PLAIN, PRACTICAL PREACHING ON BIBLE HOLINESS

Message #2

THE DEFINITION OF HOLINESS

Luke 1:67-80

Introduction: When defining terms in the Bible, you cannot go to a regular dictionary for help. I have one Bible program with three Bible dictionaries. Easton Bible Dictionary is an excellent dictionary to use for your study. I looked up two words. I looked the word “holiness” and “sanctification”. In the Greek language, many times, the word is the same word that you could use them interchangeable.

As I was looking up these words, I found this that really put this fact of holy living in perspective. Hodges said this about holy living. "The more holy a man is, the more humble, self-renouncing, self-abhorring, and the more sensitive to every sin he becomes, and the more closely he clings to Christ. The moral imperfections, which cling to him, he feels to be sins, which he laments and strives to overcome. Believers find that their life is a constant warfare, and they need to take the kingdom of heaven by storm, and watch while they pray. They are always subject to the constant chastisement of their Father’s loving hand, which can only be designed to correct their imperfections and to confirm their graces. And it has been notoriously the fact that the best Christians have been those who have been the least prone to claim the attainment of perfection for themselves."

Let me give you a simple definition of holiness. This definition is founded in the Word of God. “In the highest sense belongs to God and to Christians as consecrated to God’s service, and in so far as they are conformed in all things to the will of God. Personal holiness is a work of gradual development. It is carried on under many hindrances, hence the frequent admonitions to watchfulness, prayer, and perseverance.”

Also I feel that the definition of sanctification is needed here also. “Involves more than a mere moral reformation of character, brought about by the power of the truth: it is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing the whole nature more and more under the influences of the new gracious principles implanted in the soul in regeneration. In other words, sanctification is the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration, and it extends to the whole man. It is the special office of the Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption to carry on this work. Faith is instrumental in securing sanctification, inasmuch as it

Secures union to Christ
Brings the believer into living contact with the truth, whereby he is led to yield obedience "to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that, which is to come."

That is basic definition of holiness. Of course that is not all my message. I plan to take this to a more understandable and practical point. If I don’t make these messages practical to daily living, then they will not be profitable to you and I.

I mentioned in the last message that we are living in one of three countries so to speak. The life of holiness is likened unto the children of Israel stepping across the Jordan River into the land that God had promised them. This land was full of enemies. The same is true with the living the life of holiness. There are many enemies to overcome in order to enjoy the fullness of the life of holiness.

The land of Egypt is a type of the world that we had to leave when we got saved. Sin is a difficult taskmaster. The children of Israel were under the bondage of Egypt for many years. Once they crossed the Red Sea, they were bounded for the Promised Land. You could call the Red Sea a type of Calvary’s blood. Once they crossed over, there was no return to the old life.

The wilderness between the Red Sea and Jordan River should have been a short journey. This is a type of the Christian who is a carnal Christian. He is saved but is basically a babe in Christ. Let me give you five thoughts quickly in order to show how this is true.

A carnal Christian still enjoys baby talk. Baby talk is neat for a baby but it is no too becoming to an adult. This is seen in that he or she has not matured any further in his prayer life or his knowledge of the Word of God. Still enjoys talking about getting saved but has no new growth that he can speak about the Lord’s dealings with him.
A carnal Christian is helpless and dependent on others. When a baby starts to walk, adults rush to help him or her. I remember taking my children’s hands and helping them to walk. It did not take long they did not want my help. A carnal Christian has to be helped constantly.
A carnal Christian tends to be touchy and quarrelsome over trivial matters. It is found that many times they are the “storm centers” of many of the church fights. I am speaking of things that don’t really matter in the scheme of eternity such as the color of carpet or such.
A carnal Christian living in the realm of his emotions and guided by his feelings instead of Bible principles.
A carnal Christian suffers from a feeble digestion tract. He cannot handle messages that had substance. He wants easy to digest messages that do not make him feel uncomfortable.

I wish I could more time on this. I will be doing so as I get into the series. Many times I have found that is where I have lived. I don’t want to live in the wilderness. I have had a taste of the grapes of the Promised Land and want more like Joshua and Caleb. These men were part of the twelve spies that went into the Promised Land. They had tasted the milk and honey. They knew the blessings of the Promised Land. They had seen the same giants, grasshoppers and grapes as the other ten but they saw God more. As I said in the previous message, you will not go into the life of holiness until you desire to do so. You will never do so.

In the context of our text, which is verses sixty-seven through eighty, we find the father of John the Baptist, Zacharias, is giving a prophecies concerning his son’s ministry. G. Campbell Morgan called this the song of Zacharias. He points to the fact that his son is a forerunner of the coming Messiah. He declares that Jehovah is going to visit, redeem and rise up a horn of salvation in the house of David. Verse seventy-nine gives part of the purpose for this visitation of Jehovah.

“To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Praise God, Zacharias was on the money so to speak. He was talking of you and I before we were saved and what happened after we were saved. We could almost have a shouting spell right here. Darkness is always talking of the place I was before I was saved. In the shadow of death is the place is the place I dwell now. The way of peace is the place that I will soon go.

But there are two words that we find that find in our text that are linked together that are important. They are “holiness and righteousness”. There is only one other time that we find these two words in the Greek in the New Testament. The other is found in Ephesians chapter four and verse twenty-four.

“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

In that epistle, Paul encourages the people to put on the new man. The new man is not the old man or old nature or our flesh that has be remolded or reformed, renovated, restrained, readjusted or refurbished. It is something new that only God can give.

2^nd Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

The best way to describe is the metamorphosis of a butterfly. When he gets into that cocoon, he does so as a worm. He goes through that transformation and comes out a butterfly. He is no longer a dirty eating worm that crawls on the ground. He is able to take flight and eat the nectar of the flowers and enjoy the freedom of flight.

The essential meaning of holiness is right but it is right in genuine character. The essential meaning of righteousness is right in actual conduct. It was in the son of Zacharias that holiness and righteousness was declared to be the condition of life resulting from salvation, which the Messiah and Saviour brought unto man. In the Ephesians letter righteousness and holiness are declared to be the result of the new man created after God. It is the work of Christ that is directed toward righteousness of life that is issued from holiness of character.

As I said last week, many Baptist preachers are afraid to tackle this subject in that they are afraid to be labeled as a Holy Roller or something like this. This is an important doctrine. What does the Bible say about holiness? Hebrews 12:14

“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord”

I realize that there have been many false teachings on this subject. One of them is the “doctrine of sinless perfection”. As your life draws closer to the Lord, you will more aware of sin in your life and will deal with it quickly so that you will not lose that fellowship with God. You will have the old nature unto the day you die. You have the potential to do any thing a lost man does. This is not an excuse for sinful behavior but it is the truth. God expects and demands holiness.

What is holiness? It can be summed up in one short sentence. Holiness is rightness or integrity in your character. You and I can have no greater motive to live holy than the motive of what is right in the sight of God. When your ways please the Lord, it does not matter whom else you please! You might do the right things for some reason such as reputation. It will not be long before that will slip. You might do it for duty. What are you going to have when you forsake your duty? You will not have holiness. Holiness is complete surrender to the Lord in every area of our lives. It is the total giving of our family, future, fortune, furnishings and thus to Him for His use. 2^nd Timothy 2:21

“If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.”

The result of holiness is that we can serve Him without fear. This is partially the reason for getting and living in holiness.

Holiness of character is resemblance to the character of God. It is trying to live in a way to shows that we are the Lord’s.

I want to give you five statements that will help us understand what holiness is and what it is not. These will be given in the negative and then in the positive. It is also the practical part of this message.

I. HOLINESS IS NOT FREEDOM FROM ALL SIN AS IMPERFECTION: BUT IT IS FREEDOM FROM THE DOMINION OF SIN AND FROM WILLFUL SINNING.

To completely understand this, you will have to know what sin is? Sin is basically missing the mark. God has set up a mark and we miss it when we try to obtain the mark. This is the definition in the general sense. Here is God’s ideal and I shoot for it and miss it.

Romans 3:23

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”

Holiness is not from being sinless. You will not be sinless until the day that you and I are in the presence of the Lord Jesus. Then and only then will you be sinless.

Holiness does mean we are living in the freedom of sin having dominion over us. Romans 6:14

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

People always want freedom. Here is true freedom. It is freedom from the power of sin. Yes, sin will try to allure to its self. No longer sin will be our master as it was before we were saved.

Also I don’t need to sin willfully. Each time sin presents itself you have a choice. You can choose either the path that is full of problems and strife against the new nature or the path of peace. Paul understood this.

Romans 7:21

“I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.”

Here is the man who is able to give into the sin. But we have a better way if we make the right choice. Philippians 4:13

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Since I am imperfect, at the end of the day, I can rush back to the cleft of the Rock, to the shelter of the blood redemption; and yet all the way it is possible in this life, in the power of the present Christ, not to sin willfully.

II. HOLINESS IS NOT FREEDOM FROM MISTAKES IN JUDGMENTS; BUT IT IS FREEDOM TO CARRYING OUT HIS COMMANDS ALONE.

Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

We will all make mistakes in judgment. Some times out of sincerity and loyalty to Christ. But we have not been left alone too exercise our judgment if we are under the dominion of the One who was manifested to deliver us from our enemies. The problem is that we are not listening to our High commander when He speaks. Too many times we are trying to hear Him in the whirlwind or the earthquake. When we fail, we have made a mistake in judgment when we should have been listening to that small still voice. When we pay attention to that voice, we will be able to keep from those mistakes in judgment. Our biggest problem is that we seldom seek guidance from the Lord in all areas of our lives.

A good example of this is David numbering the people. He meant well but that was not God's plan. He was held accountable for this misjudgment.

Yes, you will make mistakes in judgment but it is always those times you did not seek His guidance. That is true all the time.

III. HOLINESS IS NOT FREEDOM FROM TEMPTATION, BUT IT IS FREEDOM THE PARALYSIS THAT NECESSITATES FAILURE.

Once you decide that you are going to live a holy life, it is almost from your mouth to the devil’s ear. You will have new temptations. You will have new attacks of temptation from the forces of evil. You have entered into the realm of a life that will glorify the Lord and your enemies don’t want that.

When we are tempted, temptation seems to paralysis our thought process. Then you just follow the natural course, which is giving into the temptation. Tempted I shall be unto the end, but defeated by temptation I need not be.

When you review the temptation of Christ in the wilderness, you find that He was tempted yet He was victorious of those temptations.

Hebrews 4:14-16

“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Our Lord was tempted yet He endured them without sin. So we can come boldly to the throne of Grace and beg for help. 1^st Corinthians 10:13

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

He is faithful. He is faithful and I repeat one last time HE IS FAITHFUL. He will help you in that time of temptation when you are trying to live a holy, sanctified life for Him.

IV. HOLINESS DOES NOT MEAN FREEDOM FROM CONFLICT, BUT IT DOES MEAN FREEDOM FROM DEFEAT.

Some people think that once you started living this life of holiness, you will no longer have conflicts. The total opposite is true. One day, when we get to heaven, we will not longer have conflict but until then it is a fight, more fights, and lots of fights.

Ephesians 6:12

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Too long we are the children of Israel looking at the giant across the valley. All we see is that giant. Instead we should be like David.

1^st Samuel 17:45-47

“Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give you into our hands.”

I saw something in this passage I never saw before. After David told Goliath that the battle was the Lord’s, he told him that God was going to give Goliath into our hands. It was those words “our hands” that caught my attention. David was not defeated when he gave the battle over to the Lord and God gave into David’s hands also. We must fight but we don’t have to be defeated. 1^st John 4:4

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

Holy living means taking a stand against wickedness and sin including that, which is our life also.

V. HOLINESS IS NOT FREEDOM FROM LIABILITY TO FALL, BUT IT IS FREEDOM FROM THE NECESSITY OF FALLING.

Jude 24

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy”

You have still your will. God does make you into some robot when you are living a holy life. It is because of this, you will fall but you don’t have to fall. You and I can choose to turn aside from the path of obedience and then we fall. We should and must rely upon Him to help keep us from falling. Philippians 1:6

” Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”

Conclusion: And now turning back again for conclusion to the actual word of this great song of Zacharias, I pray you remember that the Christ around Whose name and Whose presence we are gathered this morning came that we might be delivered out of the hands of our enemies, in order that we might “serve Him in holiness and righteousness all our days.”

What there is in us therefore that is unlike grace and unlike truth is there because we have never allowed our Lord to win His victory, and have His way.

May He lead us into such close fellowship with Himself that in the measure possible to us at the moment the very purpose of His coming may be fulfilled as we begin the life that is inspired by holiness of character and expressed in righteousness of conduct!

D. L. Moody said this about holiness. It is a great deal better to live a holy life than to talk about it. Lighthouses do not ring bells and fire cannon to call attention to their shining-they just shine.

May our lives shine in this present world and glorify the Lord! If you have never been saved, it is impossible for you to live in Bible holiness. You have to have God in order to do that. He will come into your life and change you like that caterpillar was changed into the butterfly.

Christian brother and sister, have you started in your life of holiness? If you have not, then why keeps you from doing so? 2^nd Corinthians 6:2

“(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”

Today you and I need to make a holy vow unto the Lord that to the best of our ability we live a holy life unto Him that is able to keep us in this way of holiness.

Where are you living? Are you living in Egypt? If you have never been saved. That is exactly where you are living. God wants to deliver you from this life.

Maybe you are living in the wilderness. You remember the taste of the garlic, leeks and onions of Egypt. You are not happy living there. No one is truly happy in the wilderness. It is full of dry holes, desert, dead ends and detours.

But maybe you have crossed the Jordan River. If you have nothing is quite as satisfying as the grapes and the milk and honey of the land even though you have to fight and battle but you know the battle is the Lord’s. The question is where are you living? It is time to move up if you are living anywhere besides Canaan, the Promised Land, which is the place of holiness unto the Lord.