Pastor Brad DeLong - Principles of Holiness

well you heard at least one or three or i would amend four reasons why god is great we found out just a little after those young three children received the holy ghost that there was actually a fourth who received it on sunday morning after service i walked through that vestibule and i heard shouting and it was a good kind of shouting it wasn't uh people shouting at each other it was just a shout of praise so i obviously went to investigate and i found one of the young ladies who had received the holy ghost she was still in there weeping and crying as the spirit

of god moved on her i think we owe great praise to a great god oh for that alone thank you lord for those four lives that have been changed for eternity thank you jesus for everything that you've done this week at apostolic pentecostal church we honor you lord we thank you in jesus name amen amen what a great god we serve and i am so thankful for what he is doing at apostolic pentecostal church what an exciting time to be a part of his church and be a part of this church family and thank you each of you for being here on this wednesday night

you can be seated i know that the lord is leading us and he is leading his church and i've mentioned this recently i believe that god is calling us and leading us to revival to personal revival into corporate revival and there may be some things that have lied dormant and some things that god is resurrecting within us so i believe he is calling some things to come back to life we heard sunday he's calling us to consecration to dedication as we build his church in his building and with all that in mind our topic tonight is going to help us and continue to lead us

to personal revival as well as revival right here in the church as a whole you might be surprised at the nature of it because we often don't associate consecration holiness and righteousness with that term revival usually when you hear revival you think of an extended set of services and people receive the holy ghost but these among others are the foundation stones in the core building blocks of what it means to be revived in the kingdom of god holiness consecration sacrifice a hunger for righteousness these all lead us closer to him and they lend themselves to revival we're going to look at hebrews chapter 12 tonight

it encourages us along these lines the writer of hebrews begins the chapter by talking about running a race with patience goes on to talk about being disciplined or chastened by god for spiritual growth and then he starts to discuss being renewed spiritually he says this in verse 12 therefore strengthen the hands which hang down in the feeble knees make straight paths for your feet so that what's lame may not be dislocated but rather be healed pursue peace with all people and pursue holiness without which no one will see the lord that's a pretty blunt and direct statement really flies in the face of many of

the teachings in our modern context and even some mainline or popular denominal teachings and ideas but the writer of hebrews makes it so clear if you want to see the lord if and i'll just add if you want to experience revival and you want to be close to him and and you want god to bring some things out of you and god to change some things within you if you want to be counted among the redeemed you must pursue holiness and peace and he says without which no one will see the lord with that spiritual mandate in mind tonight i want to teach you from

this simple title you see it on the screen a very important topic nonetheless we're going to talk about several principles of holiness tonight in this service before we move any further i'd like you to pray with me for god's help i know that god is going to help us now his word is always a help but that god would give us understanding that god would bring us together that if there is someone who is struggling in this regard and they've got questions about what we're going to talk about tonight that god would help them and strengthen them and then he would help me if i

don't enunciate the clearest i've got a canker sore whatever on the side of end so there's just pain whatever so if i take more drinks of water tonight than i've ever taken in my life you know why nonetheless the word's going to be taught god's going to help us i need you to pray with me that the lord i believe god's going to do something eternal tonight he's going to help us as we discuss this topic which is so important to him and to his church would you lift your voice with me lord thank you for your help thank you for your word that brings

such tremendous clarity and we're relying on your word we want to rightly divide the word of truth tonight and i believe and you're going to bring clarity into someone's life you're going to help strengthen someone you're going to bring someone into a season of personal revival through holiness and consecration and that pursuit of righteousness we want to be like you we want to be close to you we want to please you so we need your help by your word in jesus name jesus name amen amen throughout the old and new testament holiness has been critical to the spirituality and the success of god's people this

has always been the case in fact in many cases in the old testament you can draw a direct line between israel or judah's commitment to holiness all the way to their success or even their growth as a kingdom and many times the reigning king of israel and eventually the separate kingdom of judah he would set out to ensure that the people were holy by getting rid of idolatry getting rid of the high places and consecrating themselves to the one true god this was always a time of of joy or time for celebration in israel whenever they would set out to be holy and what followed

was always blessings and favor in the favor of god as well as spiritual and physical growth of the kingdom was always a direct line between their holiness and their ultimate survival and success as a nation there was a direct line between holiness and revival as well as a direct correlation between consecration in growth favor and success and the kingdom of god that's in the old testament obviously but the truth is even in 2022 nothing has changed holiness is still needed it's not antiquated it's not outdated it is still necessary for a healthy and successful relationship with god as well as the fulfillment of our end

of this covenant in this relationship it's still necessary for a healthy godly and spirit-filled church to exercise holiness it's still essential for one to please and to have close communion with god and if there's ever been any doubt or wondering on where we stand as a church with regards to the call of holiness in the word of god let me pause long enough to put that to rest we believe in the word of god so we believe and obey the call to holiness and consecration unto god without which no one will see the lord truth is we must have holiness and principle number one is

that holiness is necessary in our walk in our relationship with god it's necessary cannot be overlooked cannot be underestimated it cannot be overstated it's critical it's it's foundational and most importantly it's biblical it's not just a set of rules that we follow in order to be involved in ministry or to sing on the platform holiness is not just a list of standards that our pastor our bishop asks for us to follow but holiness is critical in our relationship with jesus christ it's been that way since the old testament the old covenant leviticus 20 the lord's reminding the people of israel of the stipulations of the

covenant in essence he's telling them what they need to do in order to gain the favor of god grow in their relationship and their covenant with him to please him he says this verse 26 and you shall be holy unto me for i the lord am holy and i've separated you from the peoples that you should be mine holiness is equated to being his that's important that's not just an old testament thing or an old covenant commandment even in the new covenant the new testament i know some people say well god required holiness of his people under under the law but that's not for us

anymore well first peter 1 15 and 16 quotes that same passage but as he who called you is holy you also be holy in all your conduct because it's written and he's quoting from leviticus be holy for i am holy i'll clarify here that if the bible says it it's very important and if god repeats himself over again and says hey just by by the way i said this before but i'm going to say it again for all the people in the back be holy for that makes it all the more important so we make no mistake that holiness is still necessary to please god

we're called he calls us personally to holiness it's still an essential part of our relationship and our covenant with god and so many people may miss this truth and this principle and in turn i believe that they miss out on the power and the significance of true holiness some because maybe they want to do their own thing or they want to live their their own way and others because they've been taught different and they believe that it doesn't matter to god at all and in doing so i believe that they may be missing out on spiritual maturity in an unparalleled walk with god because they've

been led astray or they don't have the correct understanding or maybe they just want to try to get by without it thinking that it's unnecessary we've all heard probably the same age-old question it goes like this was that is that really a heaven or hell issue do i really need that for salvation well our texts would say yes but i'm not trying to skirt the issue on this but i i really feel like we probably need to reframe that question that point entirely when we look at it what what i really should be asking is will living a holy and modest lifestyle please god will

this get me closer to god does god still value holiness and if he doesn't why do we have verses like first peter 1 16 hebrews 12 14 romans 12 1 ephesians 4 24 among all the others that i'll list do those still matter i believe that they do and if they do the truth about holiness and that first principle is that it's necessary for our walk in our relationship with god now can you have a relationship with god without it maybe and thank god he allows us time and he allows us to grow and to develop and many of us had no idea what holiness

was when the lord helped us and strengthened us and saved us but then you read in romans 6 and 22 paul says but now now you're free from the power of sin you become slaves of god instead now because of that do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life now that you know do things that lead to holiness having been freed from sin and bondage paul says that our spiritual growth ought to lead us directly to holiness and eternal life this is similar to we reference in ephesians 4 and 17 it says you should no longer walk as the rest of

the gentiles walk in the futility of their mind this is the opposite of holiness having their understanding darkened being alienated from the life of god because of the ignorance that's in them because of the blindness of their heart who being past feeling have given themselves over to lewdness to work all in cleanness and greediness or with greediness but you have not so learned christ if you start to get christ you learn otherwise if indeed you've heard him and you've been taught by him as the truth it's in jesus that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man which instead of going holy grows

corrupt according to the deceitful lust and be renewed in the spirit of your mind there's a different term for revival be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man which was created for what it was created according to god how in true righteousness and holiness so if you're growing spiritually and you're walking with him a natural byproduct of that growth is true righteousness and holiness that's our second principle holiness is a byproduct of spiritual growth it's just a byproduct it comes naturally we've had people who've received the holy ghost who have never been taught a bible study and

they'll come to me or they'll come to one of you and they'll say hey i feel like i need to be different i need to i need to act differently than i've been acting i need to i need to not do some of the things that i've been doing i need to do some things i haven't been doing i need to i need to dress a certain way i need to feel and we try to help them encourage them we don't want them to uh uh to get the cart before the horse which i'll talk about in a couple of minutes but we didn't have

to teach them a bible say they just received the holy ghost and something in them thought i want to be more like god i want to be holy it's a natural byproduct of spiritual growth so if you're not growing the inverse is also true that you may be less and less like him and less and less holy but if you are growing holiness is a byproduct of growth and in many ways it's a barometer of spiritual growth same way a lack of holiness is also many times a barometer of spiritual growth and maturity i'll give you an example of this mila is three years old

going on 30. i'm not joking she is she knows it all she's been growing developing like crazy about every day she says or does something new and mariah and i laugh about it we get excited or we video it we we did that just yesterday recently she's discovered new words and i think her favorite word right now is the word anyway she works that word into every sentence she can it doesn't even make sense like i want to go to mimi's anyway everything's last year too she's like yeah dad i i had to go to bed last year what are you talking about last year

so she's discovered all these new words and all these new phrases all this new verb and she's still learning how to employ these words and all the verbiage that she's picking up and she's picking it all up very very quickly but if all of a sudden that development stopped or went backwards and the sentences never developed and she didn't grow another engine she never learned to use the word anyway correctly or she just never became self-sufficient we would know something was wrong she's not growing anymore there's some benchmarks of growth just as there are in the kingdom so the same is true in our spiritual

walks we've got holiness like reading and writing is fundamental it's commanded over and over again it says without it no one will see god it's it's as fundamental maybe as as walking and talking is to life now it doesn't mean that you'll pick it up immediately it's a lifelong journey in pursuit of righteousness but it is fundamental so if in our development we stop just on the edge of holiness and we still wear certain things just not when we go to church functions or we still watch certain things when when no one's looking or watching we still have those conversations with our friends in a

work environment or we still think those thoughts without ever bringing them under subjection or taking them into cafeteria or trying to occur them when we still allow that or or this thing in our homes or have that on our devices if we stop on the edge of holiness it's a barometer and a measuring stick concerning our development and our spiritual growth or maybe the lack of holiness is god's invitation to come be like me that's an invitation we would all i would hope we'd jump at despite the sacrifice so if i say no i'm good then that may be the extent of my walk with

god and where things stop rather spiritual growth and holiness and righteousness it's it's command and it's inspected in scripture as part of our development and relationship with god first peter 2 and 1 therefore laying aside all malice and deceit hypocrisy envy all evil speaking these are things that we should lay aside on our pursuit of holiness this newborn babies desire to the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby growth is tied to laying down sin separating yourself from sin and weight if indeed you tasted that the lord is gracious you ought to grow second peter two and one peter says we've got

everything we need for growth and for a godly life since we've escaped the corruption of the world verse five for this very reason make every effort to add to your faith goodness and the goodness knowledge and the knowledge self-control and self-control perseverance and the perseverance you should add godliness into god in this mutual affection and mutual affection like he's talking about you ought to grow for if you possess these qualities in increasing measure they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our lord jesus christ but whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind forgetting that they have been cleansed

from their past sins you've been cleansed from those so you ought to grow there's an expectation that we grow and develop spiritually in righteousness paul says in colossians that we don't cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding that you may walk worthy of the lord fully pleasing him being fruitful in every good work increasing in the knowledge of god grow and growth and holiness are tied together there's this expectation of continued growth or growth that absolutely involves holiness so if we want to grow spiritually in our walk

with him holiness is a part of that and to take it a step further if you want to be acceptable unto him holiness is part of that as well in the old testament priests and levites could not perform most if not all their priestly roles without first being sanctified cleansed and considered holy although this included a thorough and literal bath right before they entered the temple it didn't stop there their holiness if you read through those texts had to include their daily lives and activities as well there were certain things that if if they did this throughout their day they were they were cut off

from the temple at least for a season and sometimes for beyond the season so there's an expectation as i said of continued growth there's an expectation of holiness in order to be acceptable unto god in the 21st century i don't believe that god has somehow lowered his standards of holiness in this new covenant era they may not look the same we're not taking a bath every time we walk into church thank god they don't look the same but god is just as holy he's not lowered his own personal standard of holiness so when he says be holy as i am holy i've called you to

be holy doesn't mean that he's got some lesser version of holiness and in fact you could argue that he's invited us to be even more like him through this new covenant he wants us to pursue holiness romans 12 tells us present your body is a living sacrifice holy acceptable to god which is your reasonable service and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind there's that renewing word again that you may prove what's that good and acceptable and perfect will of god new living translation says it this way i plead with you give your bodies to god

because of all that he's done for you let them be a living and holy sacrifice the kind that he will find acceptable if you look back and trace it back he didn't just accept any kind of sacrifice they need to be without spot or blemish and he says this is truly the way to worship him you put it in this way we see holiness as an expectation for being acceptable in the god and if the pattern of the bible tells us anything that is still the case today and you also notice this we're trying to live a holy lifestyle so we will be acceptable unto

him and not necessarily to everyone else around us holiness is to him first i feel like that raises the stakes a little bit see we don't live the way we live and think the way we think and talk the way we talk and dress the way we dress solely so that we will be acceptable to the people around us or even to people in the church the truth is if that's the only reason we're living a holy lifestyle we're doing it for the wrong reason now we do want to edify one another we want the body to be healthy we want to have healthy and

uplifting conversations and interactions and our holiness or our lack of holiness will affect other members of the body but the primary goal is that we are set apart and holy unto him not even to pastor brad i'm not holy you're not holy even to to bishop now i'm accountable to him i thank god for his leadership and he's led me in this way and i i want his affirmation but if if the only reason i'm living holy is for him i've missed it i'm set apart and holy unto him first not even unto the church and not even to the people on instagram and facebook

we're holy unto him the one who sees past what everyone else sees on sundays and wednesdays and and even on our social media profiles throughout the week we are set apart and pleasing unto jesus the one who hebrews 4 says sees it all the one to whom everything is laid open and laid bare that's why holiness unto him goes beyond just a profile picture our social media stream and even what we do out in the open holiness to him is all encompassing this is our next principle tonight because the same scripture in hebrews 4 tells us that it's to him we have to give an

account to him it's holiness unto him and that type of holiness is all-encompassing and holistic affecting every area and part of our lives i thank god i get to be with our bishop and our staff multiple days out of the week most days out of the week but if i was living holy just for them or for their approval for their affirmation there'd be several days in the week that i probably wouldn't live holy because i'm not around them but when i think about i'm pleasing him every single day so i want to live a lifestyle that's holy and set apart and pleasing to him

every single day it starts to encompass my entire life and not just the days that i'm in the presence and in proximity to those around me holiness unto god is universal it's not something to be compartmentalized or something to be segmented to only certain areas of our lives but instead if we look back at romans 12 we recognize sacrifices like the one that paul is referencing they're never half consumed completely consumed holiness isn't lived just when we walk in these doors it's lived on vacation it's lived at home it's lived on the job it's lived even when you're alone it's live during every moment of

every day and with everything you consume and digest into your spirit all of which greatly affects your pursuit of holiness truth about holiness is it's holistic it affects every area of your life this may be where why paul says this he prays this in first thessalonians 5 and 23 he said may the god of peace himself sanctify you completely completely and may your whole spirit soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our lord jesus christ he also admonished the saints of corinth he said let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness and the fear of god

and the fear of god i don't know why i'm just hovering there tonight circling back but i'm perfecting holiness in the fear of god and maybe you all aren't on facebook maybe there's only two of you on facebook but i'm not perfecting holiness in the fear of what facebook would say i'm not perfecting holiness and the fear of what someone on my i am perfecting holiness because i fear and i revere god holiness encompasses your thoughts actions conversation attitude motivations every other unnamed aspect of your life and it's all for him first it's for his glory for his pleasure and i reiterate i want to

be acceptable unto him otherwise i'm doing it for the wrong reasons and it won't last in my life if i'm not doing it to please god i will eventually find an excuse not to do it which is where this next principle i believe will really help us looking back at romans 12 we find that truth about holiness is it's also a reasonable service i know some may have questioned this notion this this thought i mentioned some of those questions earlier i've even had some of those surface in my own mind especially at a younger age and as a teenager and probably uh there's probably someone

in this room that's already questioned some of these things you're is this really necessary is is it really reasonable do i really have to live a certain way or engage in in certain things or not engage in other things in order to please god and as i said i would refrain those questions which i'll talk about in a moment but i'm also thankful that when i have those questions and i've had those questions i got to answer those questions from the right place and from his word and i also added having those questions does not mean you're a horrible person that you're just some terrible

sinner we all battle these things but when we do we need to get our answers from the right sources get them from his word get them from people we know and trust people who have walked with him in faithfulness thankfully when i've had those questions i found answers in the right places i mentioned some of those scriptures already but as a young man i remember places like first peter 2 and 9. it says we're a royal priesthood and a holy nation but why why are we holy that we may proclaim the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light

and i i read and i memorized scriptures i read earlier like first peter 1 16 be holy for i am holy which implies that we can be like our heavenly father and i realize that if he commanded this himself and these are this is a direct quote from him in first peter that ought to be enough for me to want to live a holy lifestyle just in and of itself that he's called me to do it but i didn't stop there thankfully because sometimes even that may not be enough and we we may still question i read verses like ii timothy 2 and 21 as

well therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter from sin he will be a vessel for honor sanctified and useful for the master prepared for every good work i wanted to know why like many of you why do i do these things why don't i do others and once i find out that i'm called to be holy so i can be used in the kingdom so i can proclaim his praises amongst the darkness and i'm called to be holy so i can be like him so i can be closer to him and i'm called to be holy in light of what he's done for me

saving me for my sin cleansing me from all unrighteousness that i don't want to go back to once i started to realize that i started to realize that not only is living a holy lifestyle reasonable it's actually desirable i refrain my questions and learn that holiness is not some overwhelming burden to bear some some self-imposed pentecostal bondage but instead i get to be holy i did to respond to the call i get to be more like him i get to be free from the bondage of sin and not only that but the responsibility of holiness beats the weight and consequences of the bondage of sin

every day of the week i'm going to say that again i'm wondering if someone who is who has experienced that bondage of sin would amen just for your own sake or maybe for someone in the room that the responsibility of holiness beats the weight and the consequence of the bondage of sin every day of the week that it just doesn't even compare in fact i try to remind our young people regularly when others have asked me throughout my life and they're like hey why do you have to go to church why do you have to dress like that why are you going to do this

they always use that word have why do you have to i didn't always respond the right way i had the company line well my pastor says i should thanks yeah thanks well those are the standards we don't question you know head the company line if i could go back i would tell them i get to live this way i get to be like him i get to be free holiness and many times is looked from the outside looking into some sort of bondage but when they come in in our worship service and see my goodness these people just feel like it's just freedom in the

room we realize it we start to reframe it that i get to live this way it is an absolute and undeserved privilege to be sanctified and set apart for the glory of god and for his kingdoms i get to be holy and god's allowed me to be like him so i can be used in his kingdom when we look at it like that and not like a just a set of platform guidelines or something to display only at church not only will it be reasonable i believe it will be desirable truth about holiness is it's a privilege it's essential for growth it's essential for our

walk with god it's all encompassing lastly before we get into some practical applications of holiness the truth about holiness is that it's internal first and then ex displayed externally simply put holiness to be needs to be here first and then portrayed out here now according to the word of god it must be portrayed outwardly but it must also be lived inwardly so many times we try to make sure that the outward facade reflects holiness before our heart and our spirit ever does this is what we call the cart before the horse this could also accurately be called pharisaical after that order of the pharisees is

matthew 23 27 jesus actually rebukes the pharisees for this very same pattern he said woe to you scribes and pharisees you hypocrites they didn't like to hear that for your white-washed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outward that was probably the the worst disc he could have given him everyone's looking around oh man but inside you're full of dead men's bones uncleanness even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men but inside your full hypocrisy and lawlessness this would have just been a mic drop moment they were mad he said you all appear to have everything going on the outside you you've got everything right but

inside he said you're full of dead men's bones your outward facade tells everyone else that you're holy but your heart tells the lord that you're not holiness on the outside only is not true holiness jesus calls that a whitewashed tomb for that reason we've got to get this holiness thing in our hearts and if we got it backwards the first time we just got the outward appearance only this is a great opportunity tonight for us to get it right external holiness will only last so long without internal holiness in an internal pursuit of holiness external holiness that may please everyone else but holiness in our

heart one that manifests outwardly it pleases god and it will inevitably show up on the outside this is why we're instructed so often the bible on what we think about what we allow in our hearts and in our minds paul talks about bringing every thought into captivity thinking on things that are that are pure just lovely of a good report jesus rebukes the pharisees again in matthew 15. he quotes isaiah in verse 7 he says hypocrites well did isaiah prophesy about you saying these people draw near to me with their mouth and they honor me with their lips but their heart is far from me

it matters to him what's in your heart and whether or not it's holy so the truth about holiness this holiness principle is that it starts here first and not with our clothing and what we wear or even what we say it doesn't start there but i will make it clear that it should manifest there tonight i want to be clear it does start internally but i will also say that it should absolutely be expressed externally and outwardly what is in you should come out just because it starts internally that does not say that external holiness is not important to god external holiness is a byproduct

of internal holiness particularly first timothy chapter 2 in first peter 3 both peter and paul address outward apparel and even outward actions this is among other writers in other places and this may be somewhat of a generality but with the men in these passages actions were typically discussed and with women apparel in these passages was discussed and that doesn't mean that that women are free to act how they want and men can dress how they want that will get out of hand very quickly but what it establishes though are principles for us to follow and practicing outward holiness and it also showcases our responsibility to

be a light to others through our external holiness as well it is absolutely critical being a light and a witness first timothy 2 9 says women are to adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety in moderation not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing but which is proper for women professing godliness with good works there's a whole lot going on here but notice it says women should wear things that godliness it doesn't stop there it says they should accompany that with good works that doesn't let us men off the hook because that principle although it's addressed to a woman applies to us

as well the word modest there is translated seemly well ordered or appropriate well here we find a general biblical principle that we're to dress in a way that's appropriate or in a way that professes godliness and holiness now in this culture paul was writing to the opposite of that modesty was wearing things like gold pearls costly clothing they were lavish in that culture their clothing reflected carnality and not modesty in our culture some of the same things can be said but we also don't live in the same age in the day that they did obviously we don't wear togas and burqas and robes everywhere most

women in america don't wear a head covering and most men don't wear sandals thank the lord we just wear crocs they're even worse so just because we don't does that mean we should throw out the entire principle of professing godliness no no we still need to dress modestly in a way that exudes godliness just in a different era and culture now other than the obvious standards like the fact that we should wear clothes in general we all agree on that we should be covered we should exercise gender distinction those are the obvious things in the word of god and just obvious in general other than

those obvious standards oftentimes our spiritual leadership is left to fill in some of these blanks in a modern setting just as paul did for many of the churches he helped to oversee in different areas of the world thankfully god has gifted us with men and women who can help us maintain holiness in our current setting and climate you see the bible does give us the principles that we need but we don't have a massive list of thou shalt not for every area in time didn't say thou shalt not wear crocs somebody like thank god but again thankfully here at apc we we've had an incredible

shepherd one that's led to the holy ghost to help the apc family profess godliness in 2022 in our cultural backdrop our bishop brother wilford has been placed in this setting in this church this city for the past 40 years among other reasons to help us live with holiness in mind and i've simply just tried to come alongside him in this season and just like paul had to write to select churches like the church in corinth and the church in rome to try to teach them to correct them to instruct him in the way of holy living in that culture both bishop and i have been

tasked to do the same here we are here to help apc live by godly principles in our local setting you notice also paul's letter to corinth and rome they were non-exact copies each church had certain areas they needed to work on strengths and weaknesses with regards to holiness to sure up in the same way bishop and i are attempting to lead and guide this church god's church according to where god instructs us and according to our individual strengths and weaknesses so it may not say thou shalt not fill in the blank but there might be a time when the lord and there will be a

time when the lord instructs a leader he instructs a bishop he instructs a pastor and says in your setting where you are here's the biblical principle and here's how you apply it god will help us and lead us now i also say it's important to understand when the bible says to obey them have the rule or the responsibility over you for they watch for your souls it's helpful i understand that many decisions they make even with regards to holiness tainters are made with those strengths those weaknesses and even our souls and eternities in mind that i just mentioned that we are also a part of

the united pentecostal church but we are a distinct church family in a particular settings for that reason what we do or not do may not be the same as other local churches we live in a different area of the world or country we're in a different culture a different community than others we have different strengths and weaknesses that are different from other churches so god places it in his word and then on our leadership to help guide us with regards to many things in our current settings holiness includes that helps someone tonight i'll tell you also what's helped me over the years and it's bishop's

philosophy one that i've inherited bishop has mentioned that many standards or guard rails he has put in place have been for the safety of every person in our church for the sake of spiritual well-being if i draw a parallel having entered the realm of fatherhood in recent years i can tell you personally that when i have to draw lines for my son for wes or from mila you can't eat that off the floor you can't touch the stove or you can't run out in the street when i implement a guard rail or a benchmark it is not so i can be some kind of overbearing

father or showcase authority i simply want to keep them safe i want them to grow and develop i want them to be the best that they can be and likewise i can say with authority that neither bishop or i have ever just sat in our offices and dreamed up things that we could impose on others it's not something we enjoy but there are things that are seemly are appropriate things that profess godliness at apc in 2022 in the city of st louis that we have felt led to put in place and i've already mentioned some of those but i also mentioned some others that do

pertain to outward holiness and dress with the last couple minutes that i have especially with some new family members at apc and as we head into the summer months i thought it'd be helpful to remind us all of some benchmarks tonight things that reflect external holiness here at apc and i'll say again that holiness is not relegated only to what we wear but it does include and encompass what we wear that in mind we reiterate for our men here at apc we've called for us to wear pants in public that cover our ankles and shirts that fall at or close to that elbow basic rule

of thumb no cap sleeves or no cut off sleeves and we've asked our men to be clean shaven in their outward appearance and for our ladies we've asked that skirts be worn past the knees when sitting or standing that no slits are worn past the knees we also have asked that blouses or shirt sleeves cover the underarm area and that they be no longer than two finger links underneath the collarbone the general or overriding principle is to be covered and modest with your clothing choices professing godliness which includes the look of them as well you can ask yourself is it appropriate is it seemly does

it reflect your internal holiness does it reflect godliness in his marvelous light these are the benchmarks we have tried to set for apc and i know some may have further questions about that we are open to all of those questions please come to come talk to us ask us those questions and also for some further clarity bishop has mentioned this recognize this that benchmarks like these are said everywhere you go and not just at apc you know there's some places who won't serve you without shoes or certain kind of clothing my old job not this one but my old job would send me home if

i wore white socks they hated white socks apparently even public schools will make you change or send you home if your dress is not appropriate mariah's had to send kids out of the class regularly lines are gone are drawn up pretty much everywhere you go and our leadership under the direction of the word of god and the help of the holy ghost have tried to draw them here for our men and then here and here for our ladies and again we do that because we want apc to reflect and profess godliness within our culture and community not only for our sakes but for the sake

of people who are around us and that's not something to make this more palatable but it actually makes a difference just chris you can come give him hope my neighbor who i've been working on for a long time he texted me a couple summers ago youth congress was happening downtown he said hey are all these young men and women riding on scooters there was scooters everywhere so the kids were all over the scooters says this group of kids on scooters that have skirts and dresses on and they're all nice he said are they with with your church i was so proud to tell him yes

they are because that entire week we had heard from people in that city who had not seen a group of young people like this who lived out their internal holiness externally and the common theme was this there's something different about them they present themselves so that i heard someone say i've never seen a group of teenagers who live like this that's why you had stadium workers who were getting the holy ghost when i witnessed myself i was just kind of staying off to the side looking around and next thing i knew i looked over and he's got his hands in the air and he's crying

he had emphysema his lungs were healed that night holiness matters it matters here it matters to him and it matters to others it makes a difference you all are living epistles living testimonies of the fact that holiness makes a difference you stand with me just before we pray i want to share one last thought that really helped me and changed my life with regards to holiness but jared runk at urshan college shared this with us he said i just want you to stop and think for a moment holiness is what separates god from us no one can be holy like he is holy he sat

apart but the thing that separates him from us is the thing he invites us to partake in you can't no one can be holy like him but i made a way be holy for i am holy i want you to be like me and i made a way for you to be like me so tonight i feel his presence drawing someone i don't know what questions you came in with today and if you've got further questions please come talk to me it's that important to me it's that important to bishop what we're talking about tonight is eternal it's valuable but i do feel the lord

calling his church to revival into holiness and we're going to live it out would you lift your voice with me and if you feel comfortable commit yourself to that holiness god i thank you for the opportunity that we have to be holy just like you're holy thank you lord that you've invited us to be like you and i'm praying for your help lord that i wouldn't just live it externally with what i wear and what i even what i say lord but i'd live it every day and every moment of every day that i would i would consecrate myself and present myself a living sacrifice

holy and acceptable unto you which i know is so reasonable and not only reasonable but desirable i desire to be holy i hunger and thirst after righteousness tonight and i commit lord that i'm going to be holy i want to be set apart unto you that i may proclaim the praises your praise is the one who called me out of darkness into your marvelous light help me to be holy to please you help me to be holy to help others in the name of jesus we pray in jesus name jesus name