A “HOLINESS” HIGHWAY
MEMORY VERSE: “And an highway shall be there, and a way;
and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it;
but it shall be for those; the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err
therein” (Isaiah 35:8).
INTRODUCTION
Now that we
have understood the Plan of Salvation
and have experienced obedience to it, we
are no longer searching for the “Path TO Righteousness”, now we can
walk on the “Path OF Righteousness”.
It is no simple thing to follow the
“Path OF Righteousness” in this present day - living
righteously in an unrighteous world. The
child of God must appear blameless and harmless in the midst of a crooked and
perverse nation, as we are told in Titus 2:11-13: “For
the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us
that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope,
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ.”. We must:
1) deny ungodliness (a pagan-like disregard of God in thought and
action)
2) deny worldly lusts (a strong desire and
passion for things of this present world)
3) live soberly (seriously considering the
laws/commands of God’s Word)
4) live righteously (doing things in a right way
as identified by the Bible)
5) live godly (according to the plan of God)
ALL should be
done in this present world, and we should carefully prepare and look for the
return of our Saviour. And what is the
thing that teaches us all of this? - THE GRACE OF GOD! God has equipped us so that we will be able
to do it with His salvation and His grace - no other way! His Spirit IN US gives us hope - “To whom God would make known what is the
riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”
(Colossians 1:27).
So, what is this righteousness, this
holiness that we need before we shall see God?
The Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary defines holiness as:
1) The quality or state of being dedicated for
spiritual use
2) The state of being spiritually perfect or
pure; untainted by evil or sin
It actually
refers to separation FROM the world and sin, and dedication TO God.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE FOR HOLINESS?
There are THREE basic purposes for a
life of holiness:
A. TO PLEASE GOD (I Peter 2:9)
B. TO COMMUNICATE CHRIST TO OTHERS (Matthew
5:16; II Cor. 3:2-3)
C. TO BENEFIT OURSELVES BOTH NOW AND IN
ETERNITY (Hebrews 12:14)
WHY IS HOLINESS
NECESSARY?
Since the Lord God is Holy and
perfect, He demands holiness and perfection from all who come to Him. In both the Old and New Testaments, holiness
was demanded of every one that received his call.
I. OLD
TESTAMENT CALL TO HOLINESS
A. He said to Abraham in Genesis
17:16: “I am the Almighty God; walk
before me and be thou perfect.” To the children of Israel after they had
come out of Egypt (a type of sin and slavery) He demanded of them saying: “Sanctify yourselves therefore and be ye
holy; for I am the Lord your God”(Leviticus 20:7).
B. In the Old Testament, after God
had reaffirmed His covenant with Abraham and the children
of Israel, He
decided to live among His people.
1) He demanded an offering (a sacrifice) from
the people, and there must be a sanctuary
(a holy place) for him to dwell in.
(Exodus 25:1,2,8,9).
2)
Moses prepared this sanctuary according to the pattern and materials as
God had revealed to him, and so God could live among His people (Exodus
40:33-35).
3)
During their wandering in the Wilderness, the Lord spoke of dwelling
with his people, but this time not in the tabernacle or in the temple made by
hands as in King Solomon’s day (I Kings 8:10-11; II Chronicles 7:15-16), but
dwelling with human flesh and using the human body as his temple. (Joel 2:28).
II. NEW
TESTAMENT CALL TO HOLINESS
A. In Acts 17:24, Paul is preaching
to the people of Athens on Mars Hill, and he says this about the temple
dwelling place of God: “God that made the world and all things
therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples
made with hands;”.
B. Just as in the Old Testament,
when God dwelt among the children of Israel, He gave Moses the plan for
building the Tabernacle. Today, in the
building not made with hands, God still has a plan - just any old way will not
do! Paul, in his writings to the church
at Corinth said: “Know ye not that ye are
the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him
shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (I
Corinthians 3:16-17).
C. Peter, in his epistle to the
church in general spoke of this also: “But
as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of
conversation; Because it is
written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (I Peter 1:15-16).
This
preparation of the body as a sanctuary or temple, and dedicating it for the
Lord’s use, this call to BE HOLY, is what the Bible calls “holiness”.
III. PREPARATION
OF THE BODY
Just as it was
very important in the construction of the Tabernacle that the outer covering
was properly put together so that the inner furniture and function could be
correctly observed, so it is with the preparation of the body as God’s dwelling
place – both inward and outward preparation is necessary. The Psalmist David understood this very well
when he wrote in Psalm 24:3-5: “ Who shall ascend into the hill of the
Lord? or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto
vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall
receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his
salvation”.
A. INWARD PREPARATION - This involves a
change of heart - repentance.
1) It is forsaking sin and never going back to
it again. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts:
and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our
God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).
2) Giving oneself to baptism in Jesus’ name for
the washing away of one’s sins: “To him
gave all the prophets witness, that
through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of
sins” (Acts 10:43).
3) Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus
had this to say: “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the
word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot,
or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:26-27).
With
repentance and baptism, the inner part of the body is prepared as God’s
dwelling place. The Holy Ghost, by
faith, can now reside in this temple: “That he would grant you, according to the
riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner
man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and
grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the
breadth, and length, and depth, and
height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might
be filled with all the fullness of God”
(Ephesians 3:16-19). But the
work of holiness does not end here.
B. OUTWARD PREPARATION - We all like to eat delicious food, prepared
and arranged beautifully so that we
enjoy looking at it before we eat it.
But who will eat a beautiful meal that is served out of a chamber pot
(toilet bowl)? The body, as the temple of God, should be seen in a way that
actually reveals the attitude of God.
Thus, the outward preparation of the body is very important. This outward preparation involves the
transformation of the individual from his old ways of life. Paul had this to say to the church in
Rome: “I beseech (I beg) you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that
ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service. And be not
conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of
God” (Romans 12:1-2). What is “this world” that we should not
be conformed (made like) to? The Apostle
John, in his first epistle (I John 2:16) defines the world as:
1) the lust of the flesh
2) the lust of the eye
3) the pride of life
And
John made it a point to emphasize that whoever has his love in these things has
no love of God in him. “Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. for all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father,
but is of the world. And the world
passeth away; and the lust thereof: but
he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever”
(I John 2:15-17). Given these
scriptures and an understanding that friendship with the “world” is enmity with
God (James 4:4), there are seven questions you should ask yourself before you
begin to do, say, think or enjoy
anything!
1) Can it be done for the glory of God? (I Corinthians 10:31)
2) Can it be done “in the name of the Lord
Jesus” asking His blessing on the activity?
(John 14:13)
3) Can it be done while sincerely giving thanks
to God?
4) Is it a Christ-like action? (I John 2:6)
5) Will it weaken the sincere convictions of
other Christians? (I Corinthians 8:1)
6)
Will it weaken my desire for spiritual things - God’s Word, and
prayer? (Luke 8:14; Matthew 5:6)
7) Will it weaken or hinder my witness for
Christ? (Matthew 5:13-16)
C. The reason for holiness standards is
to protect us in one or more of these areas.
A standard is a fixed rule or measure that is established by
authority. God has never wanted His
people to be frustrated about what will or will not please Him, so He has given
us some Biblical principles which apply throughout the centuries of time, even
today!
1) We have already learned that in this present
day, our bodies are the temple of the Lord.
So what are we supposed to do with His temple? Paul wrote the Corinthian church in II
Corinthians 6:16 - 18; 7:1 and explained
it like this: “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; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. WHEREFORE COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM, AND BE YE
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.”
2)
The life of holiness is a continual striving for perfection (Philippians
3:12-17). No one is absolutely perfect,
but we are holy if we place our faith in Christ, live a repented life according
to God’s Word, and seek to grow progressively more Christ-like by the power of
the indwelling spirit. God expects continued
growth in grace and knowledge and increasing production of spiritual
fruit. (II Peter 3:18).
3) We may not be perfect, but we are supposed to
be walking on a road that leads to heaven - one that is straight and narrow,
and one that is HOLY. The prophet Isaiah
spoke about it in his 35th chapter, verse 8:
“And an highway shall be there,
and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not
pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall
not err therein.”
IV. CONCLUSION
The “Path of Righteousness” is a
special path. Why? Because it is the road where God Himself
walks - leading us to heaven - our eternal home! God knew we wouldn’t be able to walk a holy
walk without His help, so he provided all we need in the Comforter He sent us -
that Comforter who works inside of us to make us Holy - like He is! There is a special chorus which tells us so
plainly how it all works together:
Jesus on the inside,
working on the outside,
Oh - What a change in my life!
Oh - What a Change. . . .
In. . . . My. . . . Life!
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