Sermon Central
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Holiness – Part 2 – You Be Holy Series
Contributed by John Bright on Jun 22, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: In the Wesleyan tradition, we rely on a clear understanding of holiness. This series clears ups some modern-day misunderstandings. Teaching sheet at end of sermon.
"Holiness – Part 2 – You be Holy"
Pastor John Bright
2 Peter 1 “2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Pause right there. Those words I just read; they were “Breathed by God”! God wants you to hear His Word right now! So, what is your response? Do you want to transformed by that Word or do you want to be informed about the words? You must choose.
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Last week we looked at 1 Peter 1 - 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
I told you there were two parts – God and you. Last week I started with the holiness of God and talked to you about the attributes of God. This week, let’s talk about you and me.
Have you ever been to the carnival or funhouse? They have these distorted mirrors that change the way we see ourselves. Those are fun, but one distorted mirror was a disaster for NASA. As far back as the 1970s, they were working on a large telescope to put in orbit around the earth. It became known as the Hubble Space Telescope. In the guts of the telescope is a 7 foot 10 inch mirror. Within days of its launch in 1990, they realized there was a problem with how the mirror was manufactured that caused the images to be blurry. It would take four shuttle missions between 1993 and 2009 to fix the Hubble, bringing the cost of the project up to $11.3 billion. It remains the most expensive NASA project ever. The flaw in the mirror was “2200 nanometers (about 1/450 mm or 1/11000 inch)” – about 4/100 the width of a human hair.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope
All it takes is a tiny error in how we see ourselves for the devil to get a foothold. If we keep playing back the distorted events from the past – it warps the mirror in which we see ourselves. Let’s look at what you and I should really see in that mirror. First, some background -
HOLY GOD AND THE FALLEN WORLD
On the sixth day of Creation, God made human beings. We are all made in the image of God as spirit beings. That’s who you truly are – a spirit being, temporarily housed in a body, attempting to control a soul (mind/emotions/desires). If you don’t control the soul, the soul will control you. (Sides, “Exercising Spiritual Authority” – check out this series on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfPa-MORJgk&ab_channel=LiberatingMinistries) Many of the attributes of God are present within us as spirit beings made in God’s image. We can’t escape the reality of how God made us… nor can we escape the effects of Genesis 3.
In our Bible, the fall of humanity follows closely the Creator God making woman and man. The fall of humanity changes EVERYTHING! Each of us is a fallen human being from the day we are born. We all live in a fallen world. Yet some of our original creation remains:
• Still created to be in a relationship with God
• Still possess the means to be stewards/managers of God’s gifts
• Still have within each person a moral compass
With a clear view of God and self – we are faced with a paradox. (That’s not two surgeons😊) The Holiness of God is who God is, not just what God does. Holiness moves God to be absolutely intolerant of sin, and still God offers forgiveness of sin in the gift of salvation. No matter how hard you and I try to earn that forgiveness, only the blood shed on Calvary can reconcile the fallen human to a Holy God.
A good example of someone who tried to win the favor of a Holy God was John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. He tried and tried to conform his behavior to the commands of Holy Scripture. Wesley sought to live out the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:40 “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Wesley even went on an international mission trip to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Then, he found himself on Aldersgate Street in London on May 24, 1738. Wesley recorded it in his journal:
