What Is Holiness - David K. Bernard

I want to start with Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 14 is our theme text on the subject of holiness what is holiness but before we can really ask and find out what holiness is we must establish the need of holiness you know we all talked about being born again because we know it's absolutely essential to be born again even people that do not even understand the beautiful birth of water and spirit as we do still they like to say I'm born again I'm a born-again Christian I'm a born-again anthalie born again moviestar born again this one again that why because the Bible says without being born again you cannot see the kingdom of God John chapter three so everybody knows that so whatever their belief is they know they got to be born again to see the kingdom of God but I want to point out something else in the Word of God equally as important as being born again and that is found in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 14 which says simply follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord the same emphasis that's put on the new birth experience is put on the message of holiness it's not enough just to be born again at one time in your life but you must continue to walk in the paths of God thereafter and live a life of holiness if you expect to meet the Lord when he comes for his church so being born again is important repenting being baptized in Jesus then receiving the Holy Ghost that's all important we've got to preach it teach it believe it express it but just like we do that because we want to see the kingdom of God so much we also follow holiness because without the holiness that God requires of us none of us will see the Lord amen 1st Peter chapter 1 verses 15 through 16 it basically tells us that our God is holy and therefore he demands us to be holy be holy for I am holy God says if we expect to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in our lives it makes a lot of sense we must be holy holiness is not an impossibility holiness is not just for the super spiritual few holiness is a command is a requirement and because it is their commitment because it is a requirement that means it is possible for us because not God is not a demand of us but we cannot fulfill now what is holiness when we say the word holiness to the world that sounds funny crazy archaic strange weird holy it's only used in terms of joking now in the church however sometimes we have equally as much a misconception of what holiness is all about when I say the word wholeness probably many people think of women's hair a woman's dress song that is not holiness now that will be an expression of holiness but holiness covers so much more then what we sometimes call standards now I believe in holiness I preach holiness I preach in the terms of outward standards as you'll see in a few moments I've written books on it and so on and so forth but holiness should not be equated merely with appearance but holiness extends to every realm of Christian living holiness really means been christ-like holiness means every aspects of Limburg on now I have a definition of wholeness and I would like to give to you and show it to you from Scripture holiness means two things number one it's separation separation separation from sin separation from the world and number two is dedication dedication to God if you want to look at it as two sides of the same coin maybe the negative way in a positive way first of all we've got to be separated from some things if we expect to be holy we've got to put away unholy things but it's not just negative and we should not preach holiness as negative don't do this don't do that do this do that but holiness is also very much positive and that is positively surrendering to God doing his will living for him having a relationship with him beating fill with the spirit walking after the spirit that is also holiness it's separation from but it's also dedication to now I would like to read scripture to you to show you how this is not just my definition but what the Bible says second Corinthians chapter six and I will begin reading with verse 17 second in Chapter six well let me start with verse sixteen and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols for ye are the Temple of the Living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them I will be their God they shall be my people wherefore come out from among them and be separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you and will be a father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God now read straight through there because the translators are the one that divided into chapters that wasn't originally divided into chapters and sometimes it makes more sense to keep on going than it does to stop and we do we find that God has made beautiful promises I'll be your God I'll be your father you'll be my child you'll be my people I will dwell in you I will live in you I'll walk in you but if you expect that kind of a relationship if you expect the holy God to dwell in you what must you do you must clean your life up you must repent you must live a holy life you must separate yourselves and that's why this practice come out from among them and be ye separate and so the Apostle Paul said since we have these promises let's go ahead and start cleaning up ourselves if you want the promises do what the promise says to do let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God if we expect to be apostolic Pentecostal spirit filled all the way then we've got to live a clean life now the churches of this world do not teach separation and whatever we must be separated from we'll get to some of those things in a minute but before we even define those things this scripture tells us they've got to be some things of this world that we're to avoid and stay away from and not to flew with there are some unclean things and we're not talking about physical dirt this context obviously it's talking about spiritually unclean things worldly things yeah most churches in the world do not teach separation from anything and so we know their concept has got to be wrong because a true Christian concept you will be separated from this world system it's worldly values worldly activities amen separation is part of wholeness anytime we lose a separation anytime you cannot tell us from the world the way we look at top dress and all of that is you cannot tell the difference with us in the world then we have lost true biblical holiness now I want to show you it says cleansing ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit and this is one of the most important concepts I believe in holiness holiness is both inwards and outwards the flesh is the physical body it's the things that you physically commit that would include the outward appearance the outward actions but then he also says cleanse your spirits those are the attitudes and thoughts of your hearts and one is just as important to the other now let me tell you what most people do in the church were adults they generally emphasize inward if your motive is right if you're sincere if you're trying to be a good person it doesn't really matter what you dressed like it doesn't really matter a lot of things you do that's not what the scripture says this scripture says perfecting cleansing your flesh and spirit but then you know the danger in the Pentecostal church Pentecost telling people is we can say well you know my hair is right my dress is right a clothes right therefore I'm holy that's not true you may have the outward appearance of holy holiness and be absolutely repulsive in the sight of God if you have bitterness hatred Envy evil thoughts jealousy gossip lying and that's it's so horrible you will not be holy in the sight of God now we do not have to choose one or the other there must be a balance we can have both holiness in the flesh and in the spirit down to murder somebody that's a sin of the flesh but first John tells us if you hate your brother you are a murderer if you have hatred in your heart you are just as guilty of sin as if you physically committed the act jesus said if you lost in your hearts then you're guilty of adultery the act is wrong but the evil lustful thought in spirit is wrong one is just as unholy as the other and we've got to pay attention to holiness of heart I'd rather take somebody that had a good teacher vote clean spirit they didn't know that some of the principles about word holiness I'd rather work with him they try to work with somebody that had all the out words but had a mean and a bitter spirit why because the person that has a good spirit it will eventually produce good fruit on the outside if you'll stay teachable if you'll stay humble you go keep the good spirit holiness will come from within and ministers offense itself outwardly but if someone thinks they're holy it has an outward show of holy holiness but on the inside they've got a critical and rebellious spirit then they think they are right and you can't convince them otherwise and they'll be a hypocrite and a Pharisee and you can't deal with them until they repent and change their way of thinking so holiness is not just dress holiness involves your spirits first and foremost and then of course it involves the external as well now second Corinthians 7:1 also tells us perfecting holiness we're striving for perfection now let me show you something God is absolutely holy perfect pure totally is anybody here absolutely perfect absolutely holy as God is holy no but that is the goal for which we strive and if we will keep growing if we will keep working towards that if we will keep perfecting if we will have a repented life live a holy life and if we sin if we will ask God to forgive us and repent of that if we will keep striving God will consider us holy in his sight even while we're striving for absolute perfection we can be holy in the process even while we're striving for the absolute so don't say I can't be holy it's too hard it's impossible no you can be holy in the process if you're growing and working and developing if you're separating from sin if you're dedicating yourself to God if you're a pinning of any evil in your life if you're working to correct it to the power of the Holy Ghost you can be holy right here and right now and you better be let me give you an example a child that's six months old can't walk can't talk all that he's still a perfect baby a child when he grows up to age ten if he still can't walk and still can't talk he's no longer perfect something's wrong you see there's got to be a growth process but you compare the six month old child in the ten year old child side-by-side which one is a more perfect baby or which one is a more perfect child the answer is they're both perfect they're both healthy they're both normal they're both equally desirable inside of their parents even though they have achieved different levels of perfection in the absolute sense they're both at the right place at the right time for their stage of growth and so a new convert that prays through if the Raps would come immediately thereafter they would be saved just as much as the convert that had been the church for 50 years why even though they've attained different levels of perfection in the absolute sense since still in the sight of God they are growing at the right rate at the right place at the right time now what that tells us is that God judges each of us individually therefore we are not to judge you one thing we've got to guard ourselves against is not getting a holier-than-thou attitude just because I understand are you understand some principles of the Word of God and are implementing them if somebody else does not understand though it's not our place to condemn or criticize or judge it's our place place to show a godly example not to compromise what we have but to love the one that's on the way and that applies for sure to visitors oh we should never put a condemning critical spirit on visitors no matter how ungodly they look or act or appear we're to love them we're to help them we're to lead them to salvation same way with new converts it's got our job to jump on them it's not our job to disapprove of them it's not our job to tell them what to do it's the pastor job it's the the teachers of the new convert classes to gently and carefully lead them into full maturity but it's not our job to criticize and say I don't think you're gonna make I don't think you're safe because you're not living the level of wholeness that I am who's the judge only God can judge there's no useless even criticize your academic the charismatic sir whoever because we're not their judge I don't have a car advocate compromising and going to where they are as but as brother Johnson said last night when people are coming to the light coming to the truth you love them you work with them you try to teach them you lead a godly example but you don't go away from truth to meet them halfway and compromise the convictions and the place that God has given you because God we don't know necessarily how God will judge some other individuals but we can know how God will judge us and that is he will judge us according to the truth and the light that we have in our position so we don't know how somebody else will be judged but we do know how we'll be judged judge yourself it's a process now let me give you some basic principles of holiness which I think are very important to implement number one is don't love the world don't be conformed to this world now that brings me to the second half of my definition remember I said that holiness was separation then I also said holiness was dedication Romans chapter 12 verses 1 through 2 gives you the flip side of this definition of holiness Romans chapter 12 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 be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that she may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God now notice he says present your bodies a living sacrifice be transformed be holy so holiness involves presenting yourself to God it's not just the negative you know just because you say I don't wear makeup I don't wear jewelry I don't do this I don't do that that does not mean your holy one bit the separation doesn't help unless there's a dedication unless you're doing the will of God what kind of a relationship do you have in Jesus Christ how are you actively living for him and letting your spirit control your life dedication now notice we are to present ourselves sacrificially sometimes you think oh it's hard living the life of wholeness but wait a minute get a hold of your flesh and say look it's supposed to be a sacrifice I sacrifice the flesh I sacrifice worldly desires I sacrifice my own plans and dreams and ambitions I give them to God but then notice which is your reasonable service to the flesh the life component is a sacrifice to the world the life of wholeness seems hard but from the spiritual point of view holiness is not a sacrifice holiness is not a burden holiness is not difficult it is the most reasonable thing you could ever do if you were live in accordance to the principles of wholeness you know what you're really doing you're living in accordance with the way God designed the human race to live to begin with you're using yourself in accordance with a manufacturer specifications that's what you're really doing if you would live the life of wholeness you would be better off physically that's a proven medical fact you would be better off mentally peace of mind you'd be better off spiritually because you'll have eternal life you'll be better off in family relationships you'd be better off in every way to live the life wholeness it is the most reasonable thing it's the smartest bargain you would ever make it's the best deal it's a sacrifice to the flesh and sometimes we've got to tell our flesh look I don't owe you anything you don't have a right to anything I'm going to cut off your desires but then we also can't get a martyr complex or or get feel sorry for ourselves complex or say my life is so hard I'm doing all this for God no you're not really doing anything for God God is doing the world for you it's a privilege to be holy it's a privilege not to be bound to sin it's a privilege not to be addicted to alcohol it's a privilege not to be addicted to smoking it's a privilege not to be bound by lust and bitterness and enemy it's the most powerful thing in the world that when somebody treats you wrong instead of treating them wrong back you can say look nobody's gonna manipulate me nobody's gonna tell me how to think the devil can't make me do this no other person can provoke me into an ungodly situation but to the power of the Holy Ghost I can respond with a weak and gentle and quiet and peaceable spirit under all circumstances talk about power that's real power when you can overcome the less the flesh when you can overcome the evil attitudes of the heart and say nobody can control me but God that's true spiritual freedom it's a privilege to be holy amen so number one don't conform to the world don't love the world this pastor says don't be conformed to the world one translation says don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold what's so funny a lot of times you know in school everybody you know everybody tries to do their own thing that's the model of the world do your own thing do what pleases you you know wear clothes that expression individuality but what's so funny among young people is most the time everybody's doing the same thing you know in trying to prove they're doing their own thing they all do what their peers are doing and we're really when you step back it's not everybody expressing their individuality it's everybody conforming to the world and so the choice is not between doing your own thing and living for God the choice is between conforming to the world and conforming to God you can't just be in a no man's own well you just do your own thing you're either gonna serve God or are you gonna serve the devil there's no other way if you're not living for God you're automatically living for the devil if you're not living for the devil you're living for God so that choice is not doing my own thing versus obeying God the choice is serving the devil out of bondage are serving God out of freedom praise God so don't let the world tell you what to do don't let the world tell you what to dress like don't let the world tell you how to act don't let the world try to put its spirit of materialism greed put all the emphasis on the physical appearance physical attraction on sinful lusts on ego trips and see I'll talk about a whole lot more than just a physical appearance an outward dress but the world has a way of putting value system the world's definition of success the world's definition of what counts all those things are wrong and don't let the world brainwash you into putting the emphasis on things which are not important but be your own man be your own woman choose your own path to serve God because you love him amen first John 2:15 16 tells us and I don't have time to read it but I'll just quote it it tells us don't love the world neither things are in the world if any man loves the world the love of the father isn't in him and it gives three types of things lust of the flesh lust of the eyes pride of life I think all sin and temptation could really be classified in one of those three categories lust of the flesh those are the sinful desires of your own heart it could be it could be it's the human drive it could be the drive for immoral relationships but it could be more than that if you drive for power it could be any kind of motivating force that tries to please your own selfish lust and not the will of God lust of the eyes the attraction of temptations through the eyes the pride of life that's the ego I can do it my way I don't have to listen to God I don't have to do it his way I can make a few exceptions because I'm different I can do it my way ego emphasis on the self and instead of that we must be temperance in all things temperance what does that mean self-control moderation our watchword must be self-control balance moderation don't go to any extreme any extreme can be bad take the most beautiful music in the world if you're turning up the volume pretty soon it turns into pain take most delicious meal you keep eating eating eating pretty soon and turns into pain all pleasure can become pain all good things can become bad when taken to excess we've got to have self-control we've got to have moderation and then a third principle it's simply this be christ-like what does it mean to be a Christian be christ-like and to me you know what will cause you to live holy you know I mean tougher on you as far as homeless then all the rules somebody could write up the most difficult measuring stick of all is what would Jesus do if you haven't read the book in his steps by Charles Sheldon do it group of people decided every decision they want answer it what would Jesus do if you will honestly answer that question well Jesus watch this well Jesus where this would that be I be ashamed to see if Jesus saw me doing this if he walked up and saw me in this could I invite Jesus to go here with Jesus react this would Jesus get hateful spirit like this where Jesus tell this a gossip on someone else what would Jesus do and you'll find that one simple question will be tougher on you that anything the preacher could ever preach or anybody ever make up ELISA rules what would Jesus do put on the personality of Christ and make no provision for the flesh make no provision with less that means don't give the flesh any opportunities don't give it a toehold and that's when we open our mind to all kinds of things through bad literature through TV through movies all these things we're opening our mind to the flesh we're feeding the flesh we're building up the flesh don't give the flesh the opportunities don't make any provision for that but saturate yourself with the mind of Christ through prayer to study the word through teaching and preaching of the word saturate yourself with a mind of Christ rather than with the mind of the world now those are some of the basic principles of wholeness I would like to also say a few words about the basis of wholeness how can you live holy and let me give you three things number one it's faith if you really have faith in God if you really believe God you'll believe his word right how can you believe God and not believe his word if you really believe his word you'll obey his word right if you really believe all Liars will have their part in the lake of fire which is what revelation says what are you gonna do are you gonna say oh that's a good Scripture I really believe it and then go around lying no if you really believe that assuming you don't want to go to hell if you really believe that what are you gonna do stop lying ask God to help you overcome it if you really believe God you believe his word believe his word you obey his word that's the secret of wholeness faith in God a second secret of wholeness is love now a lot of people try to serve God and legalism legalism means just following the rules they don't know why but it's inherited the pastor says do it so they do it mom and dad's they do it so they do it the church says do it so they do it you will never be successful living for God by rules you know I'm afraid to go to hell so I'm not gonna do this you'll never be successful living for God out of fear or legalism or rules you know the only way you can be successful in forgot is love John 14:15 if you love me keep my Commandments John 14:23 if a man loves me he will keep my words now some people get upset at us because they say Oh Pentecost that's just a bunch of rules and sad to say sometimes people preach or explain it just as rules and that's wrong we shouldn't just lay down rules we need to talk about the principles of the word of God and if it's not in the Word of God either specifically or the principle is not stay in the Word of God then we don't really have a right to to step on a limb and tell everybody what to do we've got to be tied strictly to the Word of God and we need to give people reasons for what we believe we do it because the biblical principle not just because somebody said so so if we just go out of legalism that's not going to work but you know what some people do some young people I've seen they said well this is a bunch of rules and true enough somebody may have taught it to them by rules but you did you know that sometimes people can teach the right thing the wrong way and so you've got to analyze is this the truth is it in the Word of God or the principles there and some people that say well there's just a bunch of rules and we're not supposed to live by rules it's just Pharisees and this is just hypocrisy and so what they do they throw it all out it's throw the baby out with the bathwater but that's not the right response go back to the Word of God and establish your own convictions for yourself when you do you'll find that a wholeness is not just rules holiness is Bible whole this is not Pentecostal tradition wholeness is Bible wholeness is not just legalism wholeness is Bible if the Bible says it there is no need for you don't have to say well I don't feel convicted I don't care if you do feel convicted the Bible teaches the principle if the Bible give direction you don't even need a play about that you need to obey it okay but the alternative to legalism is not just throwing away rules and doing what you want the alternative to leave losers going back to the Bible in developing a love for holiness and did you know love will be stronger than legalism could ever be love is stronger than law love is stronger than duty let me give an example if you're a babysitter and this kids sick you'll try to take care of it but who do a better job the babysitter or the mother who is gonna stay up all night who is gonna a GaN eyes who's gonna really spend more time and effort and worry and prayer and concern the one that has the job to do it is doing it because they're supposed to because they have to are the one that is doing it because they love love will always be stricter on yourself than legalism will ever be in other words if you're trying to live for God just out of rules you know what you'll tend to do you'll tend to say what is the minimum I can do and get by you know pastor what do I have to do you know that's the mentality of legalism what do I have to do and you're trying to live on the borderline and the problem is sometimes sooner or later there come a time when you don't know what to do there's no rule the pastor didn't preach that and so you won't feel any conviction you just go ahead and do it and that's what allows people to do this they say well I won't wear a necklace because the pastor preaches against it but I'll get the biggest gaudiest ring I can find and show off with it well they may not have violated a Pacific rule but they violate the principle of holiness that teaches not to get into Ottoman and costly array you see they just follow rules but the one that really loves God with all of his learned it says I want to do what God says do well they will get the principle in their heart and they're not just going by rules but every area of their life they'll be sensitive to the Holy Spirit one that goes by rule says well I won't smoke because our church of teaching and smoking but I'll be a glutton but if you get the principle of temperance and your body is the temple the Holy Ghost you'll be concerned about gluttony as well as you'd be concerned on smoking somebody just learned about rules say well I can't go the movies because if they caught me they'll really be bad if they knew I did that but I'll go somewhere and watch our raid or x-ray thing on VCR that's the same thing you see if you go by rules you cannot live holy you'll deceive yourself you'll fake yourself and maybe everybody else that thinking you're holy in the sight of God you're not holy but if you love God you won't be asking what can I get by with what's the minimum I can do but you'll say how close can I get to God what can I give up that's detrimental some things that even aren't sin but yet they are detrimental Hebrews 12:1 talks about laying aside the weights and the sins and if you recognize the legalist you says well you can't to seeing in all cases I'm gonna do it anyway but the one that loves God says if y'all can just see where it's harmful detrimental opens me up the temptation I'm gonna stay away from it I'm not gonna even get involved with it because I wouldn't be as close to God as I can it's not the minimum but it's the maximum how can I love God more how can I please God more how can I be more like him and so going away the rule book doesn't lead you into sin throwing the way to lead rule book will make you tougher on yourself love for God will lead you a stronger holiness they just following somebody's rules and then the third thing is the Holy Spirit the power of the Holy Spirit you can't live wholly in the flesh but let me tell you this the Holy Spirit gives us the power but it's our responsibility to implement the Holy Spirit doesn't automatically happen you're not automatically holy and little automatically have holy response just because you have the spirit you've got a discipline to flesh through prayer and sometimes fasting through studying the word to just make up your mind let me give an example the farmer is totally dependent upon the grace of God rain crops can never come without the rain the Sun the miracle of the the budding of the scene totally depend on God what if the farmer just sits there and says well I think I'll let God grow my crop this year what's gonna happen nothing the farmer cannot do what only God can do but God will not do what the farmer can do same way with our Christian experience we can't do what only God can do only God can save us we can't save ourselves we can't earn our salvation we can't live holy enough we can't be good enough to get young we've got to have God first but then God is not going to do what you can do you can discipline you can say no to temptation you can cut off the desires of us it's your responsibility to work it out so don't just sit around praying for God to deliver you start walking in obedience start obeying start doing what he's already told you to do now sometimes you know we do we get low and so we go say night we shout and talk and sons they say okay I'm a spiritual high and that's good and well important but that will not substitute for walking in obedience you could be talking and shouting or saying night and not even be ready for the rapture why you can learn how to yield to the Spirit of God and God blesses you to help you but unless you are walking in wholeness and living a Christian life you are not ready to me God may sound shocking but I want you to think about that and ponder in your heart because it's the truth we've got to have both we've got to have the worship and the gift of spirit but we've also got to have obedience and God does not automatically make you obey you better do it yourself now the practical application I've got a few minutes for a practical application let me list some areas of wholeness and I put the scripture in the notes of course we don't have time to go through all that but let me give you some practical things of wholeness number one the fruit of the Spirit if you ought to make a study of the fruit of spirit holiness is not just do this and don't do that wholeness is bearing the fruit of spirit peace joy long-suffering be patient with people loving people kind gentle meek that's holiness the christ-like spirit number two attitudes and I've mentioned that if you've got pride rebellion bitterness hatred lust all those things will destroy your holiness you've got to be guard your attitudes let me extend that to your thoughts to your thought life the Bible teaches us that we can take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ at second Corinthians 10:5 the Bible tells us we're defiled by evil thoughts so our attitudes and thought life is all-important in holiness number three the tongue a lot of times we don't think of wholeness we we don't think of the tongue when we say wholeness but did you know the book of James teaches us if you can control everything else and you can't control your tongue your whole religion is in vain that's pretty important he says if you can control your tongue you're able to control the whole body now what are the sins of the tongue let me tell you one of the big sins a Pentecostal youth is lying we have got to be honest even when it hurts we've got to be honest even when we suffer the consequences we got to be able not to tell off now some people do this they're getting a tough situation they lie and they say well you know or when I go to bed I'll repent the next day to get another situation they sin they tell a lie they repent now God does forgive us when we genuinely repent but somebody thinks subconsciously or consciously I'll sin now and get forgiveness later sin down get forgiveness later you know what their problem is they're not really repenting to repent means you regret what you do repent means you decided with God's help you're not going to do this again repent means you you're sorry you're genuinely regret what you've done and if you're playing a little game Stan repents and repents sin repent and knowing what you're doing then you have not Julie arriving genuine repentance and you have not generally received forgiveness from God you're only deceiving yourself and fooling yourself and you're not ready to meet God it's true if we sin there is an avenue of forgiveness available to their tenant but that repentance must be our godly sorrow and regret in a decision to forsake that sin and so if you're just letting yourself sin analyze one of the easy things to let yourself do then you're deceiving yourself the minute you see yourself tell a lie you know what you need to do you need to stop yourself and correct it in front of that person and say I'm sorry what I was about to say wasn't really the way it is let me correct myself and then or if that person is left you need immediately to call on God and ask his forgiveness and then you need to go back to that person and say what I told you that they wasn't really totally right let me tell you the way it really is we can't sin and then ask God to forgive us and then try to enjoy the fruit of our state if you went rob the bank could you go get forgiveness and then keep the money no you got to return the money right so when you sin like that don't say well God forgive me and then try to enjoy the fruit of your sin you've got to try to make the wrong right and correct it even to your own hurt if you totalize somebody you go back to them and correct it if you gossip against somebody you go and ask their forgiveness here's how you sin with the tongue gossip that's telling scandalous things about another person they either it's a false or you don't know if it's true and sometimes even if it is true and you're telling the people that don't really have a right or need to know you're just telling you discredit somebody's reputation somebody may have sinned and repented of something and you go around telling the whole church the whole youth group what they've done that's none of your business you can destroy somebody's faith in God you can destroy a new convert that's struggling with something by your malicious thing and you say well I'm just telling you cuz it's true I'm just telling you because I want you to pray about it don't use that Dodge if it's hurtful if it's malicious if there's no good result to be gained if you're not telling it to someone who's in the authority to do something about it then you should just keep your mouth shut and love God and think good of people and not gossip sins of the tongue we could go on and on next the I the lust of the eyes are very powerful lust the Book of Psalms says I will not behold the wicked thing I will turn away my eyes from beholding vanity I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes we've got to be careful what we read you know ninety percent of what you think about is stimulated about what you see you read or see that's true seeing that you have seen can read be replayed back in your mind even years later you know that's the truth in a moment of temptation the devil can bring back evil things that you read or saw and play it over over your mind and torment you that don't give an opportunity to flesh TV and movies let me spit some statistics at at you the average child in America by the time he graduates from high school he spent eleven thousand hours in class twenty-two thousand hours from the TV the average TV is on seven hours a day in the home the average person watches TV the teenagers watches the leaves because they're doing so many things they watch it 23 hours a week on the average housewives older housewives watch an average of 36 hours a week by the time you're 70 if you died aged 70 in your typical American you will have spent five to eight years of your life sitting in front of the TV add to all this that less than 200 producers in America in Hollywood in New York City determine the content of all TV programming and add to this those 200 people are very immoral they don't believe in God most of them they accept homosexuality is okay lifestyle they accept adultery is okay lifestyle they reject religion they're egomaniac during the power will money fame and you tell me that's not gonna make any difference to give eight years of your life to somebody that's programming your mind with that stuff the violence and the sex I can give you statistics about all that on primetime TV and on the movies the first in our in the last 10 years we've seen them we have and I hope we haven't but I've read about the first movie to project homosexuality as a good lifestyle the heroes homosexual the first movie the hero or the heroine is a prostitute the first movie where the main characters are an incest father son mother father-daughter mother-son don't tell me that's not affecting our society we've got to take a stand and stay away from it just the easiest way to do it is just not to even ever try known to one single thing especially when you're youth congress in your motel room lust of the eye and i could promise you i didn't turn it on last night i didn't turn on this morning I'm not gonna turn on tonight because that I know there was a temptation I could yield the TV could be very interesting me because my flesh but I know that so I'm just gonna solve it before I get involved and I just won't turn it on so that way I won't have a problem I won't have to try to flip between station station trying to embarrass because something was said or I won't have to sit there and watch and say well that was a bad thing a bad scene but but maybe it won't be so bad and just stay away from it amen number five your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost care for the physical body stewardship of the body that's why we don't drink so I don't smoke because that we don't it's it's a sin to be intoxicated bottle teaches that sin to be drunk sin to be intoxicated sin to be addicted we have to stay away from that but that also involves care for our body in every aspect gluttony we have got not to make food our God but be temperance you control your body and one way to do is fasting not to try to earn brownie points with God not to punish yourself what is the purpose of fasting self-control get control of yourself saying body you're not in control I am and gardius adornment and dress and hair let me give you five principles taken from the scripture read the scripture I don't have time to do it all today but the scripture teaches that a woman not to marry man's clothes a man not to wear one's closed and that's an abomination to God something God hates just because in the Old Testament that means abolished if God hated it if he always takes it if its moral buts that is it always stands now just like we understand if a man came up here we're in a dress we'd reject him but if a woman wears pants our society now accepts it 100 years ago our society wouldn't have accepted a woman wearing a pant pants but our society accepts it now and our society is now in the process of accepting a man wearing a dress if the Lord tarries 20 years from now you'll be have to try to fight with your children over boys wearing dresses but in the sight of God go with that make any difference logically speaking one is just as wrong as the other just because society says it's okay that doesn't mean we should say it's okay does God change no he wants a man to be a man a woman to be a woman if you say it doesn't make any difference we can both just a life well now we're beginning to see what society comes to when everybody has that attitude you see the feminist movement arising you see lesbianism homosexuality you see kids growing up an environment where they don't know what's right and wrong why because we've deliberately started breaking down the godly separation that was established in the beginning first Corinthians 11 teaches a woman to have long hair a man to have short hair it's the same principle make sure visually that there is a separation and then the principles here under a doorman and dress I may give you some of these principles modesty that's biblical word modesty of dress rejection of vanity don't go into vain elaborate things that's why the bible named specifically jewelry and it says don't work gold pearls costly ring and it also talks about elaborate hairdos braiding and plaiting there that's not talking about just braiding hair together that's all makes very elaborate hairdos that's talking about braiding ornaments in your hair as they used to put pearls in their hair gold coins in in strings in their hair and with with ornaments attached to them we have got to be modern all things just because your pastor preaches against Nikolas doesn't mean you're free to wear some other ornament that he hadn't mentioned by name from the you've got to think about your appearance in every aspect and the moderates not flashy reject vanity reject ornamentation now also that excludes makeup every single time the Bible mentions makeup it's always association with an immoral woman makeup is ornamentation makeup is vanity makeup is in modest because it highlights the sexual appeal which we are not supposed to highlight let me put a word in here you can be as modest as possible in a dress but you can still violate modesty by bold brazen lustful actions and some of our Pentecostal people need to be very aware of this some of our Pentecostal girls are very immodest in their actions and their approach to men in the way they walk dress and talk and even though they may fit all the rules to a tee what I'm trying to get to you is it's not living for rules you've got to get the spirit right if the spirit is right you won't have suggestive speech you won't have dirty jokes you won't have indecent remarks which that's a problem in our day we've got not to just preach to get some kneeling dresses we've got to preach against in modesty and all activities and we've got to really catch the spirit moderation and costs we've got to be moderate in cost that's why the Bible teaches against jewelry extremely expensive clothing the Bible teaches against wearing fine apparel against wearing a costly array we've got to be moderate and sometimes it conventions like this we tend to be the most in moderate we try to be flashy don't try to be flashing feet I think the Lord wants you to look nice neat attractive beautiful handsome clean all that kind of stuff but don't be extravagant gaudy try to just follow the latest fads and fashions outlandish clothes the things they'll show off the most we're not here to show up that's wrong got simple that's unholy to try to show off and I appreciate where the brother Johnson said last night the spirit and the dress go hand in hand conclusion well let me one more it's not in my notes and then I'm to occlusion worldly amusements we abstain from various worldly amusements and let me tell you why number one some things are whirly in themselves the activities themselves are wrong such as gambling rock music dancing those things are whirling in themselves because they involve fleshly lust violate scripture principles some things we avoid not because they're worldly in themselves but because of worldly atmosphere sports are fine nothing wrong with sports but you get in the whirly atmosphere then it leads to all kinds of problems worldly atmosphere drinking smoking cursing fighting rivalry extreme competition lust those things play sometimes what could be good things off limits and the Christian alternative is a building a Christian atmosphere rather than in the early atmosphere and then finally some things are only because of appearance that is they associate you with bad things that's why when I go to a restaurant I don't order a drink without the alcohol in it because no alcohol it's not sinful but somebody looked at and sees hey you've got a daiquiri huh well it doesn't have any alcohol in it but our youth group just hanging around drinking non-alcoholic daiquiris I don't do that not because that non-alcoholic dak would be sinful because the appearance of evil I don't want the world to think I'm part of them okay I'm not trying to lay rules down for you I'm trying to get you to think that's what I'm trying to do in conclusion let me read and I don't think I'm almost on schedule Philippians 2:12 through 13 this sums it up Philippians 2:12 to 13 i'ma read the last half of chapter verse 12 work out your own salvation with fear and trembling it's your responsibility to work it out guys I'm gonna do it for you you have to be reverent awe cautious and timid of doing evil work out your own salvation that does not mean save yourself because the next verse said for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure God works in you too will he gives you the desire and to do he gives you the power young person if I've touched on some things that challenge you this morning let me tell you this you can ask God to give you godly desires say god I want to love holiness I want to be holy I want to think holy I want this to be my normal pattern and God will change your desires God will baptize your mind God will transform God will renew your mind he will give you the desire you will give you the one who you won't want to be like the world you won't want to love the word God will change your desires so that your will to do what He wills but he doesn't leave you hanging there with the desire and not being able to live it but you'll also give you the power God will give you the power to live all you can it's easy it's a joy it's not hard it's a beauty it's a privilege it's a normal way to live it's the way I like to live I like to live in the Christian Way I don't like to be bound by lust I like to live holy I don't be like to be bound by bitterness and envy and strife I don't like to tell dirty jokes I don't like to let my mind look at all these dirty scenes why because I love holiness I love purity I love the power that comes when you're a child of God I want us to stand right now and I want you to realize and ask right now if you need God to help you with your desires ask God to change your desires if you need God to give you power ask God to give you power and he will you can live holy you must live holy it's not only a command it is a privilege you must do it to be saved but you also can do it you want to do it it's the way you should live let's thank God for the beauty of holiness right now praise God praise God praise God

Channel: Iglesia Centro de Vida

Views: 71,671

Rating: 4.7850842 out of 5

Keywords: What Is Holiness - David K. Bernard, David K. Bernard, What Is Holiness, preaching, pentecostal, apostalic, upci, sermon, Bernard, Jesus, Centro de Vida, God, Final Cut Pro

Id: p3c8tIGKbow

Length: 47min 59sec (2879 seconds)

Published: Tue May 17 2016