1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:05,600 Let's read God's word we're reading from first Thessalonians 2 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:11,520 chapter 3 and we're going to read from verse 9 to the end. 3 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:19,920 First Thessalonians chapter 3, verses 9 to the end. 4 00:00:27,580 --> 00:00:31,180 Let's hear the word of God for those online the words will come 5 00:00:31,180 --> 00:00:34,160 up on screen and we're reading. Of course, we've often 6 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:39,080 emphasised from the King James Bible First Thessalonians 7 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:44,600 chapter 3, verse 9. For what thanks can we rendered 8 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:50,080 to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for 9 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:56,040 your sakes before our God night and day, praying exceedingly 10 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:02,080 that we might see your fears and might perfect that which is 11 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:07,120 lacking in your faith. Now God Himself and our Father 12 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:13,440 and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you, and the Lord 13 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:17,840 make you to increase and abound and love one toward another and 14 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,400 toward all men, even as we do toward you. 15 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:26,800 To the end, He may establish your hearts unblameable in 16 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:34,040 holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our 17 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:39,040 Lord Jesus Christ with all His Saints. 18 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:41,320 Amen. We know that God will stamp with 19 00:01:41,320 --> 00:01:44,840 His own approval and blessing this reading of His own precious 20 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:53,760 and infallible Word. Now this morning as we continue 21 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:56,840 with our studies in the book of First Thessalonians. 22 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,680 My text today is taken from the verse 13. 23 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:05,240 It reads as follows to the end. He may establish your hearts 24 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:11,000 unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father at the 25 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:14,880 coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his sins. 26 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:21,120 Now my theme today I've entitled in the form of a question, have 27 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:26,000 you a heart for holiness. Now let's remember the context. 28 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:31,360 First Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 13 is part and parcel of 29 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,440 one of the Apostle Paul's prayers for the church at 30 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:38,000 Thessalonica. And this prayer is found in 31 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:43,600 chapter 3, verses 9 to 13, where Paul is expressing his desire of 32 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:47,880 his heart that the Lord is God will richly bless the church at 33 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:51,240 Thessalonia. This prayer reveals A longing 34 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:55,040 and a yearning to see the face of these believers again, even 35 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,840 after they were forced to flee due to the opposition of an 36 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:02,440 angry, unbelieving mob. And literally, one of his 37 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:07,040 requests is about getting back to this infant church he founded 38 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:09,400 under God. Now we know that the Lord did 39 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:14,000 answer his prayer. Not immediately, but certainly 40 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:17,520 not in the day that he fled from Thessalonica. 41 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:22,280 He did return, but it was some years later as part of his third 42 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,120 missionary journey. You can read about that in Acts 43 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:30,720 18, verses 23, right through to Acts 21, verse 26. 44 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:35,880 These verses provide a detailed itinerary of Paul's third 45 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,160 missionary journey, which had to include, according to Acts 19 46 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:44,040 and two, Macedonia. We also learnt that in verse 12 47 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:48,000 he expressed his intense longing in his soul that the Lord would 48 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:50,760 make the whole of the Thessalonian church to increase 49 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:55,360 and abound and love one toward another and toward all men, even 50 00:03:55,360 --> 00:04:00,280 as we do toward you. So verse 12 is a prayer about 51 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:06,600 the church loving one another, and at its heart it's a prayer 52 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:11,880 for love to grow and to develop. And last Lord's Day we thought 53 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,520 about the production of love toward one another, it's origin, 54 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:20,600 the Lord make, it's operation. Then we thought of the practise 55 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,560 of this love. It's love for Saints, it's love 56 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:26,440 for the souls of men, the lost souls of men. 57 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:28,680 It's a love for the servants of Christ. 58 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:33,160 And we closed with a Third Point, the possession of true 59 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:37,720 love toward one another. Look at verse 13, at the opening 60 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:43,920 words to the end. He may establish the words to 61 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,240 the end. Here's the goal of it all. 62 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:52,560 True love, I told you, belongs to and is connected with the 63 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:57,880 subject of heart holiness. And the fullest and the deepest 64 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:03,240 demonstration of true love is that we are a holy, godly people 65 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:08,160 unto the Lord, a people that hate sin, a people that love 66 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,080 righteousness. You see, the love of God shed 67 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:16,320 abroad in the soul by the Holy Spirit should motivate us to a 68 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:20,920 life of heart holiness. So what is verse 13 all about? 69 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:27,160 It's about a prayer for holiness of life. 70 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:33,600 So I asked the question, have you a heart holiness for God? 71 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:36,680 I want you to think of a number of things very quickly. 72 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,960 One, the subject of heart holiness. 73 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,320 Notice these words again to the end. 74 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,840 He may establish. Now we'll pause there. 75 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,560 You see, there is a connection here. 76 00:05:54,000 --> 00:06:00,160 Remember what I've just said. Love is the chief grace among 77 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,560 all graces that make up the fruit of the Spirit. 78 00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:09,640 Galatians 522 starts with the spiritual grace of love. 79 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:17,040 Love is first. Now in chapter 13 of First 80 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:19,320 Corinthians, the great chapter of love. 81 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:23,480 If you look with me at First Corinthians chapter 13 verse 13, 82 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:25,720 it says this. Now listen to it. 83 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:31,600 Look at the order. And now abideth faith, hope and 84 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:37,000 charity, these three. But the greatest is charity. 85 00:06:37,840 --> 00:06:41,040 Now the word charity, young people, is not about giving a 86 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:45,080 gift of money to A cause like the Jamaican Appeal, it includes 87 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,840 that. But it's much more than that. 88 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:53,000 You see, the word charity is an old Elizabethan word in the 89 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:57,200 Authorised Version. The Greek word is agape, and 90 00:06:57,280 --> 00:07:00,600 it's a reference here. When they use the word charity, 91 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:05,320 it's a reference to the spiritual quality of God's love. 92 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:11,400 You see, God's love at his heart is a giving love. 93 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:17,760 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. 94 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:21,480 We're coming up to think of Christmas time and he gave us a 95 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:29,760 baby, Baby Jesus, God Incarnate, he, he, he gave a star to direct 96 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:36,680 us to where the baby was. And he gave this baby to be the 97 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:42,480 Saviour of the world. You see, God's love is a giving 98 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:47,560 love. Now we're taught here in First 99 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:54,160 Corinthians 1313 that love is greater than faith and hope. 100 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:57,760 Why? The greatest of these is 101 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:01,440 charity. What could Paul mean? 102 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,800 Remember, as I've said in verse 12, Paul is praying about the 103 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,200 Thessalonians loving one another. 104 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:13,240 He wanted them to practise and demonstrate and develop love to 105 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:16,080 one another. He wanted their love to grow and 106 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:21,080 to overflow. And yet here he tells us that 107 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:24,160 the greatest of these is charity. 108 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:29,280 You see, let me put it this way. True faith, which is the gift of 109 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:35,919 God, a true hope benefits yourself to a larger, greater 110 00:08:35,919 --> 00:08:39,080 degree. You exercise that faith. 111 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:43,080 You lay hold upon that hope. You're called upon to have faith 112 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:45,520 in Christ. It's faith in Christ that saved 113 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:47,240 not just faith, but faith in Christ. 114 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:50,480 You're called to have a sure and steadfast hope, a real hope 115 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:52,440 that's like an anchor to the soul. 116 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:56,520 But love not only benefits you, but benefits others. 117 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:00,360 It benefits the church. Now we're not saved by love. 118 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:06,720 We're saved by faith in Christ. We're not saved by hope. 119 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:08,880 Our hope is sure. It's real. 120 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,080 It's fixed in the personal work of Christ, like an answer to 121 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:16,120 anchor to the soul. But true love not only benefits 122 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:20,160 you personally, but benefits many others. 123 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,960 That's why the Bible says in Galatians 5 and 6, faith worketh 124 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,520 by love. Nothing to do with the ground of 125 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:36,840 salvation, but the evidence. It's the growth and overflow of 126 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:41,200 true love to others. We've already seen that to the 127 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:45,720 Saints, to the lost souls of man in in the service of Christ. 128 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:52,360 And this spiritual love that he's talking about manifests 129 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:56,280 itself in holiness. This love that grows and 130 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:00,800 develops leads to a a life of holiness before the Lord. 131 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:04,440 So when you truly love the Lord, you'd want to please him. 132 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:08,160 You will want to do his will, you will want to know him 133 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:11,280 better. You'd want to trust Him no 134 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:13,560 matter the darkness you're going through, no matter the 135 00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:17,240 difficulty that you're facing, no matter even if you're 136 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,440 depressed and downcast in your spirit. 137 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:25,080 The Chinese woman spoke to me on Friday at City Hall and she kept 138 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:29,120 emphasising, pastor, you've got to trust and obey. 139 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:32,240 She was a lovely saved woman from Bloomfield and we had a 140 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:35,840 lovely chat and she's absolutely right, you have to trust and 141 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:37,680 obey. Now our obedience is gay and 142 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:41,000 it's not the ground of salving, it is the evidence. 143 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:45,600 It's a sign that we have a true possession of Christ. 144 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:49,040 We live in an age when there's loads of professions of Christ, 145 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:52,200 10s of thousands of them in Northern Ireland. 146 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:55,280 But there's a vast difference between a profession of Christ 147 00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:00,760 and a possession of Christ. But once you're born again of 148 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,760 the Spirit, the love of God is shed abroad in your heart and 149 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:09,320 you become a possessor of the gift of eternal life, the true 150 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:11,480 love of God in your heart and life. 151 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:16,520 Here's how it will operate. Here's how it will be seen to 152 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:21,000 this end. That's very important that you 153 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:27,520 grasp that connection. This spiritual grace, this holy 154 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:31,720 love is connected to the concept of true holiness. 155 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:35,000 Now you need to grasp that. The second thing is this. 156 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:39,560 In the subject of heart holiness, there's a coexistence 157 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:42,200 here. You see, there's a close 158 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:46,880 coexistence between the subject of love and the subject of 159 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:50,720 holiness. There can be no true love 160 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:54,760 without holiness. There can be no true holiness 161 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:59,080 without true love. True love and holiness coexist. 162 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:03,680 Think of these truths and not turn to the references for time. 163 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:09,400 God is holy. Leviticus 19 and two, ye shall 164 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:12,560 be holy, for I the Lord your God, I'm holy. 165 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:19,920 In the book of Psalms and Psalm 9599 and verse 5, we read Exalt 166 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:24,480 you the Lord our God and worship at his footstool, for He is 167 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:27,920 holy. And also we read in the New 168 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:32,440 Testament first John four and eight, God is love first John 4 169 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:35,640 and 16. You see, true love and true 170 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:41,880 holiness coexist in God. They're not mutually exclusive. 171 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:46,320 And what's true in relation to the divine nature of God is also 172 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:48,920 true in the life of a true believer. 173 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:53,000 Listen to me carefully. If there's no true love for God 174 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,000 in the things of God, then there's no true holiness. 175 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:01,440 And if there's no holiness unto the Lord, there's no true love 176 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,000 being demonstrated toward the Lord. 177 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:07,760 See, many profess the Lord's name. 178 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:12,480 Many say I'm a Christian. Many say I love the Lord Jesus. 179 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:14,960 But they have no desire to live a holy life. 180 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,040 They have no true hatred for sin. 181 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:20,400 Their own sin are the sins of others. 182 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:25,680 There's no turning their back on the world and the flesh and the 183 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:29,480 devil and and live for the honour and glory of God. 184 00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:36,360 You see, if there's a true love in the soul, a love shed abroad 185 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:40,800 in the heart by the Holy Ghost, there'll be a genuine love for 186 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:46,080 holiness. The grace of a holy love to God 187 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:52,520 coexists with the concept of holy living. 188 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:55,880 Now this is a solemn, serious matter. 189 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:02,360 We live in an age of coldness, an age of carelessness, an age 190 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,800 of wantonness, an age of worldliness. 191 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:10,400 Among the professing people of God, there's a lack of keeping 192 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:17,920 God's commandments. People tell us I love Jesus, and 193 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:24,640 yet the knowledge that God is infinitely holy and this concept 194 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:29,320 of true holiness seems to be forgotten and despised. 195 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:35,720 Let me illustrate. Reverend John Greer spoke 196 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:40,160 recently about a man's fellowship in Northern Ireland. 197 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:43,840 A man's fellowship professing Christians. 198 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:47,240 They're in the House of God on the Lord's Day. 199 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:49,720 They've got a Bible in their hand. 200 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:53,760 They meet every month. They have a time of prayer, time 201 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:56,480 of Bible reading, a time of praise. 202 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:03,560 And yet these very same men go together to the North Coast to 203 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:10,560 drink beer. Proverbs 21 tells us that wine 204 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:12,400 is a mocker and strong drink is raging. 205 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:17,320 And whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. 206 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:23,760 And drunkenness is a sin and it's a bad testimony before an 207 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:28,360 unholy world, before a Christ rejecting world. 208 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:31,520 And they've haven't thought of the impact on the Wicker 209 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:34,200 brother. And that's only one area. 210 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:37,920 There's many others that we could talk to because many 211 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:41,080 professing Christians who say they loved Christ, they're 212 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:44,480 they're addicted to pornography on the Internet. 213 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:51,160 They're also guilty of the sin of gambling and dancing, and 214 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:55,840 they're often absent from the House of God on the Lord's Day. 215 00:15:55,960 --> 00:16:02,360 And some, of course, would be guilty of smoking, cursing, 216 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,400 coarse jesting and coarse language. 217 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:08,480 And that's only some of the things. 218 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,320 There has to be a call for repentance. 219 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:16,560 There has to be a call for holy living. 220 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:19,720 That's the subject here. Very quickly. 221 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,840 I want you to think the substance of heart holiness will 222 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:25,760 ask the question, what is holiness? 223 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:28,680 How do you define it? We live in a day when there's 224 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:31,200 many misconceptions, many distortions. 225 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:35,360 See, people think holiness is connected to a life shut away in 226 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:39,320 a monastery like the 15th century or a nunnery. 227 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:41,840 Cut yourself off from the real world. 228 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,000 Live a life of prayerful devotion unto God. 229 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:48,440 But I want to tell you, you know what the monks and the nuns 230 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:50,720 discovered when they went into the monastery and into the 231 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:53,640 nunnery? That they still had sin in their 232 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:56,960 heart, That they had a love for the things of the world. 233 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:00,400 That they had lustful and carnal desires that in and of 234 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,400 themselves they couldn't overcome. 235 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:06,480 See, holiness is not about legalism. 236 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:09,359 It's not a list of do's and don'ts. 237 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:11,920 I'll tell you something else that's not even about being 238 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:16,560 sinlessly perfect in this life, nor is it connected to the 239 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:19,680 spirit of pride. Oh, I'm such a holy person and 240 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:23,960 I'm full of pride about that. Holiness in this text is 241 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:28,119 annoying. And often times this subject of 242 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:30,400 holiness is connected to an adjective. 243 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:33,400 An adjective is a describing word. 244 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:37,000 Such and such a one like Nehemiah is a holy man of God, 245 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:42,360 or such and such a person like Deborah is a holy woman of God. 246 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:46,320 We could talk about a holy vessel as well as a holy person. 247 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:55,240 You see, holiness has to do with being set apart for a secret 248 00:17:55,240 --> 00:18:00,240 use. It's a describing word and it 249 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:04,640 denotes the spiritual quality of holiness. 250 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:06,440 I've already told you God is holy. 251 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:11,240 Leviticus 19 and 2, Psalm 99 verse 5. 252 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:17,160 Listen to what Peter says in first Peter and in chapter 1. 253 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:20,960 But as he which hath called you as holy, so be ye holy in all 254 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:25,600 manner of conversation, because it is written, be, be, be ye 255 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:30,240 holy, for I am holy. Do you see the connection? 256 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:37,280 You see God, who saves sinners, changes and transforms the life 257 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:44,840 of that Sinner, and makes men holy initially in the new birth. 258 00:18:46,360 --> 00:18:51,520 And by His word that sanctifies that individual, He separates 259 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:57,520 men from this world. Men from being earthy to men 260 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:03,080 being heavenly. He, he makes them a holy vessel 261 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,080 when they were formerly an unholy vessel. 262 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:11,120 See this world in which we live as a fallen, sinful, unholy 263 00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:14,520 world, A world of great iniquity. 264 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,640 It's a place of wickedness. Just look at Sudan and the 265 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:21,920 murder of the Christians there. 2000 I've told you inside 48 266 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:25,640 hours, 460 murdered in a maternity ward. 267 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:31,640 Such barbarism, such acts of inhumanity by other human 268 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,600 beings. And it's all contrary to the 269 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:38,040 mind and will of God. And even those who carry out 270 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:40,120 these deeds profess to be serving Allah. 271 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:45,240 They're not because he's a false God in the 1st place, the Lord 272 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:53,040 of mercy, but here's God and in his redemptive work He calls 273 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:55,440 sinners to repent and believe the gospel. 274 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,520 When they're born of the Spirit, they're changed and transformed. 275 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:02,160 He says if any man be in new, any man be in Christ, he's a new 276 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,160 creature. All things have passed away and 277 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:06,560 all things have become new. What does God do? 278 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:14,040 He works from the inside out. He changes hearts and lives and 279 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:19,200 the inside impacts on the outside of the life and this 280 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:22,640 Christianity and being in Christ that makes us better husbands, 281 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,640 better wives, better young people, better workers, better 282 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:29,480 citizens, better worshippers. And what he does is in the 283 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:33,200 journey of life, He weans and draws his people until the day 284 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:40,120 that all sin is finally taken away and we are perfected. 285 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:44,360 He says there in Second Corinthians in Chapter 7 and in 286 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:48,640 the verse one listen to these words Second Corinthians 7 and 287 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:52,160 one having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us 288 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,320 cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and 289 00:20:55,320 --> 00:21:00,280 spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 290 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:06,680 Fallen man loves this world. Fallen man has set his heart 291 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:08,920 upon this world. Even though the Bible says love 292 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:11,400 not the world, neither are the things that are in the world of 293 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:14,280 any man love the world. The love of the Father's not in 294 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:15,880 him. And if the love of the Father's 295 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:20,360 not in him, then there's no love for holiness, nor that we could 296 00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:23,320 grasp that holiness belongs to the very being of God. 297 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:31,360 God is glorious in holiness. God never became holy young 298 00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:37,160 people. God is holy, God always was 299 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:42,760 holy, God was eternally holy. God is perfectly holy. 300 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,560 We sang there deliberately, that beautiful hymn there based in 301 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:50,160 Revelation 4 and 8. Holy, holy, holy Lord God 302 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,240 Almighty, which was and is and is to come. 303 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:57,800 And that's connected to Isaiah chapter 6, whenever Isaiah was 304 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:02,280 in the temple and, and saw the vision of the holiness of God's 305 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,360 being. Holiness belongs to the being of 306 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:07,240 God. God is infinite, eternal, 307 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:10,760 unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, 308 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:13,720 justice, goodness and truth. And God in that sense has a 309 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,000 majestic holiness. And, and we, we don't know 310 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:22,600 anything about that. The word infinite means he's 311 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:26,920 without limitation. But God's holiness is not just a 312 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:32,640 majestic holiness of who he is. It's also a moral holiness. 313 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:37,440 Do you know that God cannot sin? It's impossible for God to sin. 314 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:41,160 God cannot lie. It's impossible for God to deny 315 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:45,560 himself because God is light, pure eternal light, and him is 316 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:48,920 no darkness at all. God's of pure rise and behold 317 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:53,040 iniquity. God is morally holy. 318 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:57,360 He is also majestically holy. And it's that vision of the 319 00:22:57,360 --> 00:23:02,240 holiness of God that Isaiah saw in Isaiah chapter 6 and verse 3. 320 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,800 And whenever Isaiah seen the Lord and the Lord appeared to 321 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:08,960 him, what did he do? He felt smitten, he felt 322 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:14,520 unclean, he felt guilty, he felt unworthy before God. 323 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:17,960 And that's where we need to come to. 324 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:24,880 True holiness starts with God who is majestically and morally 325 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:29,240 holy. It starts with God who He is. 326 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:34,760 And then this God calls and wants you to be holy in himself. 327 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:38,720 Be holy for I am holy. What an argument. 328 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:43,480 And remember what we read in Ephesians, In Ephesians chapter 329 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:48,280 1 and in the verse 4, if you want to turn to that reference. 330 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:52,120 We read this according as He hath chosen us in Him there's 331 00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:54,760 election before the foundation of the world. 332 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:59,520 This is the council of the covenant of redemption, that we 333 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:03,520 should be holy and without blame before Him. 334 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:05,160 Enough. Do you see that there? 335 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:07,480 Here's the plan and purpose of God. 336 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:12,840 God, the Bible tells us, according as He hath chosen us 337 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:14,800 in Him, that's Christ. When did He do it? 338 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:19,000 Before the foundation of the world that we should be what 339 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:26,080 that we should be holy and without blame before him in 340 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:28,600 love. God's purpose is to make his 341 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:30,800 people like him. God's purpose is to make his 342 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:34,280 people holy. God's purpose is to make his 343 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:37,320 people blameless before him in love. 344 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:39,160 And God's purpose will be accomplished. 345 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,240 God's purpose will be manifest. God's purpose will be fulfilled. 346 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,800 The third thing I want you to think about very quickly is the 347 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,960 seat of heart holiness. Look at their text again and it 348 00:24:50,960 --> 00:25:01,240 says to this end that he may what He may establish you and to 349 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:05,840 this end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness. 350 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:09,400 This is where it happens. It happens in the heart. 351 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,400 Holiness is not something you add on, you know, it's not 352 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:15,120 something you put on like a coat. 353 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:18,800 It's not something you put into your pocket and carried about 354 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:19,320 with. You know what? 355 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:27,920 It happens in your heart. It impacts the inside 1st and 356 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:32,640 what is in the inside then begins to impact your life on 357 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:38,000 the outside. And of course, God's mind is 358 00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:45,480 that our hearts would be constantly and firmly steadfast 359 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:49,360 in this holiness. See, let me just emphasise 360 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:52,280 something. What you put on doesn't 361 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:57,280 necessarily make you holy. Whether it's a suit, a tie, a 362 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:02,360 hat, a dress. There's no real spiritual value 363 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:05,400 in clothes. Why do we dress up? 364 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,840 Because it's the Lord's Day, Because we're going to present 365 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:12,640 ourselves unto God and we want to be the best that we can 366 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:21,150 before Him. But you know, we could be 367 00:26:21,150 --> 00:26:28,710 dressed up in the finest suit, hat, dress, but our heart could 368 00:26:28,710 --> 00:26:36,150 be unclean before the Lord. Our heart could not be right 369 00:26:36,670 --> 00:26:39,830 before the Lord. Our heart could not be changed. 370 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:44,800 There's no heart holiness in our heart, even though we're outside 371 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:49,680 looking right. Holiness begins in the heart. 372 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:52,120 Why? Because the heart is the seat of 373 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:54,800 your personhood. The heart is the seat of your 374 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:57,360 mind, your will, your emotions, your affections. 375 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:00,160 And we know what's in the heart. The heart is deceitful and above 376 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:04,920 all things, desperately wicked. Jeremiah 17 and 9 says and who 377 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,640 can know it? And Mark Chapter 7 tells us this 378 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:12,280 in verse at 21. For from within, out of the 379 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:14,480 heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, 380 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,840 fornications, murders, theft, covetousness, wickedness, 381 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:20,480 deceit, lusciviousness and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, 382 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:23,640 foolishness, all these evil things come from within and 383 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:29,360 defile the man. There's no holiness without a 384 00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:33,120 change of heart. God begins in the human heart. 385 00:27:33,120 --> 00:27:38,320 Your hearts are to be fixed and firmly steadfast. 386 00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:43,720 If we think of another reference here over there in First 387 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:48,560 Thessalonians chapter 523, we read these words and the very 388 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:52,440 God of peace sanctify you holy, connected to holiness, and I 389 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:55,320 pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body, we preserve 390 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:58,880 blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 391 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,320 In other words, it starts where? Notice the wording here. 392 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:08,400 Your whole spirit, your soul and body, it starts in the inside. 393 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:13,560 Do you see that? So I asked this question, Has 394 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:17,440 your heart been changed? Is this principle of holiness 395 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:20,360 found within your soul? As a Christian, you profess the 396 00:28:20,360 --> 00:28:22,520 name of Christ. Do you hate sin and love 397 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,040 righteousness? Do do you want to perfect 398 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:29,600 holiness in the fear of God? Do you want to be weaned off a 399 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,800 life of sin and wickedness? Remember the Bible says without 400 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:36,640 holiness no man shall see the Lord, no holiness, no heaven. 401 00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:42,080 You can't live for heaven and home if you love sin and love 402 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:46,480 wickedness. If you want a home in heaven, 403 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:49,240 then you'll have to have a heart for holiness. 404 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:53,960 So what's in the inside impacts upon the outside. 405 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,000 Someone has said what's down in the whale comes out in the 406 00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,480 bucket. What's in our heart comes to the 407 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:03,040 fore and that's why we need our heart changed and need our heart 408 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:07,240 transformed. Holiness is not about the 409 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:11,400 observance of rights. It's not about observing a form 410 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:17,480 of religion outwardly. It's not in creeds and things 411 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:21,920 like that. Holiness is in the heart and 412 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:25,560 what's in the heart comes out on the outside. 413 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:29,360 It impacts upon the outside very quickly. 414 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:32,080 I want you to think of the source of heart holiness. 415 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:34,840 Notice this word again, stablish. 416 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,960 It means to settle, fixed, to make firm, to make fast, to 417 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,080 strengthen. He is a reference to the Lord. 418 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:46,720 You see, God performs this. It is God's spiritual operation, 419 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:51,080 and it starts in the new birth. God infuses this principle in 420 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:55,200 the new birth of holiness, and as a result, there's a yearning. 421 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:59,200 There's a desire to be a godly person, a desire to consecrate 422 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,720 yourself to the Lord, and it's all connected to the redemptive 423 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:04,960 work of Christ. It's not divorce from Christ. 424 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:08,120 It's not divorce from the cross. Let me show you this very 425 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:12,560 quickly turn to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 5. 426 00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:16,680 And we read here just a couple of verses, Ephesians chapter 5. 427 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:22,280 And remember these, these words, husbands, love your wives, even 428 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:24,760 as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. 429 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:27,520 Now what was the purpose of giving himself on the cross for 430 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:29,760 the church? Look at verse 26, that he might 431 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:32,280 sanctify. That's the Word connected to 432 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:35,880 holiness. And cleanse it high with the 433 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:39,320 washing of water by the Word, verse 27. 434 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:42,600 Here's the ultimate goal, that He may present it to Himself, a 435 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:45,640 glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, 436 00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:51,080 but that it should be holy and without blemish. 437 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:55,520 Christ gave Himself for the church and here was His purpose. 438 00:30:56,280 --> 00:31:00,800 The outcome was to sanctify and set you apart for Himself. 439 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:05,240 And the basis and ground of your holiness is the death of Christ 440 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,360 and the blood shedding of His cross. 441 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:11,760 And the source. The secret is the death of 442 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:14,440 Christ and the cross. Maybe you're struggling with sin 443 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:16,160 right now. Maybe you're battling 444 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:18,600 temptation. Maybe you long for victory in 445 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:21,000 Jesus and you're, you've got a besetting sin. 446 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:23,240 And you, you say I'm in a holy war here. 447 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:27,200 I, I, I want to be holy. And yet I, I sin so easily 448 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:30,720 against the Lord and I grieve in my heart and I can't seem to get 449 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:32,760 the victory. How can I get victory? 450 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:36,400 Well, only the cross of Christ can break the power of counsel, 451 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:43,040 sin and sets the prisoner free. Only the death of Christ dealing 452 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:46,480 with sin at the cross can put sin away. 453 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:51,560 The power of the blood, the power of the Spirit, it can be 454 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:55,880 applied by faith in Him. We know that the Lord uses 455 00:31:55,880 --> 00:32:00,000 means. We we know that the basis of 456 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,880 holiness is the blood sacrifice of Christ, but he uses the 457 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:07,320 ordinances of the Word, the sacraments and prayer. 458 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:12,480 We are sanctified. When you read the Bible, God 459 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:16,920 speaks to you, talks about your coldness and your backsliding 460 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:20,120 and your sins and your doubts, your fears and troubles and you, 461 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:23,080 you grieve in your heart. And then the Lord calls you to 462 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:26,520 get right with him and and calls you to return to him. 463 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:30,200 And as you read the word of God and let God speak that word has 464 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:33,000 a wonderful, powerful cleansing effect. 465 00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:35,880 One final thing and our time is gone. 466 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:39,200 Think of the scope of heart holiness. 467 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:43,320 Notice this word in the text there unblameable. 468 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:48,080 Can you underline that that to the to the end, He may establish 469 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:50,240 your hearts unblameable in holiness. 470 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:52,160 Do you know what that word unblameable means? 471 00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:58,680 It means without accusation, without charge. 472 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:08,200 And who is it before? Before God, without charge and 473 00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:10,800 accusation, before God, even our Father. 474 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:13,920 And when does this take place? At the coming of our Lord Jesus 475 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:22,080 Christ with all his Saints. What you've got here is a 476 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:25,720 perfection. What you've got here is a 477 00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:29,360 presentation. What you've got here is a 478 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:35,840 proclamation. We're legally perfect in Christ. 479 00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:37,640 We're clothed in Christ's righteousness. 480 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:43,640 That's our justification. We have a moral purity, but it's 481 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:47,000 not perfect. But we passionately desire 482 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:52,080 holiness unto the Lord. It doesn't mean we're fight sin. 483 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:57,200 It doesn't mean we're perfect. Zacharias the priest, the father 484 00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:59,880 of John the Baptist, was guilty of the sin of unbelief, even 485 00:33:59,880 --> 00:34:01,760 though he's described in Luke. One of the six has been 486 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:08,560 blameless before the Lord, and while he had good intention of 487 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:13,679 striving to live a holy life unto God, the word unblameable 488 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:16,280 stands out without charge and without accusing. 489 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:20,199 How is that possible? Only in Christ, only when we're 490 00:34:20,199 --> 00:34:22,320 clothed with Christ perfect righteousness. 491 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:24,880 We have a legal perfection in Christ. 492 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:29,080 We have a striving for a moral perfection in Christ, but that 493 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:33,840 is never perfect until we die, until we we become one of the 494 00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:36,120 spirits of just men made perfect. 495 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:39,760 And even at the coming of Christ and the bodies raised up and 496 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:43,600 we're with Christ, which we're going to see in time to come. 497 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:47,480 I'd have to stop here. The scope of this heart 498 00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:50,600 holiness, there's a perfection connected to it. 499 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:55,000 There's a presentation before God, even our Father, at the 500 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:57,160 coming of Christ. God presents us. 501 00:34:57,240 --> 00:35:03,760 Christ presents us, and there's a proclamation at the coming of 502 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:05,840 Christ. We'll have to leave it there. 503 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:09,320 I trust that you'll study the latter part of the verse and 504 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:13,160 your own, and I pray that God will give us help and grace even 505 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:14,640 as we deal with these things.