord lord bless every giver god i pray that you would rebuke the devourer and you would open up a window of heaven lord a window in heaven and pour out a blessing that we could not contain jesus i pray that your perfect will would be done in each giver tonight lord and that you would bless it all for your kingdom and for your glory and everybody said amen on the lower floor you can march on the balcony they'll wait on you amen [Music] so [Music] every praise is to our god every word of worship with one accord every praise every praise is to our god [Music] to our god it's to our god every praise every praise [Music] every is is to our god every word of worship with one accord every praise every praise is to [Music] is [Music] is [Music] to our god glory hallelujah [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] yes is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] the lord is good oh that was weak i said the lord is good amen if you remain standing with me tonight and to so appreciate the worship and the great job brother grimaldi did and leading the service today and i love seeing god raise up the next generation of leaders for this ministry and i just i'm becoming the old guy around here and hopefully i age gracefully before we get into the lesson tonight as sister stoops was leading us in worship with with the praise team i was drawn to isaiah chapter six because they were singing about how holy our god is and the lesson tonight we're going to discuss the holiness of god in isaiah chapter six the bible says verse one this is not part of the notes this is just something we're going to do in these next few moments in the year that king uzziah died i saw also the lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and his train filled the temple above it stood the seraphims each one had six wings with twain he covered his face and with twain he covered his feet and with twain he did fly and one look at this and one cried unto another and said holy holy holy something very significant is happening there in in the hebrew in the text behind the english and in in english we have you know something is good something is better something is best and we know how to convey degrees like that in the english language in the hebrew they don't have that and so to convey that same thought you just repeat a word for example there's a promise later in the book of isaiah about great peace have all they that keep their mind stayed on thee but when you look in the the hebrew it doesn't say great peace it says peace peace in hebrew when you repeat a word you actually you strengthen the word you you it's like multiplying the power of the word so by saying peace peace it we would translate it as great peace and so here when the angels cry holy they are declaring that god is holy then when they repeat it they said god is really holy and then when they repeat it a third time they are saying god is the most holy of all each repetition is building in intensity this understanding of the holiness of god holy holy is the lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory verse 4 and the post of the door moved at the voice of him that cried and the voice was filled with smoke and this is you and i then said i 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 when isaiah found himself in the holy presence of a holy god his response was woe is me i am so unclean my garments are stained woe is me and he said for mine eyes have seen the king the lord of hosts and that would be the tragedy if that was the end of the story but in the mercy of god there is a cleansing for the people of god then flew one of the seraphims unto me having a live coal in his hand which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar and he laid it upon my mouth and said lo this hath touched thy lips and that iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged tonight we're going to pray a prayer that has two two facets number one that god would help us to recognize his holiness that's what i isaiah did he recognized the holiness of god and then that god would cleanse us that there would be a washing by his blood a washing and a renewing by the blood of christ by the blood of the lamb that we would not only recognize the holiness of god that we could walk in the holiness of god and just like that angel touched him with that fiery red hot coal from the altar and it was symbolic of a purging away of the sin so there will be a washing tonight in his in his blood the blood of the spotless lamb and people like you and i that would say woe is me woe is me i'm so unclean woe is me yet when we are washed in that blood we are made clean by his righteousness lord jesus tonight i pray that you would help us to recognize to see your holiness as we look to your word help us to understand to recognize give us a revelation of the holiness of god and god i pray there will be a cleansing that we would not only see and experience your holiness that we would walk in your holiness that we would be a holy people of god unto you that our lives would honor you by the holiness that we demonstrate in our commitment in the life that we will live before you we love you we honor you wash us cleanse us tonight god we need you lord in jesus name we pray and everybody said god bless you can be seated so we are going to continue this this journey for me it's been a wonderful journey discussing spiritual formation and we have completed five lessons if we can go ahead and have our media team with our slides prepared hopefully we can do that today i know there are some delays with our computer and hope hopefully we can get that up before too long amen we have completed five lessons the first lesson dealt with the call of god the second lesson dealt with developing spiritual disciplines the third lesson dealt with spiritual gifts the fourth lesson dealt with the fruit of the spirit and then the fifth lesson dealt with the path to perfection and then two weeks ago last week we had a special service with brother stewart what a wonderful service we had but two weeks ago we went through the first half of this lesson the journey of holiness and so we're going to continue discussing lesson six the journey of holiness tonight there were two keys to understanding that we established as we began this lesson two weeks ago number one the journey of holiness is possible because of our new identity in christ it is actually impossible to be holy until you are born again until the nature of christ is formed in you we can do good works we can do good acts we can try to live an upright lifestyle but we will never achieve true holiness without there being a regeneration a new birth in our lives but because we are born again because old things have passed away and all things are made new you and i can can can reach and walk a life of holiness unto god number two the journey of holiness demands a radical change of thinking and we touched on that a little bit last week we're going to touch on it a whole lot more this week that really holiness starts in the area of perception the area of understanding as you think as you perceive what is going on inwardly will affect how you live outwardly and that's exactly what jesus said he said first wash the inside of the cup and then the outside will be clean also right when he was rebuking the pharisees because they the outside was clean the inside was filth and and and full of uncleanness and full of iniquity and sin and he said you need you need you got this backwards you've got to start on the inside and if you cleanse the inside then the outside will be clean also and so holiness really starts with my thinking and if i can have a radical reorientation of the way that i think now i can walk the path of holiness and this is where we get romans 12 which talks about not being conformed to this world being transformed by the renewing of our mind okay three adversaries to holiness right we learned this two weeks ago three adversaries number one our flesh oh my goodness it the the the human will the the rebellious human heart is is amazing the moment god says just think about this there's a garden there's paradise there's trees abundant fruit everything you could ever hope for it's paradise there's never a bad weather day i mean it is absolute paradise god says it's all yours you can live here forever just don't eat the fruit from that one tree and adam and eve were like what tree what what tree was that god something about human nature the moment god says no we're like well why not really are you sure god did you really say no did you really mean no there's something about us the it's it's the the forbidden fruit syndrome we're drawn to what we should not have so your flesh is going to fight holiness the moment god says i want you to do this and live is think about this i can sit and talk with you probably if you and i went out got a cup of coffee we could probably talk for an hour and the time would just fly by we would just sit and visit and talk i'd hear your story you'd hear my story and we just have a great time together but you get in prayer right and five minutes feels like five hours i've used this example a lot many times i've been so busy that i just don't have time to eat i just don't i just skipped lunch my wife often asked me would you have for lunch today work i had nothing for lunch i don't have time for lunch i got to work you know and i'm just driven that way and you don't even notice it just do what you've got to do and yet the moment i call it a fast going into a coma by 10 o'clock in the morning you know i'm just your flesh fights whatever is spiritual whatever is holy whatever whatever is god that your flesh is automatically going to rebound and so our flesh is going to fight holiness don't be surprised if if god speaks to you out of his word you read something convicting in the word and then your mind your carnal mind is going to give you all kinds of reasons why you don't have to do it our flesh is going to fight holiness the system of this world is going to fight holiness so we get it squared away here and then we walk out into a world that is contrary to everything we stand for and we are really living in an hour where what is good is now called evil and what is evil is now promoted as being good we are really living in that hour today and number three the devil satan which means the adversary he is real and now i know you probably think the devil is after you it's probably not the devil but it is probably one of his minions one of his demons there is a plan though there is a concerted effort the devil hates your god he hates your god and because he can't hurt god he can't attack god he's going to attack what matters the most to god and that's you and me and so if there's anything he can do to get at god it's to take one of god's children and to take us off the course so that we would lose our way so the flesh the system of the world and the devil and the demons of hell are fighting against me becoming a holy man of god fighting into you becoming a holy child of god so a couple truths we looked at number one holiness is contrary to what we would do without god's instruction you leave us to ourselves and we don't become holy on our own just look at genesis chapter six the bible says god was sorry that he had made man on the earth you leave us to ourselves and we get in all kinds of trouble so holiness is contrary to what we would do without god's instruction and we talked about first timothy 2 8 9 that that um that the men would lift up holy hands without wrath and doubting so the men would take the role of spiritual leadership in the church and then that would the women would adorn themselves in modest apparel both are contrary to what would normally happen without god's instruction god says this is what i want you to do you're going to run into opposition so men you need to step forward and be the head of your home and be the spiritual leaders in the church and women when you go out into an ungodly world you are to represent christ in how you look in this ungodly world okay and we looked at that example truth number two holiness is a sacrifice and this is where we ended the lesson we we spent time talking about it is a sacrifice and in romans 12 1 and 2 i believe that everyone who is called to the ministry needs to have romans 12 1 and 2 memorized and it's probably good that every christian should have it memorized but especially if there's a call if you're called to be a teacher a preacher a leader in the church in any way you need to have romans 12 1 and 2 memorized i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto god which is your reasonable service and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of god man what what what a pathway what i mean my course is charted if i will do what's in romans 12 1 and 2. don't be conformed don't be conformed and and this this thing called holiness it is reasonable when you think of all that god has done for you it is reasonable that you give your all back to him because he first gave his all to you he hung on a cross and died for you so it is only reasonable that i give the entirety of my life back to him everyone said amen so holiness is a sacrifice and we talked about how david said i will not offer to god that which cost me nothing when he was offering the altar to appease the judgment of god on the threshing floor of ornament the jebusite he established that principle of sacrifice i will not offer to god that which costs me nothing holiness is a sacrifice so which leads us right to truth number three so let's pick up our lesson i know if you have your workbook you can begin to fill in the blanks from this point forward so truth number three holiness is the will of god i get young people especially working in bible college they brother lopez i just need to know what is the will of god for my life and you know what i do i open up the bible i don't prophesy over them i don't speak spooky words over them i open up the bible and say you want to know what the will of god is read this book because this bible tells you what is god's will for our lives now i know what they're asking they're asking for specifics like you know exactly location and and where they should go for ministry or who they should marry that's always a big one i'm not gonna tell anyone who they should marry that's just a recipe for disaster but uh that's how you get people mad at you but um i'll don't read the bible because the bible will tell us what is god's will for all of our lives as believers so let's look at this in first thessalonians chapter 4 verse 1. finally then brethren we urge and exhort in the lord jesus that you should abound more and more just as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please god now this is very important and just we're going to keep this slide up there for a few moments there's a couple things we're going to point out paul said you should abound more and more in other words what he's about to teach us it should not be something that we just have a little bit of it in our lives this should be something that overflows in abundance in our lives we should abound more and more okay so we want to establish that then look what he says how you ought to walk that means the life that we live right the our lifestyle how you are to walk and to please god whenever someone asks me brother lopez is that a heaven or hell issue that is automatically a sign of spiritual immaturity okay is that a heaven or hell issue i know brother haney preaches that but is that really a heaven or hell issue i know the church stands for that is that really a heaven or hell issue you know i know even the bible mentions it but really is that really a heaven or hell issue and whenever someone asks me that i i i know immediately that is a sign of spiritual immaturity because if you really loved god the heaven or hell issue is already resolved you're born again i don't wake up wondering and worrying am i going to go to hell i hope i make it to heaven man that's that's so yesterday for me i wake up and my goal every day is to please god i want to make god smile with the life that i live and i've got a long way to go i know that but that is my goal i am trying to please god and if you are always just wondering is it heaven or hell and you're trying to see what you can get by with you are really spiritually immature there needs to be a love that fills your heart that says god i love you so much i'll do whatever it takes to please you i'll live whatever lifestyle you call me to live i'll make whatever sacrifice you ask me to make whatever it takes to please god that's what matters someone said amen all right so pleasing god here's the point should be what drives our behavior that's what drives our behavior does this please god just if you're about to do something and you're not sure ask this question will this please god or will this displease god because if pleasing god is is what drives you chances are you're going to arrive at the right answer more often than not because you want to please the one who loves you so fully and completely you just want to love him back everyone said amen verse 2 for you know what commandments we gave you through the lord jesus ah ouch see in 2021 the people don't like the preacher giving them commandments paul is acting as a pastor he's acting in this leadership role as the man who founded this church and is i gave you some commandments that you're to live by these are not just good ideas these are not just suggestions as the man of god over you i gave you some commandments and you know what they are and so when we read this book there are things god has commanded us to do commanded there's no getting out of it it's in the book everyone said amen verse three for this is the what for this is the will of god the bible tells you what is god's will for your life for this is the will of god your sanctification wow remember we had the chairs set up we had the first chair of justification and we had the second chair some of you remember this of glorification there you go thank you and the pathway between those two points is sanctification becoming more like jesus growing in holiness and paul said this is the will of god your sanctification the will of god and sanctification are tied together i'll hit that point in a few moments for this is the will of god your sanctification that you should abstain from sexual immorality you're living in a wicked world but you should not be wicked like the world around you so notice 2.18 notice how the will of god and sanctification are joined together if you leave the pathway of sanctification right i got saved i got born again i was regenerated i'm justified i'm now right with god and i'm on this pathway towards glorification where one day i'm going to be forever in heaven with jesus if i leave this pathway of sanctification i am no longer in the will of god this is the will of god your sanctification how do i stay sanctified how do i stay on this pathway that you abstain from sexual immorality we have to live lives that are clean so the two points i make notice how the will of god and sanctification are joined and secondly you cannot be in the will of god if you're outside of the process of sanctification we're in the word we're just staying in the word verse four that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel vessel means your body you your person that you would know how to possess your own vessel in sanctification and honor people in this world are living like animals they're so debased they are pursuing uncleanness pursuing filth one verse the bible says that that they are working all manner of uncleanness with greediness in other words they're unclean and then they're trying to become even more unclean they're not satisfied with with how unclean they are they want more more more debauchery more filth more sin they're reaching for more of it and you are to possess your vessel your person your body and sanctification and honor you are a member of the royal household act like it you're a child of the king act like it the bible says we are kings and priests act like it you are to possess your vessel in sanctification and honor and there are places that royals don't go there are things that royals don't do there are words that royals don't say and your god is the king of kings and the lord of lords and you are his child act like it we must act in our bodies in such a way that demonstrates sanctification and that properly honors god possess your vessel in sanctification and honor verse 5 not in passion of lust like the gentiles who do not know god the simple point made here is our lifestyle must be different from those who are not saved there are people that that are so crazy in what they they they say christianity is they'll say you know you don't have to change just god's grace accepts you and you don't have to change and just just just just live in in the abundance of his grace then what's the point of salvation what's he saving me from why even be saved if my lifestyle is not going to change if i'm going to keep doing what i was doing before if i'm going to keep living the same life and i'm going to be involved in the same field what's even the point of salvation when you are saved you are saved out of this world you are saved from your past you're saved from that old bondage and those addictions and that lifestyle salvation is a change our lifestyle must be different from those who are not saved and you've heard me say this before yes god loves you just the way you are but he loves you too much to leave you that way yes he loves you just the way that you are your brokenness and and the scars that that you bring when you first come to the house of god and the wounds and the lifestyle and the past and the mistakes and all that stuff god isn't pushing you out he's drawing you to him but he's drawing you to him because there's a work that he wants to do grace will find you where you are in that low place in that place of brokenness and grace will love you grace will embrace you and grace will begin to heal you and restore you and put the broken pieces back together so you can be a vessel that honors him he loves you just the way that you are but he loves you too much to leave you that way everyone said amen verse six that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter it's talking about committing adultery possess your own vessel and this ought not to be in the church where we have the this sexual sins begin to run rampant in the church that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this manner because the lord is the avenger of all such he paul says you let this lifestyle of sin in the church you're not just going to deal with me as the pastors what paul is saying there's a god who will will judge sin when there is sin in the church because the lord is the avenger of all such as we also forewarned you and testified paul said you're not hearing anything new i've already told you you better live clean holy righteous lives because if you embrace sin and live a lifestyle of sin the lord is the avenger of all such and paul said i have warned you and the word testified means he's had some stories to tell they had stories to tell about judgment in the book of acts church when people did not align with the will of god and paul said i forewarned you i've even testified i've told you stories that god does not want sin in his church and god will judge sin now i want to be very careful what was the prayer that we prayed earlier that god would cleanse us we're we're all a work in progress and this isn't talking about walking along the journey and and having a bad day and getting a bad attitude or making a mistake and and skinning your knee and learning to get up and that's not talking about those momentary mistakes it's talking about embracing an attitude and a lifestyle that says sin is okay and i'm going to sin and i'm going to actually flaunt my sin all right i'm going to embrace sin and i'm going to shut off the voice of conviction that's what it's talking about if you sin and you feel bad about sinning that's conviction and that is one of the most beautiful gifts from god the voice of conviction one of the scariest days of your life is if you can sin and not be convicted about it you are in a dangerous place so i'm not talking about the human condition that we're all a work in progress i'm talking about those that willingly and willfully and rebelliously embrace sin in the church this is god's church he he died for this church he wants to present this church without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish it's a holy church unto him and you think he's going to stand by it and take it lightly when you bring sin and begin to corrupt the house of god no no no no the lord is the avenger of all such as we forewarned you and testified so the simple point i make is god still judges sin someone said amen all right verse 7 for god did not call us to uncleanness but in holiness he called us to come out from that world come out from that past to be on this journey of sanctification he did not call us to live lives that are unclean he called us to holiness and what did we learn from verse one we learned that holiness pleases god that's the whole point of the of this passage that you may know how to walk and to please god holiness pleases god it makes god smile when his people are are trying when we are we recognize his holiness in this book we recognize his holiness as he touches our lives and we say god we want to align with your holiness that pleases god god has called us to the pathway of holiness verse 8 therefore he who rejects this think about it those voices that say ah it doesn't matter how you live it doesn't matter blah blah blah that church is so old-fashioned they're still preaching the same thing they preached a hundred years ago absolutely we are and check on us in 100 years if the rapture hasn't happened we're going to be preaching the same message 100 years from now because we're a book of acts church we're an apostolic church we are trying to align not with culture not with society we're trying to align with the book what does the book say what does god's word say that's what we want to align with so if we're preaching the same thing we did 100 years ago then we're doing something right and check on us in a hundred years and i hope to god we're still preaching the same message he is a holy god and he is calling his people to be a holy people unto him therefore he who rejects this does not reject man you're not rejecting eli lopez if you walk out you're not rejecting brother haney you're not even rejecting christian life center he who rejects this does not reject man but god who has also given us his holy spirit two points to reject holiness is to reject god we're just staying in the word i don't i don't think i'm saying anything that's outside the word to reject holiness is to reject god because he is holy and the second point is this the holy spirit is a witness that god wants us to be a holy people unto him he's given us the holy spirit to lead us on the path of holiness on this path of sanctification and you heard me make this point two weeks ago it's not just the ghost it's the holy ghost there's an influence that it is to have in our lives it is to produce a righteousness a holiness a a perspective a desire to please god that's the influence the spirit of god is supposed to have on the inside of us and you you reject this you're not rejecting you're not going to hurt my feelings you're not rejecting me you're rejecting god you're rejecting his word and you are even shutting off the work of the spirit in your life because it is the holy spirit that is trying to work this out in our lives everyone said amen truth number four practice makes perfect so truth number three was holiness is the will of god truth number four practice makes perfect those of you who ever played sports or maybe their musical ability and you know you just don't play the piano just just sitting down even the most gifted musicians have to practice you you have to you have to grow in your skills and if we are going to be holy people practice makes perfect all right so second corinthians chapter 6 verse 14. oh amazon just showed up at your door saint corinthians chapter 6 verse 14 says do not be an equally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship is righteousness with lawlessness wow what a question what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness which which is like rebellion iniquity what fellowship is righteousness with lawlessness what communion has light with darkness so the simple point is don't be joined to people and things that are incompatible with your commitment to christ it's a simple point to make verse 15. and what accord has christ with belial so is are jesus and the devil hanging out being buddies it's it's a you know a rhetorical question and the answer is an emphatic none there is no accord with jesus and the devil what part has a believer [Music] with an unbeliever that's harsh isn't it let's look let's look at this he says righteousness lawlessness light darkness jesus and the devil believers and unbelievers ouch that's not politically correct in 2021 but you see in paul's theology there were two kingdoms the kingdom of light in the kingdom of darkness and you're either a citizen of one kingdom or you're a citizen of the other kingdom that was his theology you see this motif coming out in other places about paul's life and where paul wrote it's you're either on one side or the other so this is consistent with what he believed you are either under the influence of god or you are under the influence of the prince of the power of the air the god of this world satan and so for him it was it was a line that was drawn so the question we asked are jesus and the devil in agreement of course not then why do we think we can be in agreement with unbelievers and we're not talking about avoiding having contact with unbelievers we're talking about joining our lifestyles with their lifestyle living the life that they live and being involved with the things that they're involved with okay verse 16 and what agreement has a temple of god with idols for you everyone say me turn the person next to you say you now say us for we are the temple of the living god so just like in the old testament they had the temple the ark of the covenant they had you know uh the the labor where they would wash and you had the altar of incense you had all the you know the furnishings and and the golden menorah and all of this with with the the ancient temple of israel that you would never never just bring an idol into that temple that was a holy sanctuary unto god and just like the jews would never bring an idol into that holy place he said now you in the new testament in the church you are the temple of god where once the presence of god dwelt in the holy of holies now the presence of god dwells in you you are the temple of god wow that changes things for you are the temple of the living god as god has said i will dwell in them and walk among them i will be their god and they shall be my people verse 17. therefore that the word therefore means because of this because his presence lives inside of us because we are the temple of god and the living god lives dwells inside of us therefore come out from among them among who the world that surrounds us come out from among them and be separate be different live different talk different act different look different be separate says the lord do not touch what is unclean and i will receive you you want to be in god's fold you want to be close to god then keep your hands from the unclean things do not touch what is unclean and i will receive you i will be a father to you verse 18 what a beautiful promise and you shall be my sons and daughters says the lord almighty this is the relationship god wants to have with you and i that he is our father and we are his children and we live lives that honor him the root word for holy is is it means separate to be separated or to be separate and that's why you get this thought that we read in verse 17 come out from among them be separate that is the root word or that is the root idea the foundation of the concept of holiness is to be separate the reason why we say god is holy he is separate he is unique he is different from anything else in creation there's nothing like god so we declare that he is holy and when the bible says that you are to be separate it's to follow that pattern that just as your god is different you be different the very next verse now the chapters and the verse divisions that are in your bible that's not the original part of the bible that that didn't come about about the middle of the 16th century where some individuals decided to help organize the bible and give us chapters and verses and i'm so thankful they did because to teach the word of god to preach it is so much easier because we have chapters and verses and they did a great job but when paul wrote this he did not write with chapters and verses in mind so what you are reading in 2nd corinthians chapter 7 verse 1 is absolutely tied to what you just read in chapter 6 verse 18. how do i know that because the very first word says therefore and whenever you see the word therefore in the bible it is referencing what has just come before so he says therefore because you are to be separate because he wants to be your father and you are his children therefore having these promises what promise that he would be our father that we are his children that he would receive us unto himself having these promises so he's looking directly at the promises in the two verses before this therefore having these promises beloved isn't that amazing god loves you we're we're beloved of god having these promises beloved let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of god to perfect something is to work on it and to work to do in the fear of god is to do it in a way that reverences god and understands who he is to be to us we must never lose the fear of god and i want to say this to every parent please if you're going to give your children anything give them the fear of the lord my dad gave me the fear of god and he did it through a leather belt we'll talk about that later another time another place our children need to have the fear of god because this is to guide us in how we live for god the fear of the lord look what it says here perfecting holiness you work on it and you work on it and if you mess up and you stumble you get up again and you keep working on it you keep perfecting you keep figuring it out you keep trying you keep growing in it that's why there are things god will knock on the door of your heart and he'll lay convictions on you today that you didn't have five years ago because you're growing in holiness you're perfecting wholeness and god says now you're at a place i'm gonna bring you a little further along and you know that that thing that you've always done i never really liked it but i didn't say anything because you had other things we were working on but now i'm ready to to touch that part of your life so i'm going to ask you to put that on the altar and all of a sudden you've been living for god for 10 years 20 years and a new conviction will fill your heart where did that come from you're perfecting holiness you're growing in holiness and god is able to to look at where you're at in this journey okay now it's time to work on something else on this pathway of holiness this pathway of sanctification so holiness is to be perfected this is something we work on for all of our lives you don't reach a place where you stop perfecting holiness as long as you're on this earth and on this journey towards your heavenly reward you are to perfect holiness and then there are two aspects that he points out in this verse he said that we are to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh everyone say flesh let me take a drink of water the flesh and then the spirit everyone say spirit cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit so the flesh are the external actions of my behavior what i do what i live out but the spirit is that internal man that that the real you that nobody else really sees we get peaks of it from time to time but the the real you your attitude and your perspective and what really goes on in your heart is their bitterness is there unforgiveness is there anger is there rage is there pride is there jealousy he said you've got to be holy into in the totality of your person perfect holiness how cleanse yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit be clean on the inside and on the outside well it doesn't matter how i live god knows my heart you've got to be clean on the inside and on the outside just what jesus said clean the inside of the cup and the outside will be clean as well cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit everyone said amen truth number five god's power flows through holiness oh brother lopez now i can believe it's a sacrifice i can believe it's the will of god but i think you're taking it one step too far when you're saying god's power flows through holiness that that's surely that's an exaggeration i hope you got your bible romans chapter 1 verse 3. concerning his son jesus christ our lord who was born of the seed of david according to the flesh and declared to be the son of god with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead what happened in the resurrection we'll go to the next slide please what happened in the resurrection broke natural laws as a witness of christ's true identity the resurrection bears witness that jesus was not just a man jesus was not just a good teacher was not just a a good rabbi he was not just an anointed prophet he was so much more than that and when we talk about him being the son of god we understand what that means it means he's god manifesting in the flesh he is the revelation of god to humanity and the resurrection bears witness to the reality of christ's true identity as the natural laws were broken the spirit of holiness was at work in the resurrection because the natural order of things was broken to give witness to christ's true identity through the resurrection okay so for you and i what happens in our lives breaks natural tendencies as a witness of our identity in christ when you live a holy life just like the resurrection broke the natural cycle of life and death and and resurrection power came through the spirit of holiness when you and i embrace holiness we are breaking the natural tendencies of human flesh we are breaking the natural order of this world that is rebellion against god we are breaking the order of this world that is under the dominion of satan we are breaking all of that and we are living by by a power that is beyond us by a power that is greater than us and just like the resurrection took place because of the spirit of holiness so you too when you embrace holiness it is a witness to your true identity god's power the revelation the manifestation the demonstration of god's power it was revealed in the resurrection and it is revealed in the life that you are able to live a life that pleases god in the face of all that is confronting you you are able to live a life that pleases god when you embrace holiness and it bears witness to your true identity you really are a child of god you really are a child of the king you really are filled with the holy ghost this is more than just a religion this is more than just a social club when you came to this altar a change happened the drugs the alcohol the filth the perversion the lifestyle the demons had to let go you are a new creature in christ you have a new identity you have a new name heaven is your home and that is a witness holiness is a witness of the power of god at work in your life someone said amen holiness holiness yes it is a sacrifice yes it is the will of god it is what pleases god yes holiness is right but holiness also bears witness to this world of who i am and who he is just like the resurrection bears witness to the true identity of jesus your holiness bears witness to your true identity in him someone said amen if you have your bibles please turn to ephesians chapter four if you have the workbook you'll notice that what i'm about to get into is beyond the workbook the lord laid this on my heart as i was preparing specifically for the these two weeks that i'm teaching this so if you have your bibles open it up if you don't have a bible it will be on the screen i would much rather you read it in your bible and don't even look up at me just just keep your your head in the book and we're just going to read two passages of scripture and i want you just to think about the message of the bible as we read through these passages so we first read ephesians chapter 4 starting with verse 20. but you have not so learned christ verse 21 if indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in jesus verse 22 that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lust verse 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind change the way you think be renewed in the spirit of your mind it's a radical reorientation of the mind be renewed in the spirit of your mind verse 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to god according to god's plan according to god's will according to the work of god in all of our lives you put on the new man which is created according to god in true righteousness and holiness that is how christians are to live to put off the former man and the old lust and all that corruption of the past and to put on the new man that was created according to the plan and the working of god and this new man is created according to god in true righteousness and holiness that's why holiness is not a set of rules holiness is an identity it is who you are it's what you do because of who you are because of who he is you put on the new man that's created according to god and this new man this new identity he's created according to god in true righteousness and holiness first peter chapter one i'll give you a few moments to turn there in your bibles first peter chapter one first peter chapter one and we'll start with verse 13. it says therefore gird up the loins of your mind again it starts here holiness starts in the mind a radical new way of thinking gird up the loins of your mind be sober it means the opposite of being drunk or the opposite of being inebriated you have your wits about you you're aware so girth the launch of your mind be sober and rest your hope fully on the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of jesus christ talking about the rapture when he's fully revealed to us we're caught up to meet him in the air there's going to be the full revelation of grace and so put your hope in that when things get hard down here when things get tough down here to put your hope on what is to come verse 14 as obedient children that's something that's not taught enough anymore the power of obedience as obedient children not conforming yourselves to the former lust that's exactly what paul said we leave off the old deceitful lust not conforming yourselves to the former lust as in your ignorance talking about before we were saved verse 15 but as he who called you is holy you also be holy in all your conduct i i don't see a way around verse 15. i don't see a way to excuse that or to explain that away as he who called you is holy i don't think any of us here will try to make the argument that god is not holy so this argument is based on the holiness of god himself i don't think any of us would be foolish enough to make a charge that god is not holy as he who called you is holy you also be holy in most of your conduct and all of it and all of your conversation and in the life that you live be holy verse 16. because it is written the words of god himself to his people be holy for i am holy he is asking you to be what he is your father is asking you to be what he is and as your heavenly father is holy his children are to be holy appetites desires wants growing in holiness can be a challenge i'm going to give you two examples from the natural realm that maybe might help someone here because you're wondering how do i make some of these changes that i feel like god is asking me to make i used to drink sodas pop if you're from the south everything's a coke i used to love especially dr pepper i used to crush dr pepper until i just got a little bit of understanding and realized that next to drugs and alcohol soda is about the worst thing you can put in the human body the amount of sugar that is in this is ridiculous this is this is diabetes in a can i'm not mocking the disease in fact i'm i'm acknowledging the horror of of of a diabetic condition and and the reason that we have so much i'm going off a little tangent right here but the reason i think we have so many health problems in our society is that we have a diet with things like this that we put into our human body and and i think we should have a little more wisdom that's my little two cents there let me get back to the message all right i used to drink this i used to crush this stuff i used to love especially dr pepper i love dr pepper and just it has that that that just that that tang that zing to it and then then on a hot day when you're working and the fizz right just the the carbonation some of you are wanting to coke right now you're like brother lopez you're doing a terrible job convincing us it's bad for you so i i know and you pour it over ice or you drink it right out of the bottle out of the clan it's best when it's out of a glass bottle you know what i'm saying and when i was a kid that's how that's how we used to buy them so i used to love it and i realized that you know it's not good for my health so i stopped drinking i stopped drinking sodas do you know that now i don't enjoy these anymore i used to love these i used to love the taste they used to crave the taste now if you were to give me a soda i and i accidentally like took a drink or something i didn't know what it was and thought maybe iced tea and it turned out to be a salt i was like oh it's thick it's syrupy it's it's way too sweet it's actually gross to me now i cut it out of my diet and i lost an appetite for it i wonder what would happen if you stopped watching tv for a month i wonder what happened if you deleted the facebook app off your phone for two weeks i wonder what would happen if we listened to that little knocking the holy ghost from the door of our heart and we gave up the things that god's asking us to give up and right now it's so hard we crave them we want them we have a taste for them with their their our appetite craves them but i promise you you put that stuff away your appetites your your taste will change start reading this word read it every single day every day read the word love the word every day spend time with jesus you know what my wife and i i know there's a lot of junk on youtube you know what else is on youtube there's a whole lot of preachings on youtube and we've got there's like a free library i listen to jtp we listen to billy cole we listen my wife's listening to bible studies all the time we turned off fox news we had the satellite radio and listen to fox news we've turned all that junk off and now we want to fill our minds with good and holy things and and it's amazing your appetite you turn that stuff off turn that stuff off listen my wife will drive to and from work listening to messages and bible studies and preachings and and we come when we have wonderful conversations about the word of god and the work of god your appetites change you you'll get to a place where you won't want this anymore spiritually speaking you'll want this you want what's real and what's healthy and what's good so let me give you another example so uh coffee oh be careful be careful i'm not about to take your sacred cow and offer it on the altar be careful so uh i i didn't like the taste of coffee when i was younger and i didn't really drink coffee until we had kids and you need a little help in life you know what i'm saying i tell people i'm not addicted to coffee i can give it up anytime i want to i just don't want to so leave me alone i'm not addicted though i'm not an addict i just like my coffee all right and so same thing wanting to be healthy and and i tell this and i don't mean this in any way to to be to to to be you can tell a story and tell from the wrong spirit i'm trying to i want i really believe god will help me tell this from the right spirit but i had gone on a very long fast and it was just an extended fast and so cut out coffee cut out everything all that stuff and i'd always drank my coffee with cream and sugar before that time you know just it was the way to drink coffee and and um and and so i came off you know that that that time of consecration with the lord and i went to the very next morning after you know my face had ended i went to get my regular cup of coffee and i took one drink and it was so sweet it was milky it was creamy and sweet and it was gross it was like oh because that stuff hadn't been in my body i detoxed and gotten all the sugar out and i i had done some research and i knew that coffee is actually actually pretty healthy for you it has antioxidants and people that drink between three and four cups of caffeinated coffee every day have lower rates of dementia and and and so they're medical studies to back this up so there are some benefits to coffee and and it helps it helps the digestive system i'm not going to get too graphic but it helps keep the pipes clean you know what i mean it just it helps in life and the older you get that's more of an issue right you know hey all right some of the young people here are like oh my goodness coffee amen so i realized you know if i want to keep this in my life i should start drinking black coffee the problem is i hate i hated the taste of black coffee i hate it like it's awful when someone give me a cup of black coffee i was you know i wouldn't drink it or if i did i you know i would like sip it a little bit so you know be socially accepted but then i you know dump it out when they're not looking or it was just awful i hated black coffee so my wife and i we concocted a plan we said you know what if you drink coffee right it's healthy cut out all the creams all the sugars all the fattening stuff it's it can be pretty healthy so we're gonna make ourselves drink black coffee and so what we did is for a week we made the weakest coffee you've ever seen brother grimaldi i know you're a barista you'd be so embarrassed because it was brown water it wasn't coffee it was brown and we made ourselves drink it we were like but we made ourselves drink it like it was horrible it was awful we made ourselves and we kept drinking it and one week became two weeks and and all of a sudden our appetites changed now i love a cup of black coffee now i'm not steve woodhill he has a coffee called the fog lifter see i listen when you talk by the wood home i'm scared to try it sister rivas here the the administrator of the church she makes truck stop coffee oh my goodness it's brutal it's brutal so i'm not there yet pray for me i'm not there yet i'm on the journey okay i'm on the journey but now it's amazing my wife and i and the reason i tell that story i'm not you know promoting coffee i guess i am promoting coffee but um i tell that story because something that i i despised i now enjoy and love and and desire and i learned this lesson when i gave this up and i stopped putting in my body i don't want it anymore i don't want i absolutely there's no temptation if you were to offer zero zero temptation i absolutely want nothing to do with it and something that i used to not enjoy i now love and crave but i may had to make myself one i had to stop ingesting and start ingesting this and somebody's saying well i'm having a hard time reading the bible keep reading it keep reading it and keep reading it and your taste will change i i have a hard time keeping focused keep at it and keep at it turn off your phone it's giving you uh an issue or you can't you can't pay attention because it's always uh get stealing your attention turn off your phone for a little bit turn off electronic and the media and stuff turn it off and just get in the quietness of god's presence and open this book and force yourself to read the word of god or maybe you want to have an audio you know book in the background where it's the bible that's do do what you've got to do but ingest the word of god get along with brother lopez i struggle to pray keep at it and keep at it and you know what will happen you become addicted to the presence of god you will start finding reasons to pray excuses to go and pray you want to get to church a few minutes early just so you can have so a few extra minutes of prayer there's there's a craving that'll fill you what you didn't want before you'll want now what you didn't desire before and so we're saying well this holiness i don't know give up the things god is asking you to give up give up the things that are contrary to the word and your appetites will change you won't want them anymore and embrace the things god says that you are to have and you are to do and you are to be and your appetites will change and you'll start wanting more of his presence you'll start seeking to please him heaven or hell issues won't won't be in your vocabulary anymore now you're just gonna say what pleases god how can i please god how can i get close to god your appetites will change but you've got to be the one to say this this is the path for me yes i've been justified i'm right i was made right with god i was born again and yes one day i will be glorified i'm going to spend forever with my jesus but along the way there is a pathway it is the path of holiness and that is the path that god has called every single one of us to we are called to walk the path of holiness would you stand with me tonight i have this if we could have our musicians and our praise team to begin to get in place i have this thing with god there's something i want to accomplish something i want to do have you ever just had someone that you cared about so much and you just you loved them and you loved being with them so much that if you thought about them or if you saw them you couldn't help it it was just reflexive you would involuntarily smile someone mentioned their name or they walked in the room you would just smile because you're so happy to see that person because of what they mean to you maybe it's it it could be a spouse right a husband or wife or it could be a child a grandchild you know or maybe a best friend somebody that that just it's an involuntary smile i want when god thinks about eli lopez i want there to be an involuntary smile where god can't help himself not because i'm perfect not because i've got it all figured out be cut but because i'm trying my best to live a life that pleases him am i a work in progress you better believe it i still have to pray prayers and repentance i still have to get things under the blood i still have to say god help me let your grace work in my life in this area i'm still working on this god help me but the pathway i'm on god saved me there and god's taken me there but along the way god let my life please you let my life please you this is the pathway of holiness god let my life please you and i have a feeling there's many of you i can feel your spirits even out many of that that's your heartbeat that's what you want would you raise your hands in god's holy presence and would you just offer yourself back to him because that's that's really where it starts is your surrender god here's my life go ahead and pray that prayer pray it your own way in your own words but it's your prayer surrender god here's my life god hears my life god hears my life here i am jesus here i am jesus here i am jesus here i am jesus i love you lord i love you lord i love you lord i love you lord i love you lord i love you lord i love you lord i love you lord we're going to open these altars for a few moments and we're going to be wise we're going to be safe we understand what's going on around us but we're we're going to open these alters because i feel like there's something that you need to respond tonight you need to make that step to an altar brother mullings the elder of our ministry he does something very unique when he prays he never says i love you god he never says i love you god he says i love you too god he's because he says whenever i think about everything god's done for me everything that god has done for me screams that god loves me so my response with my worship my response with my giving my response with my lifestyle is simply to say i love you too god and this altar call tonight is for people that that that will be their prayer that will be what their message is to god tonight i love you too i see all that you've done for me this is my reasonable service i love you too god here's my life here's my marriage here's my family here's my home i love you too god if that's your heartbeat would you come and pray for a few moments tonight would you find a place and have a conversation with your god tonight god bless you [Music] animals [Music] for you [Music] walk with you [Music] me [Music] in every way me [Music] walk with you [Music] in every way [Music] make me holy [Music] walk with you [Music] dedicate me in every way lord [Music] in all [Music] make me holy for you [Music] walk with you [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] me in every way lord [Music] in all [Music] make me [Music] [Music] walk with you [Music] [Music] in every way [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] walk with you [Music] [Music] you

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Length: 108min 38sec (6518 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 22 2021