Thank you for taking the time to read the Weekend Sermon this week. I hope that all of you have had a good week so far.
We had some of the worst storms in my area in years on Monday night. One town about 50 miles to the north of where I live had major damage from a tornado. A tornado touched down about 10 miles north of my house as well. We had a lot of wind and hail, but I am thankful that nothing was damaged at my location. What I am most thankful for is that no one was hurt in any of the storms. I want to thank you for all of your prayers regarding this matter.
Please pray for those who are recovering from these storms. Also, there are many wildfires here in the Midwest. Sadly, one person has died as a result of these fires. Please pray that these terrible fires can be brought under control quickly.
Let us continue to pray for peace in this troubled world. The wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan go on. Pray that these nations will know peace soon. Pray for an end to terrorism and violence.
For our prayer focus countries this week, please pray for the nations of Gambia and Uzbekistan. Pray that people in these two nations will hear the message of Jesus.
For the last several weeks, we have been in a series of messages on the parables of Jesus. For today's message, I want to take a one week pause from the parables and look into another subject.
Over the past several days, I feel that the Lord has led me to post a message about the subject of holiness. Of course, that is a big topic, and it would take more than one message to cover the many aspects of that topic. In our message today, I want to talk a little about the holiness of God and his demand for holiness from us.
It is very clear from the Bible that God is holy. He is completely perfect and without sin. Jesus said In Matthew 5:8 that the Father in Heaven was perfect. We also see in the book of Revelation when God Almighty is worshiped on His throne, He is praised by the words "Holy, Holy, Holy,". He is the thrice holy God signifying that He is completely and perfectly Holy.
Our sins have separated us from this Holy God. God is so Holy that He cannot even look upon sin. With God being so Holy, how can we ever come into a right relationship with this Holy God.
God the Father provided a way by sending His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a holy and sinless life. As the second Adam, Jesus succeeded in every area in which the first Adam failed. Jesus did everything that was required of Him.
Because Jesus lived a holy and sinless life, He was the spotless Lamb of God who could take away the sins of the world. Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross. He rose from the dead defeating death, hell and the grave. Those who call upon the Lord Jesus in repentance and faith will receive His forgiveness, and Jesus will come and be Lord and Savior for anyone who calls upon His name.
Now, the Bible is quite clear that Jesus provides those who trust in Him with something else. Jesus provides access for us to the Father. As I mentioned, we cannot approach the Holy One in our own righteousness. However, when we come to faith in Jesus, His righteousness is imputed to us. There are at least two passages that speak clearly to this. Philippians 3:9 states, "Not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ the righteous which comes from God on the basis of faith. II Corinthians 5:21 states, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
When we come to the Lord Jesus, He provides us with His righteousness. Now, When the Father looks at us He sees us clothed in the righteousness of His Son.
After we have come to know Jesus, the Bible says that the Lord has an expectation of us. He expects us to live lives of holiness. I Peter 1:16 says, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." Hebrews 12:14 states, "Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and be holy, without a life of holiness no one will see the Lord."
This idea of seeing the Lord has two aspects. Unless we receive the righteousness of Jesus, we will not see the Lord in the eternal sense. If we continue to sin and do not live a life of holiness now, we will not have the proper relationship that we should have with the Lord.
When we sin, we have a break in fellowship with the Lord. We are not as close to Him as we should be, because we are not doing those things that He has asked us to do. However, our relationship with the Lord can be restored. As it says in I John, if we confess our sins to the Lord, He will forgive us. We will be restored to fellowship with Him.
Living a life of holiness as far as I understand it means to follow the path and teachings that Jesus has set before us. When Jesus walked upon this earth, He demonstrated for us in word and deed the way that His followers should act in this world. When we look to Him and faithfully follow Him, we are living a holy life that is pleasing to Him.
The only way that any of us can live a life that is pleasing to the Lord is through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells with each believer convicting that person of sin and showing that person the path of righteousness. The Holy Spirit gives us divine power so that we can turn aside from the wrong and embrace that which is good and right.
If you have never put your trust in Jesus and made Him your Lord and Savior, I pray that you will do that today. If you are wandering from the path set out by Jesus, I pray that you will be made right with Him and follow Him in faithfulness once again.
Next week, we will return to our series on the parables of Jesus. On Monday, I will post the verses. Starting Tuesday, if all goes according to plan, I will begin posting one chapter per week of the book I have written about what we can learn from the shortest books in the Bible. On Wednesday, I hope to post a review of a good dog book. As I said, I will post the sermon on Friday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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