05.07.2023 | HOLINESS IS ABOUT MAKING US WHOLE
HOLINESS IS ABOUT MAKING US WHOLE
Isaiah 6:1-2 (NLT)
It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of His robe filled the Temple. Attending Him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.
Isaiah 6:3-4
They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with His glory!” Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.
Isaiah 6:5-6
Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.
Isaiah 6:7-8
He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.” Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”
1. Two Kinds of Holiness:
A. Positional Holiness
a. Made holy by the blood of Jesus
b. God looks at us and sees the perfection of Jesus
B. Practical (Lived Out) Holiness
a. This is the process of bringing our flesh unto submission to the Holy Spirit
2. How Do We Pursue Holiness?
A. Focus on the internal, not the external.
Know. Be. Do.
Right knowledge, right passion, right practice.
1 Peter 1:16 (NKJV)
Because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Matthew 5:48
Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
“A divine call that was intended to beget hope, instead produces fear and condemnation.” – Jack Hayford
B. Fight in Faith
Ezekiel 36:25-26 (NLT)
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”
Ezekiel 36:27 (NIV)
And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws.
Psalm 119:128 (NKJV)
Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.
C. Lock Eyes with Jesus
1 Thessalonians 5:23
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
a. Holiness/sanctification is for now.
b. Holiness/sanctification is something God Himself will do in you.
c. Holiness/sanctification involves your peace, completeness, and wholeness.
“God is comfortable when we are uncomfortable.” – Ed Silvoso
No one would buy water that was 98% pure and 2% sewage.
Discussion Questions:
1. What does holiness mean to you personally? What comes to mind with this word?
2. Why do you think the Bible talks so much about holiness?
3. Why is holiness important to us as believers?
4. Do you think you might have slipped into a level of comfortability with your current level of practical holiness?
5. What does it look like for you to focus inwardly, on right passions, when it comes to holiness?
6. What does it mean for you to pursue holiness by faith, partnering with the Holy Spirit in your life?
7. If God is comfortable when we are uncomfortable, how can we make God more comfortable in our lives?