THE DYNAMIC
PURSUIT OF HOLINESS
Hebrews 12:14
Over the past few days our nation has
been celebrating our independence, dating back to July 4, 1776. In an act of defiance, the colonists
declared themselves independent and free from England and carved out a place
among the nations as a distinctive sovereign nation all our own.
We wanted to be
different, set apart, unique—no longer did we want to remain a colony, but
wanted our own distinct identity as a people.
The passion to have that identity drove the colonists to pursue their
freedom even if it cost them their lives.
Isn’t it odd now
to realize that as a nation we are now doing all that we can to try NOT to be
different, NOT to be distinctive, but to do everything we can to be like
everyone else—and have them be like us.
We have little interest in pursuing a course that would set us apart as
distinctive. Therefore, we try to sound
alike and erase regional accents, we dress alike and follow fashion trends, we
try to believe alike and argue that all religions are essentially the same (a
ludicrous idea at best!).
Whenever someone
dares to be different, we label them as strange, call them odd balls, mock them
for their failure to conform. For
religious reasons, Muslims choose to
hold onto to their traditions in the way they dress. Orthodox Jews always
stand out because of their unique clothing.
The Amish for their
old-fashioned ways of dressing and living.
Sikhs for their unique
appearance.
In the normal
routine of western culture, we do all that we can NOT to call attention to
ourselves. You might say, “What about
the youth culture with its piercings and tattoos, or their skater clothes, or
their baggy pants guys and bare midriff girls?” They may be making a statement of being different from some, but
they are also working hard to be just like those who matter to them!
But the Lord has
done something remarkable in our lives as followers of Jesus Christ He has called to be HOLY in the way we are,
not just the way we dress or the food we eat.
1 Pet. 3:3-4 And let not your adornment be merely
external — braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on
dresses; 4 but let it be the hidden
person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit,
which is precious in the sight of God.
The radical nature of this calling to holiness is that it is
all-encompassing because it influences and shapes everything about us because
we find that we are not able to slip in the back door to holiness—it demands a
full, frontal assault on our entire way of life.
THESIS: We cannot expect to
live in holiness if we have no commitment to pursue holiness.
Should our lives
not demonstrate a distinctiveness that sets us apart in both of character and
behavior, the “hidden person of the heart” emerging as a “holy person in all
things?”
I. AN
ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCE
--While there is no distinguishing apparel that identifies
us as Christians, there is an essential difference, a difference in our
essential nature, that should make it clear that we belong to the Lord God
Almighty.
--One of the first places that shows up is in what we
desire, what we long for, what gives us reason to rise in the morning and
passion for embracing each day.
A. THE MOST
DESIRABLE GOAL
--If our goal is just to be like everyone else, or even to
be like those whose good opinions we seek, ours will be sad and shallow
existences.
--Give us a goal worth living for…something worth running
after….something worth dying for!
--God has given us just such a goal, the most desirable of
all goals…and yet even among followers of Christ, there appears to be little
genuine passion about pursuing it.
--The goal simply stated is that we might know Christ in all
of His glory and to be made like Him…and that means that because He is holy, a
passionate calling and insatiable appetite should consume us—that we might be
holy!
1. Delight
in the Lord
--It all begins with the understanding that the Lord is
thoroughly and completely delightful, the God of exquisite beauty and splendor,
who invites us to behold Him, to abide with Him and to know Him.
Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your
heart.
--Such is the perfect satisfaction to be found in knowing
Jesus Christ that there is no greater delight, no higher pleasure, no more
lasting contentment, than living for and in His favor.
--When we delight in Him, all our desires will line up with
His and all that we long for will be determined by what brings Him the greatest
pleasure!
2. Desire
for Holiness
--Therefore, when we delight in Him, we cannot help but
desire what He desires and be willing to throw off all hindrances that keep us
from gaining what matters to Him.
Heb. 12:14
Pursue peace with all men, and, the holiness,
the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.
Pursue – diwkete
“to follow after zealously; to pursue hotly; to seek eagerly and earnestly; to
run swiftly after; …all with no thought of giving up until we reach the goal,
attain the prize.”
--God calls us to pursue holiness with an abandon found only
in those who have been ignited with a burning desire and passion in their soul.
For most people, such passion is usually reserved
for things that have a short shelf life!
They devote themselves to a sport, a career, a hobby, even a
relationship with tremendous intensity and focus.
But the
general approach to life adopted by the vast majority is to keep all things in
moderation. In college Greek class our
professor frequently spoke in almost reverent tones about the Greek concept of swfrosunhj
–all
things in moderation. While a good
thing in how we treat things in this world, this dulling, deadening of our
passion for holiness has often killed our desire for what God wants us to
“pursue” zealously.
As we grow proud of our “balance and moderation” God grows weary of our
apathy and complacency for holiness!
B. THE MOST
DISTINCTIVE DIFFERENCE
--When we desire holiness, and when we commit ourselves to
the pursuit of holiness, we will find that we have set ourselves up to be
viewed as distinctively different—different to the point of being almost
counter-cultural.
--Holy people demonstrate in their character and in their
behavior the difference between the sacred and the profane.
Even though it is easier to recognize someone wearing
a veil or turban as distinctively different and willing to stand out in a
crowd, when we determine to pursue holiness in all areas of our lives, we make
a statement about our values, our priorities and our passions that sets us
apart. God is looking for that kind of distinctive difference in His people.
1. Only the
Authorized Will Be His Children
--What right do we have to lay claim to a heritage of
holiness?
John 1:12
But as many as received Him, to them He gave
the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
--Only when we have been given the right, or the authority (ecousia), to be called His children are we blessed with the
privilege of pursuing the most desirable goal of holiness.
--Until we have received Jesus Christ and His forgiveness
and cleansing for our sin, we cannot hope to experience holiness at any level.
2. Only the
Adopted Will Share His Holiness
--Once we have received Christ, we are given an identity as
the adopted children of our heavenly Father.
Romans 8:15-16 15For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to
fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry
out, “Abba! Father!” 16The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God,
--Who then has the hope of receiving the most desirable goal
in life, the promise of becoming the kind of person who brings delight to the
heart of God?
--That honor belongs only to those adopted and called His
sons and daughters…for only those will be granted the richest treasure of
sharing in that which the Father treasures—His Holiness!
Hebrews 12:10
For they disciplined us for a short time as
seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness
3. Only the
Holy Will See the Lord
--Is the matter of holiness, then, some kind of
extraordinary design for the “super-saints” and far beyond the realm of
possibility for folks like you and me?
--God wants us to understand that without holiness, or
without “sanctification,” it is impossible not only to please God but it is a
prerequisite for ever seeing the Lord.
Heb. 12:14
Pursue peace with all men, and, the holiness,
the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.
--Therefore, if you think it is possible to come to Christ
and remain untouched by the Father’s handiwork in your life, His commitment to
remake you in the image of His Son, you have totally misunderstood what it
means to be a follower of Jesus Christ!
--He makes it very clear that only His holy ones will ever
come into His presence.
For some of us, there is an element of despair in
hearing that truth from God’s Word.
Well, take heart because the God who calls you to holiness has also
called you to trust Christ who alone can make you holy!
If you know Christ, you have begun a journey into
holiness that He wants to see intensified in each of us as we obey His command to “pursue holiness”
as the greatest desire of our lives, the consuming passion of hearts that now
belong exclusively to Christ.
--You see, in God’s eyes, there is an essential difference
in His people—one that is found not in mere outward appearance but which
proceeds from the hidden person of the heart!
II. A
PASSIONATE PURSUIT
--Once we have discovered that holiness is not merely a side
issue reserved for the elite, spiritual enthusiasts, what does that mean to the
way we have dealt with our own personal holiness before God?
--To reiterate the emphasis of the command given to us in
Hebrew 12:14, we find that nothing less than a passionate pursuit of holiness
will do.
--Striving after it, shaping our lives according to the
advancement of this pursuit, all become front and center for us and we will no
longer be satisfied to “blend in” when God has called us to be set apart to
live lives of radical distinctiveness.
A. WE PASSIONATELY PURSUE WHAT GIVES THE MOST PLEASURE
--That begs the question:
Does holiness hold the highest place in your aspirations for life? OR Does living a holy life even appeal to
you at all?
--Paul expresses it in these terms in a familiar passage:
Philippians 3:12-14
12Not that I have already obtained
it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold
of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13Brethren, I do not regard
myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies
behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the
upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
1. No
Holding Back
Philippians 3:12 “…I
press on…” (diwkete
--pursue, seek earnestly, run hard after, etc)
--Paul uses the same word here that we find in Hebrews 12:14
as a way to make it clear that he refuses to allow any other concerns, any
other desires, any other attractions, to divert him from the pursuit that
surpasses all others.
--Here are no words about moderation, no sentiments about
keeping things in perspective, no attempt to try to blend in—but a steadfast
resolve to hold nothing back in running after holiness as he longs to know and
be like Jesus Christ!
2. No
Looking Back
Philippians 3:13
“…Forgetting what lies behind..”
--Once Paul was not holy, he was not seeking Christ, he was
caught up in things that ultimately would not satisfy and could never last.
--But instead of being paralyzed by his past, Paul
determined to look to what was still to be as he set his course to become like
Jesus Christ in all His holiness.
How many of you have thought that you could never be truly holy because
of the many times and ways you have failed in the past? Paul says, “Forget about it…press on! Pursue the best and never mind about the
worst that is behind you!”
B. WE VIGOROUSLY PROTECT WHAT HOLDS THE HIGHEST VALUE
--if we can settle in our minds and get agreement in our
hearts that holy living and knowing Christ in all His fullness is the highest
possible value…what Paul refers to as the “surpassing value,” then we will do
whatever it takes to protect what we value most.
--The context speaks of at least three areas which need our
attention if we would pursue holiness that way God commands:
1.
Relationships
--One of the first testing grounds for holiness is in your
relationships—if you can be holy in the way you relate to others, you will find
both the joys of holiness and the blessing of peaceful relationships.
Heb. 12:14-15
Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see
the Lord. 15See to it that
no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up
causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;
--Two threats are mentioned to holy relationships here:
a. Conflict
with Others
--If your relationships with others are strained by
conflict, your course of action is clear and must be decisive if you desire
holiness—pursue peace with everyone…even those who have caused you the most
trouble!!
--In fact, the verb “pursue” addresses conflict before it
addresses holiness in Hebrew 12:14, leading us to conclude that they are
closely connected in God’s mind.
b.
Bitterness toward Others
--Without peace in your relationships, holiness cannot grow
and soon you will find that the lack of peace escalates into full-scale
conflict leaving you embittered with the “roots of bitterness” wrapping
themselves around your heart, squeezing out the place reserved for holiness!
--Holiness of heart translates directly into holiness in
relationships!
2. Purity
--Holiness and purity are thoroughly integrated and
intertwined with each other so it comes as no surprise to see the next verses
speaking to the necessity of purity if we want to be holy.
Heb 12:16-17 16that
there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright
for a single meal. 17For you
know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was
rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with
tears.
a.
Uncontrolled Passions
--Esau was a man of fiery passions, but they
were uncontrolled passions which ruled over his good sense and his sound
judgment.
--He allowed the natural desires and appetites
to gain such power over him that he descended into immoral choices and godless
behavior—he wanted immediate gratification instead of eternal blessing,
momentary satisfaction instead of unshakable contentment.
b. Undefiled
Morals
--Holy people are sexually pure people, people
who resist the urges that would lead them to act inappropriately to satisfy
their sexual appetites—fleeing from all forms of sexual sins which violate the
holiness of marriage.
Heb 13:4 4 Let marriage be held in honor
among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and
adulterers God will judge.
--There is no shift in biblical truth about what God desires
in the way we think and act morally—culture has deceived and destroyed the
purity of many in every generation and continues to steal the holiness of
marriage from those who have not learned to value what God values more highly
than their own temporary pleasures.
3.
Contentment
--Another area seldom considered in our pursuit of holiness
is the degree to which we are content with all that have in Christ.
--Enticed by a materialistic world and ensnared by greedy
impulses, we find that the pursuit of holiness is often postponed by our
pursuit of the world’s wealth.
Heb. 13:5 Let your character
be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He
Himself has said, “I will never desert
you, nor will I ever forsake you,”
--If we do not get it straight in our minds and hearts that
holiness is better than wealth, we will forever be substituting our best
efforts and most intense pursuits into the mad race for more of what will one
day be burned up!
--Are we taking steps to protect what holds the highest
value in our lives? Of course, we
always do…but is that highest value a life of holiness in Christ?
C. WE EAGERLY PARTAKE OF WHAT OFFERS THE GREATEST PROMISE
--Whatever we believe promises what we think we will enjoy
the most, we will readily partake fully and freely.
--God commands us to pursue holiness because He knows that
it holds the greatest promise for a life filled with joy and the ultimate in
satisfaction.
1. Divine
Power
--Therefore, He has guaranteed that all who will partake of
His holiness will be supplied with whatever they need to enjoy it fully.
2 Peter 1:3-4 3 seeing that His
divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness,
through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and
excellence. 4 For by these
He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by
them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world by lust.
2. Biblical
Truth
--In order to make sure that we understand the truth about
what holiness really is, He provides infallible instruction for us in the Word
of God.
James 1:21-22
Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all
that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is
able to save your souls. 22
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude
themselves.
--He does not leave it up to us to speculate about what he
wants but plants His word in our hearts so that we can be holy as He is holy.
3.
Compelling Desire
Psalm 42:1
As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my
soul pants for Thee, O God.
--For all of the resources available, all of the promises
and assurances, all of the surpassing value of actually sharing His holiness—we
will not partake of it if we do not want it enough to go for it!
--Bottom line? If
you do not want to be holy, you will choose not to be holy!
--You will prefer to blend in than be set apart, or try to
give an outward appearance of holiness not matched by the “hidden person of
heart.”
--To be holy, you must PURSUE the holiness without which no one
will see the Lord…and the extent to which you pursue it will be the extent to
which you have a compelling desire
to be holy that overshadows everything else in your life!
Sure, it would be a lot easier to have
uniforms that identified us with the “Christian sect” just as yarmulkes and
veils and turbans and robes and hats serve to identify certain types of
religious people. But God is looking
for people who are not content to play “dress up” but who are willing to BE
HOLY in every conceivable way!
That kind of holiness must be PURSUED with
a passion! That passion must be fueled
by a deep longing for God that cannot be satisfied with surface encounters and
outward displays.
It flows out of hearts gripped by the powerful love and matchless grace of Jesus Christ! Then we will pursue Him and His holiness like nothing else!
Let’s close by
praying the words of Psalm 63:1-5:
Psalm 63:1-5 1O God, you are my God, earnestly
I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary
land where there is no water. 2I
have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. 3Because your love is better than
life, my lips will glorify you. 4I
will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. 5My soul will be satisfied as
with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
1O
God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you;
AMEN!
© David Horner 2003
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