"The Holiness Of God"- The Apostolic Connection
by Kenneth Carpenter
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Hebrews 12:14-17

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kenneth-carpenter--the-holiness-of-god-the-apostolic-connection
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
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for a few moments I would like to direct your attention to the word of our great God the book of Hebrews chapter 12. begin reading it verse number 14. follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his Birthright for you know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing he was rejected for he found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully with tears

you may be seated these four passages of scripture that I read to you this morning they all go together this is not the Book of Proverbs where one subject goes from one verse to the to the next but Paul is writing in a continual thought when he begins at verse number 14. about following pursuing peace and holiness without which no man would see the Lord he is talking about a lifestyle that we live a lifestyle of Peace a lifestyle of Holiness a separated lifestyle he's talking about being known as Holiness people he goes in from that verse of saying this is the lifestyle that we live he goes to the next verse still connected to this thought of Lifestyle looking diligently less lest any man would fail of the grace of God lest any root of bitterness would spring up he talks about people of holiness people of God that we are not only seeking the Peace of fellow man and we're not only pursuing after a life of Holiness and separation but we are people of self-examination we're always checking our Spirits we're always making sure that there's not a root of bitterness inside of us whatever happens to us in life we don't want there to become a root of bitterness against a fellow man nor against God and then he gives an example he talks about a fornicator or a profane person this word profane here is a person that has no respect for the sacred he has no respect a profane person has no respect for the Holiness of God has no respect for the sacredness of God he is a a profane person and then he places a name to it Esau Esau who for one morsel of meat just one meal just one meal sold his Birthright that Birthright being that Godly heritage that Birthright being something that would bless him to his death bed he sold his future for a meal he sold his future for something that he could consume in about five minutes time well that's a lousy trade that's a lousy trade but oh don't we see it happening so frequent in America today you see for just a few moments of pleasure men and women sell out the rest of their lives

but then verse 17 you see when the enemy convinces you and deceives you into trading your Godly Heritage of holiness when the enemy convinces you that we're living in a different day in a different culture and we will never relate to our world with a Holiness lifestyle and many churches and many people have traded their separation they have traded their holiness yet the devil has a greater pleasure of just not getting us to trade it but later in life when we realize a horrible mistake we've made he will tantalize us with it he will fill your dreams and your nights and your days with what if I had stayed true to God what if I had remained faithful to God the Bible says for you know how that afterward when he should have inherited the blessing or the that he should inherit the blessing he was rejected for he found no place of repentance well he sought it carefully with tears

you see in America today we are the land of the home of the free the Land of the Brave we we are a land of opportunity that's what we that's why people that's why they get in ships and planes and jump borders and get over here because we're known as the land of opportunity but I want to preach to us today a little Caution you need to be able to discern between an opportunity and a trap all opportunities are not opportunities many of them are traps in his book making in his in his book entitled The Seven decisions

there's a chapter called catching the prize in the 1920s a well-known wealthy industrialist controlled a vast portion of our country's prosperity and with his wealth he purchased a zoo it was a PO it wasn't a Public Zoo or even a private Zoo it was his personal Zoo located on his estate for the pleasure of this one man and his family National dignitaries were occasionally allowed to view the animals in the days before Zoo breeding programs traded animals his zoo was one of the most complete collections of Zoological world had ever known during this time zookeepers traveled to various countries mounted safaris and captured the animals to bring them back one day he heard of a rare and beautiful type of gazelle from Africa that wasn't showcased in any zoo in the world he became obsessed with the idea of becoming the first to have one of these animals in his collection he mounted an expedition to Africa including Food Supplies and men to carry tents when they landed on the African Shore the man contacted the natives to learn about this animal and its whereabouts over and over he was told you'll never catch one they're too fast and too strong you can shoot and kill them from a distance but you'll never never get close enough to take one alive he told a reporter who was on the Safari with him don't listen to them I'll get as many of them as I want and it won't be a problem when his men located a herd he poured sweet feed a blend of oats and Barley Road in molasses on the ground in an open area in the middle of the night and left the next night is this the next night he scattered the feet again for two weeks he spit he spread the seed night after night the animals of course came in and ate on the first night of the third week he scattered the feed and sank an eight-foot post into the ground 20 feet away the next night he scattered the feed and sank another Post in the ground 20 feet in the opposite direction every night he added a post then he started putting boards between the post while scattering the feed six weeks rode by he continued adding posts and Boards until he had corrupt till he had a Corral built around this speed every night these animals these animals found the gaps between the post until finally he watched the entire herd squeeze through the final Gap he moved in behind them and nailed the last board into place the animals were trapped inside the Corral he chose the animals he wanted to take to his residency in his zoo and let the others go when he was asked how he knew how to catch them he said something that chills the bone he said I treat animals the same way I treat people I give them what they want I give them food and shelter in exchange they give me their beauty and their freedom

you see with every trade with every step of a freedom that you make you are giving something to the one who has set the Trap you see this is how the enemy entraps The Souls of men and women he doesn't do it overnight he is a consistent devil you must hand it to him he sets the Trap of which you think is an opportunity but it's nothing more than a trap oh you don't notice when that post went in and that post within because you become intoxicated and enamored with the feed that's on the ground can I tell you something my dear friend we need to understand that a Holiness is something that we should never trade and we should never offer it on the table God still expects his people to live by the Ten Commandments God still expects his people to be a separate holy people unto God go ahead Esau enjoy a meal of five minutes go ahead Esau be disrespectful to the sacred go ahead go ahead go ahead Esau be disrespectful to the sacred but there'll come a day there'll come a time you'll realize what you spent when time has corralled you in and you see the days ending in your life and you've done very little for your spiritual condition

you see they came to Moses and they said Moses he said Moses you got a lot of people standing here waiting the Bible says that the people came to Moses with problems from the time the sun rose until the time the sun set his father-in-law came to him and he said Moses you're going to wear yourself away setting and judging all day long basically he told him this he said you need to make two lists on one list needs to be the real important things of your life and on the other list needs to be those things that are not so important and you need to give those things that are not so important to other people and you need to spend your time on the things that are important you see in life we live that way too don't we we live with two lists oh we know that we will all stand before God one day or at least I sure hope to the good Lord you know that you will stand before God one day you'll give an account for your life but the problem is we've traded that eternal position for what's temporary we have things that keep us up at night that shouldn't keep us up at night someone didn't speak to me someone did me wrong that gets on the important list of getting even while the prayer life and one day I'll give an account for every word I've ever spoken is on that not so important list but you see that's all a trap that the enemy wants to get our minds on what we can see and not on what we cannot see you see every night those animals they didn't realize it as they were licking the feet up in their mouth there's another post over here there's another post over there

I wonder if in this room today or I wonder if watching by television today is not someone who thought you were Trading and going to better your life I'm going to better my life with this decision I'm going to better my happiness with this decision but now you've heard the nails as you're entrapped in your decision and you won't have good news to tell you today there's one that loves you that's able to come and get you out there's one that cares about you today his name is Jesus he's able to help you today but you've got to call out on him