09.16.13 - Holiness From The Inside Out

1. I. What Does It Mean To Be Holy?

1. a. What is your definition of holiness?

1. i. In the KJV, the word defined means to be ceremonially clean, to be consecrated, it is used in the sense of a sanctuary.

1. ii. Webster's dictionary defines holiness/holy as - devoted completely, 

1. 1. How does our definition of holiness match to the Biblical definition?

1. b. Many times holiness is a word used to describe a method of dress, or a classification of a worship style.  Those raised within the a full gospel church may sometimes look at someone's dress and come to the conclusion that they are "holiness folk."

1. c. While dress code, worship style and church attendance may be related to holiness, those things do not in any way make one holy.  

1. i. People may dress a certain way and appear on the outside to really be walking with the Lord, but on the inside could be unforgiveness, hatred, pride or any number of issues that are not holy in the eyes of God.

1. ii. Remember that John the Baptist was dressed in leather and ate bugs, but was inside very holy man and lived a very holy life, but the Pharisees and Sadducees dressed in a manner that all would look upon them and think that they were holy, but inwardly there were many issues that were not holy. 

1. 1. The following questions are meant to assess attributes only, and not people.  Be careful that as we are looking at these questions we are looking inwardly to ourselves and not outwardly at other people.

1. 1. Given the Biblical definition of holiness, what are some aspects of a persons' life that might lead you to believe they are in fact living a holy life?

1. 2. What might be aspects of a person's life that would lead you to believe they would not be living a holy life?

1. II. The Furnishings

1. a. We earlier saw that one of the KJV definitions noted that holiness corresponded with a sanctuary.  The New Testament teaches us that we are literally sanctuaries for Him.

1. i. 1 Cor 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? KJV

1. ii. When you consider that the Holy Ghost desires to live inside of you, how does that make you feel about choices we may make on a daily basis? 

1. 1. Such as what we watch on television, what we listen to on the radio and what we might read.

1. b. Recently my daughter came home to tell me that her friend from school made a comment to her something like this" Catherine, you smell like you house and I like it!"  While I'm not entirely sure what she meant by that, I would like to think that our home smells good.  The point here is that what is on the inside of our home can be sensed by those that are around us.  What is on the inside of our lives can also be sensed by those around us.  Holiness cannot be faked to someone who really has Christ working in their lives.  A home with a fireplace that is used in the winter to warm a house will likely still smell faintly of smoke even in the hot summer months.  If "fires" are allowed to burn in our hearts, fires of unholiness,  fires of passion, lust, greed and self will, then even in times when those fires are only smoldering others can "smell the smoke."

1. c. The things that we put into our "temple" are just as important as the things we put on it.  

1. i. What are some "furnishings" one might put inside their temple that are holy?

1. ii. What are some things that one might put inside that are unholy?

1. III. Holiness Is Not Perfection

1. a. Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous , no, not one: KJV

1. b. Somewhere some of us have given in to the idea that because we are imperfect and sometimes falter we are not holy. That is not true.  White it is certain that we cannot maintain holiness with rampant sin in control of our lives, just because we are not perfect does not mean we are not holy.  

1. c. Looking back at the original definition, complete devotion is not perfection. You may have a puppy that is completely devoted to you and loves you unconditionally, but when you leave the room may chew on your shoes.  We are to be completely wholly devoted to our God, we are to love Him with all of our hearts and all that we are, but if we walk long enough, sooner or later we may step in a hole and stumble a bit, that does not mean we have lost our devotion to God, nor does it mean we have lost our holiness!

1. i. When we stumble in our walk with the Lord, how does it usually make us feel about being holy?

1. ii. Is holiness a feeling or a fact?

1. iii. If holiness if a fact (and it is, more a description of one's life) then what degree does our "feelings" affect it?

09.16.13 - The High Calling

The High Calling

1. 1. 1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light KJV

Monday, September  16, 2013

1:38 PM

God first calls us to His Kingdom, then He places us within His Kingdom.  Our placement or ministry in the Kingdom of God NEVER supercedes our calling to be like Christ.

1. 1. The Call - To Be Like Christ 

1. a. Paul writes in Philippians 3 of his desire to be like Christ, to have a personal relationship with the Lord who saved him. Consider his words:

1. i. "that I may win Christ"

1. ii. "and be found in Him"

1. iii. "that I may know Him"

1. iv. "being made conformable unto His death"

1. v. "but I follow after"

1. 1. Notice that these statements are in reference to relationship with Christ, and not Paul's calling to be an apostle.

1. b. Phil 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. KJV

1. i. The "mark" that Paul was referring to was not to be a better apostle, but to be more like Christ.  This was his first calling, his first priority.  Paul knew that no matter what ministry he was called to, no matter where life took him, no matter how great or how abased he was, that it was his High Calling to be like Christ Jesus.

1. c. Matt 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted ? it is thenceforth good for  nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. KJV

1. i. Our first priority as a Christian is to be Christ-like. We may be told as a Christian we need to stop doing this, start doing that, wear this and don't wear that, say this and stop saying that.  We need to go to Church, we need to pay our tithe, we need to reach the lost and all of those things may be true, but our first priority is to be like Jesus.  When we set our hearts to be like Jesus, to win Him, to know Him, to be made conformable to Him, we cannot help but to become more like the Lord.  

1. ii. When we just "do" what we think the Lord would do and do not actually become like Him, we are like the salt in Matthew 5, we loose our saltiness, we loose our passion. There is a danger of becoming lukewarm if we are only imitating Christ and not becoming like Him, there is a difference.  Actors on television can move our emotions with they well played parts on the big screen, but in reality, they are still just actors.  

1. 1. How can we tell if we have lost our saltiness?

1. 2. If we are salt and light as the Bible teaches us (and we are) what happens when we lose our passion, when we begin to NOT be like Christ?  

1. 3. What does it say to the world we are trying to reach if there is no "salt" and "light" in our lives?

1. 2. The Call - Kingdom Placement

1. a. 1 Cor 12:18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. KJV

1. i. God has a divine placement, a wonderful assignment, a job for each of us.  Ephesians teaches us about apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists and pastors.  God will place us in the Body of Christ, in His Kingdom, as He chooses.  Our effectiveness in ministry does not come from our title, or how many people we can influence or who knows our name, our effectiveness in ministry placement comes from understanding that our High Calling comes before our ministry calling or placement. Paul was concerned about reaching people with the Gospel, but his greater concern was that he become conformed to the image of Christ.  In becoming conformed to the image of Christ, he in turn reached more people with the Gospel.  Had he sought the latter first, he would not have succeeded in either to the extent that he did.

1. ii. We can become so enthralled with a title or position that we can forget why God put us there in the first place.  It is not about us, it is about Him.  We are where we are for a reason. To be like Christ.  The stars did not have a voice to argue about where God put them in the night sky, their job is simply to shine.  We have a voice, we can argue and disagree and not understand, but at the end of the day, our job is to shine where He has placed us .  We are to lift Him up by being like Him.  

1. iii. When God used Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, many did not make it to the promised land because of grumbling and complaining.  When we loose focus on our High Calling (to be like Christ) and our Kingdom placement (to shine where He puts us) we may stumble around in the wilderness for year and years

1. 1. Have you ever been frustrated or unsatisfied with a situation that you "forgot to shine?"

1. 2. To many times we try to "do" our calling instead of just being like Christ.  Ministry will flow from who we are and not what we do.  If we are Christlike, ministry will happen, His way.

1. 3. Do you know what your calling is?  If not, how can just being like Christ grow the Kingdom and glorify Him?

09.03.13 - You Defined

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: KJV

Who Are You?

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

9:25 AM

1. 1. You Defined

1. a. If someone were to ask you who you are, what would your response be? Most of us would give our name.  Is it our name that determines who we are?  Is it what we do that determines who we are?  What we wear? Our job? Is our identity found in our family, careers, the car we drive, or our nationality?  Those things may describe us to a point, but they are not the defining factor of who we really are.

1. i. If we are defined by our name, then discuss the following passage from Revelation:

1. 1. Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. KJV

1. 2. Our name may be used by others to assist in our identity, but certainly it is not our sole identity.  There were some terrible names given to men and women in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, but that name did not necessarily define who they were. Consider:

1. a. 1 Samuel 4:21 Ichabod - literally means no more glory or the glory has departed

1. i. Just because we are given a "bad name" does not mean we must live up to it!

1. b. Knowing who you are is important in everyday life, but knowing who you are as a CHRISTIAN in CHRIST is vital for a victorious life and the fulfillment of destiny.

1. c. You are . . .

1. i. Created by God 

1. 1. Gen 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. KJV

1. 2. Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee KJV

1. a. The Bible teaches us that God is no respecter of persons.  God has plans for each of us, we are created by God for His purposes. His plans for us started BEFORE He formed us in the womb, that means there are no "accidents" or "mistakes." (possibly a few surprises!)

1. i. How does it make you feel that God though about you before you were born, before you were created in your mothers' womb?

1. ii. What does that have to say about our worth and importance to God?

1. d. We hear many times that  a person has "low self esteem."  We often are tempted to define ourselves by what we think of ourselves due to our upbringing, or what others have said about us: all of those things will cause us to feel less than we are in the sight of Almighty God.  As a born again Christian, our true identity is found in Christ alone.

1. i.  Jacob means one who follows on another's heels, supplanter.  For years Jacob lived out what his name said about him.  He was defined by his name as well as by what others thought.  But then all of that changed after an encounter with God - Gen 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel : for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. KJV God changed not only his name, but what he thought of himself as well as the way that others related to him.  Israel means power and favor with God, which he had always had!

1. ii. Why is it so important to see ourselves as God sees us and not let ourselves be defined by others?

1. iii. How much emphasis should we put into what others think or say about us? 

1. e. You are . . .

1. i. Significant

1. 1. Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. KJV

1. a. God had a purpose for Adam and Eve.  He had a purpose for Jeremiah.  He had a purpose for Jacob. And He has a purpose for you.  

1. b. You and I were created for a purpose, there really is a reason for us to be alive.  Dominion over all creation was the purpose in the beginning for Adam and Eve.  Dominion. 

1. i. How might the story have differently been written should Adam have had "low self esteem?"

1. a. Consider the confidence he had in who he was in the naming of the animals.

1. b. Consider his boldness to speak to and walk with the Lord, before the fall.

1. 2. If Adam chose to not believe what God has said about him, then what condition would the Garden have been in with his being over it?

1. 3. What might happen if every Christian began to look at himself/herself as the Lord sees us instead of worrying about what others think of us