Bro Koay Kheng Hin
I want to ask what comes to mind when the word holy is mentioned. Hold on to that and I'll try to add to your thoughts.
When Pastor asked me to preached on this Sunday, I immediately knew I wanted to talk about holiness.
More than 10 years back, someone was telling me "all this talk about holiness, when we are living in grace. I don't like those holier than thou Christians". Then a few weeks back someone was asking me that in the OT is a lot of talk about holiness. That if we are not obedient a lot will come upon us which is scary.
For a lot of people, holiness is a bit negative. We are living in grace so there are a lot of things on our mind when it comes to holiness.
A proper understanding of holiness is necessary. We have compartmentalised a lot of teaching and holiness is not exempted. Or we talk about grace. Due to time constrain we focus on one or the other. But when you do it like that a lot get confused.
Actually it is an issue right from the time of Paul. If you preach grace without holiness, you will find there is a certain liberty for the people to sin. On the other hand if you teach holiness without grace you fall into a set legalism and you become like a Pharisee. It is a yolk around their neck and other people's neck.
There are 4 compartments. You preach grace without holiness and there is no consequences to sin. If you preach holiness without grace, you become legalistic and under law. If you preach no grace and no holiness, then it's not Christianity. The fourth is the only accepted one which is to preach grace with holiness and grace within holiness.
But so far I have not opened the bible. If it's just this, then it's just my opinion and it carries no weight.
Hebrews 12:14
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
My focus today is upon the word pursuing holiness.
All of us have different sort of pursuits. Some of us it's money. We wake up and see the dollar sign. Some of us already have money, so they pursue Datukship. I didn't know there are different types of Datukships until recently. Some people pursue recognition or status. But most people pursue enjoyment or pleasure. Some pursue happiness. My contention is this. Here the Hebrew writer says we are to pursue holiness.
And the reason is simple, without which we will not see God. We will not be able to experience the presence of God and in future we may not be able to go where God is.
What is meant by this holiness? If you ask people, some say you carry a big bible, or go to church always, or your dressing, like the clergy. Cover this, cover that and you are holy. Or someone who don't mix with sinners and lives like a hermit.
To really understand what is holiness we need to study what the bible says. I have this friend who told me he had a cousin who became a Christian. And he said his cousin wears a certain type of dress and talks different, he says if that is holiness, that's not for me. His understanding of holiness is not correct.
I want to skim through exactly what it is all about. It began in the Garden of Eden. The day came when they ate the fruit and death both physical and spiritual became a reality. The bible says you will surely die. What is spiritual death? It is separation from God. It was an immediate separation. That was why they hid from God after they sinned.
Adam is a living moral being with a conscience. The whole process is that when man sin, he will know it and the separation is immediate. Unless a person has a seared conscience. What is that?
Take money for example. If you steal 1,000 dollars from your company, for the next week you will worry if you will get caught. You do it the first time, you feel like that. But if you do it for the tenth time your conscience is seared. You no longer lose sleep over it.
There are two types of separation. The immediate as in Adam and Eve and if that separation is not atoned for, then there is a second separation. Under the dominion or bondage of sin. And that separation is the penalty of sin.
The problem is we often separate the two.
When the Israelite nation is born they came out of Egypt as a people of God. God said to them this is it and they can experience the presence of God.
Exodus 25:21-22
You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. 22 And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.
This cover is the atonement cover. Here is where the presence and glory of God is. The word meet means His presence will be there. God was dealing with them corporately and Moses was the representative. You will notice there are three things here.
The atonement cover.
It cannot be left empty. It has to be sprinkled with blood and brought in together with incense.
The mercy seat.
That's where grace is. The presence of God.
The testimony.
This is the tablet that carries the Ten Commandments. This carries the moral nature of God.
These three always come together. God meets in holiness without which no one can see God. He also meets us in grace without which no one can see God. He covers our sin without which no one can meet God.
Many today say the Ten Commandments is no longer applicable as we live in grace. Let's look at the fifth commandment. Do we need to honor our father and mother today? The sixth commandment where we cannot kill. Can we kill today? Cannot. The commandment says you shall not commit adultery and the Pharisees says they have not but Jesus asked if they have lusted after a woman and they kept quiet. Jesus have taken the commandments from the actions to the heart. With murder, Jesus asked if they have angered against another. So Jesus have taken the commandments even higher.
People have misunderstood what holiness is. If you ask a woman if she wants a holy husband she may say no. But if you ask if she wants a husband who don't commit adultery or lust after another and she will say yes.
The Ten Commandments is tied very well with the fruits of the Holy Spirit. This is holiness. So the next time if you are asked if you want to marry a holy man, look at a man who has the fruit of the Holy Spirit. What about a man? Do you want to have a wife who is holy? Someone who is a good helper to you. Who is submissive to you. You also want a holy lady to be your wife.
I want to change your idea of holiness. Holiness is about that Christ-like nature that is represented by the Fruit of the Holy Spirit and the Ten Commandments. You have to get the perspective of holiness right.
The next one is do you want to meet God? In His presence His promises become yay and amen. In the Holy Spirit is the promises and power of God. It brings joy and a delightful heart.
When you link all three together, the presence, the grace and holiness of God.
If you are a drunkard or an adulterer and you say you have the presence of God, do you believe him? It is nonsense.
When Moses came down with the tablets, the Israelites had a golden calf and was sinning. Moses was so angry he broke the tablets. Imagine he has to fast 40 days and 40 nights for it already. The Israelites started on the wrong footing and this went on for 800 years. And God said enough is enough yet in their exile God's grace was still there for them.
Jeremiah 31:33-34
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbour and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord, ’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
After two sets of the tablets, the Israelites were still sinning and so God upgraded it and now put the law in their hearts. This is the New Covenant. Jeremiah 31 smacks right into this grace, presence and holiness of God coming together.
But here it is still not explained how to put that law in man's heart until Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 36:25-28
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
Ezekiel answers the question Jeremiah didn't answer. That new nature that God gives is the moral nature of God through the Holy Spirit. This is the New Covenant. But they had to wait for Jesus to come before the Holy Spirit can do His work in our hearts.
The Ten Commandments was fulfilled when Jesus was on the cross. The grace, the holiness and the presence was in Jesus himself.
Hebrews 10:10
By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
We are made holy. The perfect holiness of Christ is imputed to us and God sees us through the eyes of Jesus. We call this positional holiness in Christ. What does it do? Positional holiness deal with the penalty of sin. In other words, we are saved. You will be able to go back to the presence of God. There will be no eternal separation from God. You are born again. The Holy Spirit dwells in you to begin the work to regenerate you so that you become holy. That is practical holiness.
1 Corinthians 1:2
To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
There are two parts to it. Those sanctified, made holy and those who are called to be saints, to be holy, that is practical holiness. Positional holiness is immediate. Practical holiness is to be pursued but not attained. If not there is no need for glorification.
Positional holiness is by grace but practical holiness is within grace. The spirit of God works within you to make you holy but you must put to death the deeds of the body.
Romans 8:13
For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
If you want to pursue holiness you must depend on God but you must also cooperate with the spirit of God.
God wants to see your heart.
David was a man after God's heart even though he sinned. He repented and was restored. Consecration and repentance. Positional holiness is God's presence in you. Practical holiness is experiencing the presence of God.
In the presence of God is the fullness of joy.
In grace and holiness I want to summarise like this: we are made holy to free us from the penalty of sin. God works in us so that we can become holy to free us from the dominion of sin.
England was in a moral decay in the 16th century when John Wesley was anointed by God to preach. There was lots of pubs and prostitute houses. There was a massive revival in England. John Wesley may have saved England.
John Wesley was someone who emphasised on the holiness of God and that man can achieve total practical holiness though I don't agree with him. It achieved much for England, as all the pubs and prostitute houses close shop.
The Assemblies of God has got a great emphasis on holiness. This is our spiritual heritage.
I want to end with this. If you ever think why you should be holy, fundamentally there is only one reason.
1 Peter 1:16-17
because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;
We pursue holiness because our God is holy.
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