The Principle of Holiness l KidzQuest Pastor Nolan Carpenter

before we go into our scripture text tonight and I'll just give you a small little glimpse of of what we're going to talk about for the next few moments but we're going to talk about Holiness and how the simple definition of Holiness is something that is set apart something that is set apart and so for the next couple of seconds I'll tell I say 30 seconds could you give God worship that is set apart for only him we worship a lot of things if we don't realize it we worship a lot of things by clapping our hands when an athlete makes a good play or Tennessee winning a national championship for the first time since the 1700s all right we give them worship but tonight we've come into a holy place and we've come come to worship a holy God tonight I wonder for 30 seconds could you give God something that only he deserves only he has brought you out of sin only he has died on a cross for your sins he is a holy God and he deserves something that is separate he deserves something that is special he deserves that something that you don't give to anything else cuz he is a holy God I worship you tonight God nobody else has died on a cross for my sin but God tonight I want to give you something that is Holy I want to give you something that is set apart God that I don't give to anybody else or anything else I've come to worship a holy God holy God I feel that holy God In This Place don't you amen amen would you turn your Bibles with me to First Peter chap 1 verse3 1 Peter 1 and 13 says wherefore gir up the loins of your mind an interesting phrase there to begin this passage of scripture be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ as obedient children not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance but as he which hath called you is holy can we say that all together he's called you is Holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversations because it is written be ye holy for I am Holy I want to talk to us for the next few moments on the principle of Holiness the principle of Holiness a lot of people get stuck with the practice of holiness they get matter of fact if I mention the word Holiness to you automatically your minds go to a a maybe a a standard or or something we do to practice our Holiness but uh Holiness unto God but really tonight we're going to talk about the principle of Holiness I believe tonight if we can grasp a principle of Holiness the Practical side of Holiness just falls into place so tonight I want to talk about the principle of holiness if you put your Bibles down would you lift Your Hands to Heaven lift your hearts to Heaven tonight would you lift your voice unto God Lord we thank you we thank you for your people God these are holy people God we are in uh efforts God tonight to attempt to serve God a holy God tonight and I ask that you would just touch us God I pray for the next few moments that your holy presence would come in this house Lord and Lord you would be amongst your people God I pray Lord for encouragement to go forth tonight God I pray God that we would be you separate tonight we'd make up in our minds God to be separate from The World God that's what you're calling us to in the last days Lord and we do everything in your name in the name of the Holy Name Of God Jesus Christ we pray can we clap our hands all across this house thank you Lord for what you've done thus far I thank you today in Jesus name someone say in Jesus name look to your neighbor before you seated and I caught you mid Squat and I really apologize look to your neighbor and say I thought brother Carpenter was gone but the Holiness preacher is here so I don't I don't you may be seated all across the house tonight give you great honor tonight thank you for allowing me to stand before you tonight preach the word of God our opening text tonight starts with the most interesting phrase gir up the the loins of your mind Girt up the loins of your mind the term girting up your loins was something one did in the Bible days before hard work was to be done girting up the loins of uh giring up your loins was something to be done before one would take off on a run and then in scripture we also see that girting up your loins was especially to be done when it was time time for war Peter chose this most interesting phrase and says to G up the loins of your mind this phrase has to do in simple terms just like rolling up your sleeves and getting ready to fight and then Peter goes down the rest of the verses and he addresses that we ought to be holy for God is Holy he says to gir up the loins in your mind and before we even get started tonight and and get into the the meat of of what God has for us this evening one thing we must all know and understand is the battle for Holiness is won or lost in Our Minds The Battle Ground for Holiness is all in your mind Romans 8 and five for they that are after The Flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit for to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and it's peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be the mind tonight pastor and address believing a lie well it's important that we understand that Holiness is a battle of the mind tonight matter of fact how you view Holiness if you feel like it's a drudgery or you feel like it's a privilege all starts in the battleground of our minds so tonight as the world is trying to poke and make fun of Holiness calling it oldfashioned calling it out touch calling it bondage calling it legalism I've come tonight to roll up my sleeves of my mind and fight for Holiness I've come and I know I'm going to be joined in in just a few moments with some people that we are ready to battle in Our Minds when it comes to Holiness I think we all can agree that we want to be more like God if that's not are focused in what in the world are we doing here twice and some of you three times on a Sunday we know that there are many attributes that God possesses and who God is and the all these attributes go to describe who God is and what he's like and we could sum up all the attributes of God into one word that the scripture uses over and over and over again Psalms 99 and9 says exalt the Lord Our God and worship at his holy heel for the Lord our God is Holy somebody say that last word with me our God is H Holiness in simple terms is to be separate or set apart it is something special to be holy and we are to be holy because our God is Holy 2 Corinthians 6 17 says wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate sayeth the Lord be separate or set apart and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you 1 Corinthians 6:19 says what know you not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye have of God and ye are not your own for you are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your Spirit which are God's in Our Minds tonight we must know and understand the first principle to Holiness is knowing who you belong to the Reason God can dictate how we live and who we are is because we are not our own but we are his the Reason God can tell me how I I should act and how I shouldn't act is because I'm not my own I'm his the Reason God can tell me how to worship and what he likes is because he bought us with a price and we are to be holy because we belong to him we belong to him God pray paid a good ultimate price for price for me and the least I can do tonight is to give him what he wants he wants praise and he wants worship he wants us to be holy why because we belong to him we belong to him God did not bring bring his children the children of EG uh Israel out of Egypt so they could find this new found freedom in their life and and be their own people and be their own God some of them mistook mistake uh their freedom for being their own God and making their roles and being their own Master but quite the transaction happened when they were delivered out of Egypt Into the Wilderness to go to the promised land it wasn't like they didn't have someone that they were following but a great transaction happened when they went out of Egypt God God called them to be separate but now you don't have a master called Pharaoh you have a good master and the Lord is his name and so when God calls us out to be ye separate it's not like we have found our new found freedom but we're just entering into a new C cant with a good Master tonight and I don't know about you but God has been good to me the reason I live like I live is one reason and one reason only God has been good to me brother Nolan why do you want to act holy because I want to be more like my master I want to be more like the one that brought me out of sin and into his Mark why are you lifting your hands because this worship is Holy and God is Holy and I want to give him exactly what he wants the first principle to Holiness is knowing who you belong to who you belong to if I belong to God and he dictates how I live and how how I go about my life is simply because we are his God commands us to be separate because we are his the first thing that should happen start to happen to us when we get inside the church the separate body the holy group that God has called out is We should strive to be holy We should strive to be set apart and it's just so funny to me how this works but when you receive the Holy Ghost it ought to make you start acting holy now the initial evidence of the Holy Ghost is when you speak in other tongues and that as that that is as scriptural as as it comes tonight but that should not be the only evidence of the Holy Ghost In Our Lives it that should be the only evidence it wasn't for us to get the Holy Ghost on Sunday night and go back to acting like a fool in a heathen on Monday morning but when you get the Holy Ghost something good starts to happen that holy God begins to work in your life that holy God begins to convict you that holy God starts to say I don't think you ought to do that because that's going to defile your Temple and so tonight I want to preach to us tonight that a holy God is trying to get a hold of us to call us to be separate to be separate saith the Lord here is how the battleground of the mind works as soon as I told you I was preaching tonight on Holiness some Minds automatically jump to the externality of Holiness but I want to tell us tonight that Holiness is so much more powerful than the clothes I wear Holiness is so much more powerful than this outward apparel that shows that I'm holy on the inside Holiness is not what is on the outside of me but Holiness is truly what's on the inside of me the Old Testament was all about trying to make a holy God on the outside come to the inside through all their rituals they thought they could do it from the outside in but in the New Testament the holy God had a great idea and it was his perfect plan all along he was going to have a holy God come on the inside and work his way out in our life we can never do it the opposite way we can never think that all this stuff is going to make us holy on the inside but when we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost the holy God in our hearts Works in to out and that's how it ought to be we should be holy on the inside and on the outside even though we have holy apparel we need a holy attitude even though we have a holy dress on we ought to have holy conversation because it starts out and works starts in huh I'm in the Old Testament in the New Testament starts in and it works its way out because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks so if I don't have holy conversation if I could talk bad about somebody that I worship with on Sunday that's unholiness that's as Unholy as defiling your temple because when I have something that comes out of my mouth it's a direct correlation on what's in my heart no matter it just makes sense that when I receive something on the inside like the Holy Ghost I begin to speak in other tongues and so when I receive Holiness on the inside of my life when I receive the holy God on the inside of my life my talk should be different my attitude should be different how I respond to people should be different holy people don't give PE uh people pieces of their mind I don't know about you but I barely have a few pieces left I want to keep all of them that I have right here I I don't want to give any way all right but Holiness works on the inside to the outside of me Holiness is not what's just on the outside and that's a major part of Holiness but it's a direct correlation on what what's on the inside of me and when God calls you out of the darkness and says to be ye separate your call and response to God is to start being holy there's some things in your life that you're going to give to God that are separate and that are for nothing else why because God has de has deemed them as holy why do I worship differently in other people Psalms 29 and2 says give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name Worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness worship the L why do I come to God and to come to his house on a Sunday night because remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy why do I read his word well this is a holy word this is a holy bible why do I I watch How I act well because a holy God dictates how I live and how I ought to go about this Christian lifestyle why do I want to be faithful well because I want to go to heaven one day and when John had a revelation of that City he describes it as a holy city a New Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I know the church we are called to be loving were called to be merciful but there's one description about the bride that God is coming back for and that bride is to be holy that bride is to be holy so why do I do all the stuff that I'm doing in my life is because I want to go see a holy God I want to see that holy God can I tell us that Holiness is not just what we do but Holiness is who we are if you don't love Holiness I don't know if you're going to like heaven I really don't I don't know I don't think because there is a jukebox in heaven I know that sounds Unholy but it's there and on this juke box there is a song that's playing over and over and over and if you don't like Holiness you're not going to like this tune because when they're describing the God of all creation they're saying holy holy holy is is the Lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory so what's what's what's Heaven going to look like would you care to tell me I'll tell you it's a big worship service of holy people it's a big worship service describing God that you are holy You Are Holy there's none like you you're set apart There's No One Like You holy holy holy why do people make fun of what's going on in the house of God because it's holy why can't people people understand what clapping their hands to God is all about because it's holy why can't people understand why do you lift Your Hands to Heaven because I want to be holy and I want to give God what he deserves what happened while the choir was singing why did you act like such a full when the choir begin to sing about Victory because what I do in the house of God is Holy is Holy you might not understand it but it's holy it's holy it's separate it's set apart for no one else but him a question that I often get we often get as pastors of the church is is Holiness a requirement for me to make it the heaven well to finish our scripture we read a second ago 2 Corinthians 6:17 wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate sayeth the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you and will be a father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters sayeth the Lord Almighty and so we go to the next verse which is the next chapter it's a continuation of the previous chapter having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse oursel from all the filthiness of the Flesh and spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God God is Holy and if you want to see him one day all God is asking you to do is perfect your Holiness perfect your Holiness now there are things in scripture when you get the gift of the Holy Ghost you see the revelation of who God is and you want to start to please him there are things that you have to do immediately all right there are things that you have to do at that moment that are commands in scripture but I want to tell somebody and you look around and maybe you don't look like everybody else and maybe you don't act like everybody else you're thinking man are these people going to heaven I'm not I'm telling you this we're all trying to perfect Holiness we're all trying to practice Holiness we're all trying to get closer to God and how's that come it comes through being holy I want to tell somebody in this church that you've been coming here for a couple months don't look to the person that's been coming here for several years and think they're more holy than you are we're all just trying to be more like God we're all just trying to be more holy more holy more separate more separate from the world more holy that God loves because the Holier we are the closer to God we are are the more separate we are the more closer the God we are God is Holy the closer you want to be to God the more holy you must be I know that's not a popular message concerning the culture that we're living in but it's the truth it's the truth and you understand the message that I'm preaching tonight I'm preaching it in love try my best to and you're like man I thought a part of Holiness is smiling you look mad well we're getting to that point all right but the more close you want to be to God I know that's so counterintuitive of the culture that we live in today but the Bible says to be ye separate is this what separateness from the world looks like is this what being called out of the world looks like I don't know if it looks like that or not but God just commands us to be holy God commands us every day to be separate don't be like the world I called you out of the world and what the world needs is for the church to be holy the church the world needs for us to be separate they're looking for a group of people they're desperate even though they might look at us and Mock and make fun and ask you why you dress the way you are you need to tell them I've got something on the inside that makes me holy greater is he that is within me than he that's in the world I'm telling you what you need world is what's on the inside of me don't look at the outward man looks on the outward but God looks upon the heart and what the world needs is the holy God in their life the world needs us to be holy when we pray with kids so kids are so awesome they're they're so genuine I I think we could all learn something from kids um especially in how we pray because the Bible talks about childlike faith and you could talk to them and they just trust you and I think that's partially why that kids don't have a hard time receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost I think they they're very trusting and they're very say to have childlike faith and Jesus says unless you become like a child it wouldn't be good for you and so um my wife and I we we try to work on terminology that we use to pray with kids and we try to lead them through repentance and how we can liken repentance to to to their understanding what words can we say for them to understand and the best thing we've we've come up with I guess is is we tell them when you're going to repent before you ever invite a holy God into your life you got to repent you got to repent I know that's not it's not popular of a repentance message but it's true that God's God's holiness doesn't mix with unholiness a little 11 spoils why did God's communication why did God's relationship stop with Adam and Eve well was because sin entered into the picture and so we begin to tell them we say hey we got to repent and it's like hey what does repent mean well we tell them before you would ever invite somebody over to your house this is how it was for me and I don't parents nowadays well I'm a parent now so it's the same it's the exact same before I could ever invite somebody over to my house my mom and my dad was my dad didn't care you know he was just hey do whatever your mom says and uh my mom would say Nolan is your room clean is your room clean no she said well the first thing you've got to do before you invite that friend over is you got to clean your room you got to go clean your room didn't understand that because I know five minutes into that guest being at my house that room's going to be a wreck it's going to be nasty Cheeto stains on the ceiling I mean it's going to be you know it's be Mountain Dew stains on the floor I mean but the first rule my parents had before inviting somebody over was you had to clean your room and I know this is super simple but before you invite a holy God into our your life into your spiritual room it would just be a good idea to clean your spiritual room up because when you're inviting the holy God into your life it's important that every ounce of unholiness is out of our hearts because the holy God doesn't mix too well with Unholy things and the difference between the friends that I invited over and the god that you invite in is the kids came in with me and helped me make more a mess and everything was more erect than before I I clean it up but God will come in here's the awesome thing about God even though you try your best to clean all the stuff up in your life even though you try your your best to make sure every ounce of unholiness is out of your heart when you're inviting the perfect God in God will come into your life and through the power of the Holy Ghost he will help you clean yourself up through the power of holiness God is the best maid that you've ever had in your life and tonight when we leave I want us to picture god with a broom and a mop that when you ENT when you ask God to enter into your life he's not ready to condemn you for your sin he's not ready to shame you for your sin he is ready to help you clean it up if you invite him in why because when a holy God comes into our lives he'll help us clean everything everything up I love kids because when they really start to really start to pray when they really start to pray and they begin to feel God they begin to say God I'm sorry God I'm sorry God I'm sorry God I love you I'm sorry God I love you and I'm sorry and over and over again they begin to say God I'm sorry God I'm sorry God I'm sorry again I have to stop them I say little buddy you can't say Johnny and Susie because we got Johnny and sues in the school now so I said little buddy I know what you're doing I said it's a great thought it's a great reverence for God that you don't feel like you're worthy to have God in your life I say but look around buddy none of us are worthy to have God in your life none of us are are are worthy enough to have a holy God in our life and I said actually if you you you you you you think this is actually funny because in God's eyes here's the power of repentance in God's eyes when you ask God to forgive you of your sin the first time if you really meant what you said and you as when you told God I Repent of my sins God which means I'm going to try to never do it again here's the conversation here's what's going on I said just look to think about it I ask God to forgive me one time and God forgives me and the Bible says that he cast it as far as the East is from the West which means when I ask him that second time God looks down and says For What and you're asking God I'm sorry and God says For What and you're asking asking God I'm sorry and God looks down and says buddy for what I cast all your sins as far as the East and I want to tell somebody tonight if you want invite God into your life you will never be worthy enough to have a holy God enter into your flesh but I want to tell you tonight if you ask God to come into your life he'll help you clean it up through the power of Holiness the Holy Ghost will work in your life and the power of Holiness will help you clean it up you don't have to prove it to God all you got to do is invite him in and watch the all powerful holy God start to work in your start to work in your life and the principle of Holiness is not about asking God a question like do I have to but it's asking God questions like God does this please you here's a principle of Holiness I'm not asking God do I have to do this but I'm asking God God if I do this does it please you God does it bring glory to your name God does it defile my temple and that's a principle that I think we all could pray God does my life please you and that's a good step in order to live a holy life God at the end of the day will this decision how I act what I wear what I do how I go about how the conversations I have God at the end of the day will this make me closer to you Proverbs 16-7 gives us a principle of Holiness when a man's ways please the Lord when it please the Lord when our ways please the Lord he maketh even our enemies to be at peace with him I believe God's telling the church here with the book of wisdom he's saying hey if you guys worry about yourself I'll take care of all your problems if your ways will just please me I'll take care of all your enemies and the penny Carpenter version of this would be son you need to worry about yourself because it's a full-time job that's what she would say and that's exactly what Holiness is I don't look to my right or my left about my brothers and concerning their Holiness according to what they're trying to do for God this is a full-time job what I do in my life How I Live is a full-time job I don't have time to worry about everybody else I don't speak for everybody else but I want to be holy I want every manner of conversation to be pleasing unto God I want to be holy when it's late at night and all I've got is my cell phone in my room I want to be holy when I go in public without my wife I want to be holy holy holy God's calling us to Holiness here's a principle of Holiness Psalms 29 and8 where there is no vision the people perish but he that keepeth the law happy is he and there is nothing more frustrating and I don't know if this is anointing or this is being me being mad and I think it's the latter but there's nothing more frustrating than a person that has outward Holiness and your face looks like your dog just died can we be honest you go to Dollywood holy people and they look at you like you're the weirdest looking dude in all the world I thought Holiness is supposed to make us happy you're not B God you're not bound to sin at least you can do is smile you can look like God brought you out you can look like God delivered you from your sin I'm telling you Holiness ought to make us the friendliest people in in town Holiness ought to make us smile Holiness ought to make us joyful why are you doing what you're doing I don't have to but I'm glad to do it why you worshiping well it makes me happy why you Joy why do you dress the way you do it makes me it makes me have joy for God's sake if you're going to be holy smile you you smile listen you walk into the restaurant they know you're different they know you're different you can think everybody's talking about me everybody's is looking at me and how I'm going to go sit over here in the corner I I this is not in the scripture but that's Unholy that's Unholy smile look happy look like it's a joy to live for the Lord look like this is the greatest thing and the greatest place and these are the greatest people why we're all trying to be holy happy are they that keep his law happy happy so what I want us to do right now is look me look at me and give me your best smile look at me you got one tooth in your head I want you to smile if you got gums you can smile Magnolia Smiles all the time and and all it is is gums give me that gummy smile I don't care this is how we ought to look why it's a joy to live for the Lord this is the greatest life this is the greatest place there's nowhere I'd rather be but then the joyful people of God Holiness is awesome this is not a drudgery and your face might make it look like it but this is the greatest privilege in all the world it's to be holy it's to be separate I'm happy being different it's not a drudgery I don't walk with my head hung low I don't I don't act like everybody's looking at me but I'm so glad to be holy I know that sounds self-righteous but it's all about the holy God in my life that's trying to work his way out so what I want us to leave here tonight with smile smile when you begin to smile it folks looking the way you look it breaks that awkward conversation it breaks that awkward silence down when you smile they know what they I know what they're thinking that's some crazy apostolics it's good to see you it's good to see you hey how you doing you know they know you're different and you know what really and this is how the Pharisees were and I'm not dare calling us Pharisees God forgive me if you take it that way but the Pharisees they were all about having their noses down at people looking at them at shame and they would walk with someone that was less holy than they are they were't they would have their noses so high that if it came a rain they would drown that's how the Pharisees were and if God needs to help us when we walk to the Unholy world and we walk to people that are lost they know that you're different and they know that you have a power inside of you and if we're not careful we'll let Satan have a playground in their mind and they'll begin to think that those people are too good for me I'll never amount to what God is doing in their life for God's sake let's smile at folks and begin to tell them it's a joy to live hey you don't know where I'd be without God in my life you you if you break down that awkwardness in that conversation that restaurant you'll be surprised with how many things could lead to telling them about a holy God clap your hands all across this place hallelujah hallelujah and I'm going very quickly tonight but Moses when when God calls him from the burning bush there's three things that we can learn about holy the first time that Holy the word holy is in the scripture is referring to when God spoke to Moses he says Moses take off your shoe remove your shoes because you are on Holy Ground first time this word holy is mentioned in scripture before Moses could come any closer before Moses could get any closer to that burning bush were where the holy God dwelt in that burning bush there had to be removal of some things and after he removed things from even off his body God told him his purpose God told him his calling after he removed his shoes god be to reveal to him his name he says I am am that I am tell him that's who sent you and after removing things from his life God asked him what was in his hand and God said a rod and the rod of Moses would become the rod of God later on in scripture and three principles of Holiness here that we see with Moses in the burning bush is before you can become any closer to God God re requires one thing you must be holy and I know it might be we might be made fun of mocked and ridiculed but the reason we're trying to be holy is to just get go get closer to God it's the only reason so I want to please God and I want to get closer to him now of course and this was later on in the notes and we won't get to this but I'll just mention this that none of us are truly holy we're not holy until we're raptured out of here but we're are tempting to perfecting Holiness we're we're it's through sanctification that we're that we're trying to practice a holy life and it's just like the word saved I we say all the time you know I got I got saved when I was a kid well I know what you're saying but the true definition of Saved is there's no way you're out okay or you're no way you're lost and so the true definition of being saved is when we're raptured out of here and we're called home that's when we're saved and that's when we're holy so we're perfecting Holiness three things we can learn when we strive to be holy from this story of Moses in the burning bush number one when we strive to be holy God will give us purpose God will give us a calling when we strive to be holy when we strive to be holy just like Moses when he removed something because he was on Holy Ground God gave him purpose I've seen this happen many times just the the I don't know what principle number number I'm on here there might not be memorable to to count them but second one was God will reveal to us who he is when we strive to be holy so first we have God gives us purpose through striving to be holy and the second is God revealed to Moses and he revealed to us who he truly is because when we attempt to be holy we get closer to him and the third thing that I think is awesome for us tonight is God will show us how to give him things in our personal life and watch God make those things holy that's the third the lesson that we see here with Moses in the burning bush number one God gives us purpose through Holiness young lady if you're battling with with with your identity and who you are and who you're supposed to be be holy and God will show you you God will give you purpose young man you're wondering what you're supposed to do in life if you just strive to to be holy and to please God God will show you exactly who you ought to be and who you're called to be that's number one number two is the closer that you get to God in Holiness the more he reveals to you about who he is and the third thing is God shows you how to give him things and even in our normal ordinary life watch God turn them into to Holy things and oddly enough it works in the opposite direction as well when people strive to be less holy and less separate they lose purpose that God has for their life when churches in this modern day culture walk away from Holiness they lose their purpose it happens all the time and then when people attempt to be less separate and less holy God usually removes the Candlestick of Revelation of who he is from their minds it's just how it works and then the third thing they lose every ounce of things in their life that used to be sacred and used to be holy I I've lived long enough in 27 years for this to come full circle I know I'm preaching to some white-headed saints of God and you you you've lived long enough to see that come to pass as well how does that all happen because when you're striving to be holy you're attempting to be closer to God God the more holy the more close to God you want to be the more holy you must be the scripture even gives us a little there's a principle follow peace with all men and Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord if you're striving to be holy I promise you you're going to see God work in your life you're going to stri if you strive to be separate God is calling us to Holiness in every part and matter of fact I'll say it as strong as this you can't see God unless you're you're striving to be holy you're striving to be holy God is calling us to Holiness in every part of our lives so maybe the skeptic tonight might think that Holiness is not important there's a a a fella in the Book of Revelation that I think we ought to learn from his name is Nicholas he's a member of the church in Antioch and he was one of the the first of the seven Church deacons and he was in charge of looking after some business in the early chur Church matters and however this young man's dedication to this Apostolic message the the message that the disciples had that changed his life was didn't last too long somehow Nicholas eventually backslid and walked away from striving to be holy and introduced this doctrine that was named after him the scripture puts it as the doctrine of the nicians his Doctrine came about when he felt the Holiness Preaching was a form of control and a form of bondage in the early church he even deems it as legalism to the early church and he got this idea when he took Paul's doctrine of grace the grace of God and perverted it out of context and he used this Doctrine to introduce he used Paul's Doctrine to introduce a false freedom in the church Nicholas and his followers in combating one extreme they went to the far Other Extreme which was the doctrine of the nicians here's his Doctrine see if this sounds familiar he declares since Christians were Sinners saved by grace then they could live like the world on the outside and still remain saved on the inside this is not something new this is the doctrine of the nicians and since his teaching required no outward or inward change to be saved he and his followers grew quite the church had large numbers of converts both from the pagans and from the people of the way or we'll just call them apostolics because Nicholas had a great scheme that I could have one foot in the world and one foot in the church and that could be the great merger of the two and the Bible calls this the doctrine of the nicians this damnable teaching of Nicholas had one foot in the world and one foot in the church in the message he preached to the apostolics were why live in this legalism and bondage of Holiness when you could be free in Jesus Nicholas taught that the internals and the externals of Holiness were not important God however had a different opinion of this Doctrine twice not just once but two times in Revelation he said he hated the teachings of the nicians and tonight God being the same yesterday today and forever more if he hated it then he hates it now he hates it now God has not called us to see how close we can get to the world and still remain pleasing unto God God calls us tonight to put two feet in the church and strive to be holy he calls us tonight to put two feet in and put your head down and try to live a life that's holy and pleasing un to God God called you out of darkness and now he wants you to put two feet you're not going to be perfect don't even try to be perfect but just strive to be holy strive to please God strive to what to please the almighty God and in the Book of Revelation I'm coming to a close musician come the Book of Revelation John compared the nicians to balum in the Old Testament who the scripture puts it as casting a stumbling block before the children of Israel balum was if you'll give me your undivided attention for the next few moments I would greatly appreciate it but balum was unsuccessful from cursing Israel from without he Bao King Bao of Moab called on balum he was a he was a prophet for higher more or less he was just he would go to wherever would have the most money he would pay he would if somebody would pay him money he would give him a word from the Lord and somehow sometimes it would come to pass so King Bao offers balum he says I need you I've heard about how they conquered a and the king at sidon and I need you to come help the moabites because these people are are coming and I know there's something to their God and I need you to curse them balum and so balum starts to talk to God and asked God if he could curse him and and the Bible says that God would not let him curse him but matter of fact every TR time he would come to BAC and try to curse God's people only thing that come out of his mouth was the blessing towards God's people so Satan knows tonight that he can never curse the church from without but Bayo got a bright idea he said said I can't touch the church I can't touch God's people from without he tried two chapters to to curse God's people to diminish them of their power diminish them of the authority that God gave them he tried two chapters to curse them three times the church to to to curse God's people he couldn't curse them from without but Bay got a great idea what if I try to curse them from within and So ba brought people he brought women he brought Idols in Numbers chapter 25 and he thought I could just get the people of God to to curse themselves and so this idea of mixing godliness and H uh ungodliness and Holiness is not something new because we see 24,000 men in the Old Testament that lose their life from a plague that God gave them why because they started to curse themselves from within and so tonight I don't worry about what the world can do to the church I don't worry about what the enemy can do cursing the church that's not going to work but there is a great danger in the New Testament that Satan can't touch the church from without but somehow just like the Old Testament Satan can Cur curse the church from within and so tonight I want to tell us we've got to have two feet in the church and strive to be holy if you'd be so kind to stand with me all across this house tonight I don't worry about what can happen on the outside of these four walls tonight but Satan works by coming in and trying to curse the church from within I don't worry about what the enemy could do to my life but the Bible says that when you are in your flesh no good thing can come from your flesh there's one thing that can curse the church tonight that is Romans 88 so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God your flesh and Holiness does not mix the Old Testament and New Testament people of God were fought with a Christianity that was mixed with Holiness and unholiness and God still to this day hates it God still to this day hates it might be like well brother no man it's a good Sunday night message look around this is As Dead As a door knob but I want to tell us tonight that I'm thankful for praise and worship but often times praise and worship stops when we leave here tonight but tomorrow morning when your world begins and you're not at church what's going to save you Holiness is going to save you when the tempter tries to tempt you from within what's going to save you Holiness is going to save you and so tonight I wonder all across this house I'm asking for the church tonight to commit to Holiness I'm asking for the church tonight to come to the altar tonight and just tell God I'm striving to be holy young man you're going to make it it all depends on if you strive to be holy church if we're the Satan can't curse us from without he can't touch us from without these from from outside of these walls but Satan could come in and and just like Bao and balum he could curse us from within God's people begin to self-destruct why because they tried to mix holy with godliness and it never works young man I promise you God's going to give you purpose tonight if you love Holiness I promise you in the Battle Ground of your Battle Ground of your mind tonight if you determine I'm going to be holy God what can I do to please you God I want to be holy God you're calling us to Holiness God I promise you tonight young people I promise you tonight your life will be awesome if you grab a hold of Holiness tonight married folks if your marriage is on the Rocks tonight if you commit to God to Holiness the principles of Holiness God will restore your marriage tonight if you want to keep your marriage and keep your family just commit to Holiness commit to Holiness tonight come on that's it Church come on that's it Church come on maybe this is the first time you've ever invited God into your life you know that there's something different about this church you know that there's something different about these people you know there's something different about the spirit that is in this church I'm asking you to lift your hands invite the holy God inside your life holy holy holy come on that's it Church come on if you if you want your kids to make it they need to see a mom and dad praying in the beauty of Holiness come on they need to see a mom and dad that's committed to holiness at home like they profess to be committed to Holiness at church come on holy holy be ye Shepherd it's in the battleground of your battleground of your mind tonight it's in the battleground of your mind make that decision right now come on as they begin to sing maybe just ask God if there's anything God that's not pleasing unto you young lady God's going to give you purpose if you commit to Holiness Hol holy holy holy holy holy holy come on be you separate be you separate come on I feel like there's a mighty move of the Holy Ghost that's about to sweep in this house come on moms and dad there needs to be Unity at home just like there is in the Pulpit come on holy holy holy holy holy