The Joy Of Holiness

 

A drunk stumbled along a baptismal service on Sunday afternoon down by the river. He proceeded to walk down into the water and stood next to the preacher. The minister turned and noticed the old drunk and said, “mister, are you ready to find Jesus?” the drunk looks back and says, “yes, preacher. I sure am.”

The minister then dunked the fellow under the water and pulled him right back up. “Have you found Jesus?” the preacher asks.

“No, I didn’t!” says the drunk.

The preacher then dunks him under for quite a bit longer, brings him up and says, “now, brother, have you found Jesus?”

“No, I did not preacher.”

The preacher in disgust holds the man under for at least 30 seconds this time brings him out of the water and says in a harsh tone, “friend, are you sure you haven’t found Jesus yet?”

The old drunk wipes his eyes and says to the preacher…”are you sure this is where he fell in?”

 

Religion can become so rigid and formal that it leaves us dead. I heard about a man who visited a very formal church one Sunday. He said that right in the middle of the service a guy had a heart attack & died, but that the ushers carried out 5 guys before they found the right one.

 

In our modern times becoming a child of God has lost much of its grandeur because the flesh has reduced being a Christian to becoming religious. In doing so we have basically given up our right to become true children of God. We have a great need to be reborn as children of God.

 

Hebrews 12:12-14

12 Wherefore lift up the hands, which hang down, and the feeble knees;

13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the LORD:

 

Deuteronomy 6:1-3

6:1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:

2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.

3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 6:4-7

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

 

Deuteronomy 6:16-18

16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.

18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,

 

Deuteronomy 7:6-9

6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:

8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

 

1. The joy of holiness
   1. Joy?   Yes I would say… that the Lord God almighty setting his love upon me… that God has chosen me.
   2. Deuteronomy 7:14-15 Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. 15 And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.
   3. Being a blessed people, no barrenness, no sicknesses, no evil, no diseases… all of this……….. I would say that if I know all this applies to me….
   4. I would have to say… this is “joy”
   5. But there is a condition. All of this applies…. If you obey the commandments given unto to you…
   6. You must be a holy people, following a Holy God!
   7. Now these.  What. The commandments, the laws, the ordinances to God’s people.
   8. But this is talking to Israel?
2. Yes it is to Israel, but may I say that the blood of Jesus, baptism in Jesus name and the infilling of the Holy Ghost…  does something to the lineage you have…. No longer are you a son of Adam… you get a transfusion… a blood transfusion…. The blood of Adam gets replaced and covered by the blood of Jesus, which makes us the sons of God!!
   1. Romans 8:13-17 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
   2. 1 Peter 2:9-10 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
   3. Because of the blood… you are chosen……… you are grafted in the tree of Israel. You have the same rights and power of a chosen son of Abraham…  you are just relieved because of the blood… released from the ceremonial law……… i.e., sacrifice, Sabbath, clothing and eating and divers laws…. But the promises, the joy, you are able to partake of the holiness of God!!…
   4. May I say this?   Just as you cannot be righteous, you alone cannot be holy.  We have no holiness… in ourselves…that is why the world does not truly know what joy is………….. The joy of the world is only temporal… it is only for a season… it depends on the bank account, the amount of alcohol, the type of drug being taken and the company around…  and when it is over… it is over…. So the world does not know the joy of holiness…. Because the joy of holiness means the joy of seeing the Lord!!!
   5. So you cannot know joy………… and you cannot be holy… of yourself.
   6. God alone is holy.  You can dress in a burlap bag from your neck to your toes……….. And have a 20-pound bible in your hand…. But that will not make you holy.  Only ………… and I repeat only…
   7. A holy God can impute holiness through the baptism of the Holy Ghost to a sinful nature of man.
   8. The Lord God is the ultimate source of holiness… the only source of holiness……… is Jesus Christ.
   9. Psalms 145:17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
   10. If you want holiness, you must obey the Lord. If you want true joy. You must desire holiness!

 

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

 

Yep desire it… not obey because the pastor says so… but desire to be holy to show love for a Holy God!

 

1. Your children must desire to partake of the joy of the Lord.  Your children must desire for a holy God to be in their lives so they can be holy.
   1. But if they hear and see you not in holiness, if they hear you talking and asking why and where forth, and is this necessary or that….   It shall be that your children will not respect the laws and statues of the Lord and will not desire to walk and talk with him to see his great wonders and feats… because they will believe holiness is condemnation and a weight that must be carried to be called Apostolic Pentecostal….
   2. True holiness is not a weight……….. It is freedom to seek the Lord and “see” the Lord…………. Because without holiness you will never see the Lord.

You see without holiness not only will you not see the Lord………… you will not know him, nor know of his workings or his presence!  God can be working and speaking right in front of you, in the word, in the preaching of the word, or the testimony of a saint of God…. And because you have not sought the holiness of God… the message being brought forth will not touch your heart, soul or mind…. It will pass through one ear out of the other… and will not be planted in you heart.

1. Why?  Because with out the joy of holiness you cannot see nor hear the Lord!
2. You know what happens when you don’t seek the holiness of God????
   1. Can I say this?   Seeking the holiness of God is no more than 2 Chronicles 7:14.
   2. 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
   3. When you don’t seek the Lord…

Deuteronomy 6:16-18

16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

When you don’t seek him……….. You question whether he is even there…. Is there a greater insult to God than to question whether he is even there or knows what is going on?

1. Exodus 17:1-71 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, why chide ye with me? Wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? 3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? 4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, what shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me. 5 And the LORD said unto Moses, go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, is the LORD among us, or not?

Is the Lord here?   When you don’t seek the closeness and holiness of God……… you will begin to doubt his very ability to be with you.

Can I tell you that God promised he would never leave nor forsake you!

1. The reason Israel had to have a cloud and a pillar of fire. Is because they could not have the baptism of the Holy Ghost!     That wind and fire came down from god to dwell in man……… and because he is holy……… we are made to be holy with his spirit…

 

Deuteronomy 6:17-18

17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.

18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers,

 

It does not stop with the Holy Ghost!!

We are to do right. In the “sight” of the Lord…. if we continue and desire to be in his sight… then we “may” go in and possess the land which has been given to us!!!!

1. What land???
2. A land of goodness, of milk and honey… speaking of the goodness of God… the righteousness of God. And the holiness of God.
3. God has given you a gift…………………

Deuteronomy 7:6-7

6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people.

God has chosen you, how> by the Holy Ghost… to be a special people above all in the earth…. He did not do it because you had money; you had fame, good looks, knowledge or abilities……………

 

God did it because he saw in you a person that would seek him. Love him……….. Desire to be holy so a holy God could commune and live in you!!!  So you would know the joy of holiness!

 

 

The simple message I have tonight…. What I have tried to convey to you tonight!!…

 

Is that in this present world…. in this sin sick, abomination to God world we live in.

Where approx. a million Prozac and other anti depressants are taken every day in America,

Where there are sleep therapists, food therapy, sex therapy, and even a pet psychic …

 

In a world that young people are taking pet tranquilizers to good to a rave party to feel love and to feel good and happy for a time.

 

In a world looking for joy and peace, I am telling that the only true joy is in “holiness”

 

Everything points to holiness….

 

God is holy…………………… to see him we must be holy.

 

The only way to be holy is to seek him, to desire to be close to God.

 

To desire to see him, to be in his presence!

To obey him so he can bless you…………………….

 

This holiness I am speaking of……………..

Is…

1. Obedience
2. Modesty
3. Tithing
4. Seeking
5. Prayer
6. Giving
7. Seeking the lost
8. Worship
9. Praise

10.Fruit of spirit

11.Abstain from sin/evil

 

All these things equal holiness……….

 

Because if you truly desire to see him. You will seek him with your whole heart……………..

 

And do what ever it takes to be in his presence!

 

Doing right in the eyes of the Lord…………. When you please the Lord………………………. Joy cometh like a river………..

 

Isa 35:8-10

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.

9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away the joy of the LORD is holiness!