The Pursuit of Holiness - Jeff Bridges

"Pursue holiness, for without holiness no one will see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14)

• diligence and effort are required
• it is a lifelong task
• it is something we can never completely attain in this life

 "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14)

• holiness is not only expected; it is the promised birthright of every Christian
• "For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy."Lev. 11:44-45
• practicing holiness by prohibition may dangerously lead Christians to become like Pharisees
• True concept: to be holy is to be morally blameless; separated from sin; consecrated to God
• contrast to a life of immorality and impurity and evil desires
• Three major problems
• our attitude toward sin is more self-centered than God-centered; sin grieves God; sin is offensive to God; all sin is against God; our attitude toward sin should not be success or self-oriented; attitude should be focused on obedience to God; victory is by-product of obedience
• we misunderstand "living by faith"; faith in Christ is root of all holiness; following holiness needs personal exertion and work as well as faith; we have personal responsibility to walk in holiness
• we measure sin; we have mentally categorized sins into which that is acceptable and unacceptable; it is compromise on the little issues that leads to greater downfalls; 

"But just as he who called you is holy , so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "be holy, because I am holy."" (1 Peter 1:15-16)

• No exception: every Christian of every nation, whether rich or poor, learned or unlearned, influential or totally unknown, is called to be holy 
• We are infected by "cultural holiness" - adapting characteristics and behavioral patters of Christians
• God did not call us to be like other people; God called us to be like God
• Holiness describes the majesty of God and purity and moral perfection; essential part of the nature of God; holiness is as necessary as His existence
• God's holiness is perfect freedom from all evil; God hates sin
• "God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5)
• God is always consistent with his divine nature; we are inconsistent
• Absolute holiness of God is great comfort and assurance; we can be confident that God's actions toward us are always perfect and just; because, we are often tempted to question God and complain that God is unfair; inconsistency of God is a lie created by the devil
• “Shall one who hates justice rule? And will you condemn the righteous mighty One, Who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’ To nobles, ‘Wicked ones’; Who shows no partiality to princes Nor regards the rich above the poor, "For they all are the work of His hands “In a moment they die, and at midnight People are shaken and pass away, And the mighty are taken away without a hand." (Job 34:17-20)
•  In praising God, we acknowledge His holiness; it is holiness that makes God worthy of our praise (not just power, mercy, and wisdom)
• Revelations 4:8 - creatures and seraphim never stop saying "holy, holy, holy"
• Holiness is God's crown; prefix to God's name
• Because God is holy, he can never tempt us to sin
• Saul compromised on patience, obedience, and worship, and Saul lost his kingdom
• Supervisors or people in authority often put pressure on those below them to commit dishonest or unethical acts; must be able to stand up and even if risking career
• every time we sin, we are doing something that God hates

 "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14)

• our best works are stained and polluted with imperfection and sin (Isaiah 64:6)
• even our tears of repentance need to be washed in the blood of the lamb
• Romans 5:19 & 1 Peter 3:18 = Christ's work on our behalf = his active and passive obedience
• sanctified = made holy by the blood of Christ Jesus
• true salvation brings with it a desire to be made holy 
• purpose of salvation is that we be "holy and blameless in His sight" (Ephesians 1:4)
• to live in sin as a Christian is to go contrary to God's very purpose for our salvation
• 1. holiness is part of salvation that is received by faith in Christ
• grace of God that brings salvation also teaches us to be holy (Titus 2:11-12)
• 2. holiness is required for fellowship with God (1 John 1:3,5 & Psalm 15:1)
• prayer is a vital part of our fellowship with God
• God does not require perfection, but our serious and earnest pursuit
• 3. holiness is required for our well-being (Hebrews 12:6)
• God disciplines us because we need discipline
• 4. holiness is required for effective service to God (2 Timothy 2:21)
•  we cannot bring our service to God in an unclean vessel
• 5. holiness is necessary for our assurance of salvation (2 Cor 5:17)
• the only safe evidence that we are in Christ is a holy life
• Jesus said, not everyone who says Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of God (Matthew 7:21-23)

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor 5:21)

• sinlessness of Jesus Christ is universal teaching and essential nature 
• Jesus holiness = absence of sin + perfect conformity to the will of God
• right action with the right motive 
• Isaiah 6:5 - God's holiness serves to magnify our impurity
• Isaiah 6:7 - assurance in righteousness of Jesus; our rock of salvation
• 1 Timothy 1:15
• holiness of Christ and His life are meant to be an example 
• Christ's suffering without retaliation
• Jesus always does what pleases God (John 8:29)
• we do somethings to gain admiration for ourselves rather than glory for God
• we sometimes never think of a person for whom Christ died, but only as someone with whom I had an unpleasant experienced
• we need to learn to follow Christ
• compassion for sinners and pray for them
• John Brown, Scottish theologian: "holiness consists in thinking as God think, and willing as God wills"

"For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed from sin." (Romans 6:6-7)

• Christians have tried and failed to live a holy life; different bible teachings
• we still struggle: God has indeed made provision for us to live a holy life, but He also has given us definite responsibilities
• Romans 6:12
• First - do not allow sin to reign in our mortal body
• Second - pursue holiness because of truth
• sin exerts tremendous power, constantly working towards evil
• sin works like guerrilla tactics in a warfare 
• Satan works guerrilla tactics as well - more like a spy
• we tend to sin out of habit - thinking it is okay
• it is our habit to live for ourselves and our pleasure rather than for God
• we tend to think it is okay because we live with sinners - who are still slaves to sins - or who have been slaves - the world tries to conform us to its desires and effects
• sin if left unchecked - it will turn our natural instincts of our bodies into lust, indulgence, materialism, and sexual immorality 

"So I find this law at work; when I want to do good, evil is right there with me." (Romans 7:21)

• we have indwelling propensity to sin, the Holy Spirit maintains within us a prevailing desire for holiness (1 John 3:9)
• as the believer struggle with sin, God enables him to see the sin
• the scripture indicates that the seat of indwelling sin is the heart (Mark 7:21; Genesis 6:5)
• heart may mean reason and understanding, affections and emotions, will; but generally, it denotes the whole soul of man and faculties
• we ourselves do not know our own hearts (1 Corinthians 4:3-5) - cannot discern hidden motives, secret intrigues, windings and turnings of his heart - unsearchable heart: sin's strength lies in that we fight with an enemy we cannot fully search out
• God alone knows (Jeremiah 17:9-10)
• Must pray daily to ask God to search our hearts (Psalm 139:23-24)
• Must expose ourselves to His Word (Hebrews 4:12)
• Satan is the accuser
• uses our morbid introspection - chief weapon is discouragement
• deceits our hearts to miss the real issues in our lives and focus on secondary issues
• only the Holy Spirit can enable us to open our eyes from blindness
• sin works largely through our desires
• it is our own evil desires that leads us into temptation
• we may think that we merely respond to external temptations
• but evil desires and insatiable hunger is internal 
• sin tends to deceive our understanding or reasoning
• deceit of the mind is carried on by degrees, little by little

"In the same way count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Romans 6:11)

• we are dead to sin, but alive to God
• not only been delivered from the dominion of darkness, but brought into the kingdom of God
• we are united with Christ in all His power
• Christianity is not DIY
• endurance and patience come as we are strengthened with God's power
• awful sense of hopelessness caused by sin's power
• but I am under the dominion of another power that nothing can frustrate
• Holy Spirit lives within us
• our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit
• Holy Spirit enables us to see our need of holiness
• BUT as we grow in Christ, we face increasing danger of spiritual pride; we fail to see the poverty of our own spiritual character (Revelations 3:17)
• before we can act, we must will - will means desire and resolve
• Holy Spirit creates within us a hatred of our sins and a desire for holiness
• strong desire to be holy will ever persevere in the painfully slow and difficult task of pursuing holiness
• live both in obedience to and dependence on the holy Spirit
• humble and consistent intake of the Scripture; humility and contrition 
• pray for holiness to strengthen you with power 
• Colossians 1:9-10 "knowledge of God's will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding"
• 1 Thessalonians 3:12-12 "may the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other"
• we cannot look to the law only in self-confidence; we have to learn that we are dependent upon the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to attain any degree of holiness

"For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." (Romans 8:13)

• Colossians 3:5
• 2 Peter 3:14 "Make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with God"
• Defeat and victory (external) v. obedience and disobedience (internal)
• we are responsible for our thoughts, attitudes, and actions

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry." (Colossians 3:5)

• some people pray that "God would motivate (me) to stop sinning"; God has not done enough; it postpones facing up to our own responsibility
• "mortify" means "to destroy the strength, vitality, or functioning of"
• to put to death our sin is to destroy the strength, vitality or functioning of our sin
• our minds have far too long been accustomed to the world's values
• only God's Word can remold and renew our minds and values
• John 14:21 - one who obeys, he is the one who loves me
• memorize scripture - effective way to influence our minds
• The Navigators Topical Memory System
• do it for the glory of God 
• addiction - every time we say yes to temptation, we make it harder to say no the next time
• make it your aim in life not to sin
• can you imagine a soldier going into battle with the aim of not getting hit very much - no  - go in with aim of not getting hit at all
• your life depends on it

"Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather train yourself to be godly." (1 Timothy 4:7)

•  discipline is structured training
• training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character
• Holy Spirit wrote the scripture -> we learn the scripture -> awareness and consciousness and mindful -> we apply 
• Joshua 1:8 - meditate and memorize the Word of God 
• sinful nature -> sinful patterns -> sinful habits -> disobedience

"No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." (1 Cor 9:27)

• control over our physical bodies and appetites
• gluttony and laziness are sin - today we look upon them as weaknesses
• if left uncontrolled, our bodies will become instrument of wickedness (Romans 6:13)
• physical can effectively destroy every other dimension of your personality 
• instead of presenting our bodies as holy temple and holy sacrifices, we pamper and indulge them in defiance of our better judgment and our Christian purpose in life
• we must eat and drink to the glory of God
• holy violence 
• materialism [1] makes us discontent and envy others; [2] it leads us to pamper and indulge our bodies so that we become soft and lazy (both physically and spiritually)
• we must reduce our exposure to temptations

"Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (2 Cor 7:1)

• what if somebody could flash all of your thoughts of the past week on a YouTube? 
• our thoughts are just as important to God as our actions (Psalm 139:1-4; 1 Samuel 16:7)
• Proverbs 23:7
• Philippians 4:8
• Holiness begins in our minds and works out to our actions
• defilement of the body: sexual impurity, debauchery, drunkenness, orgies
• defile spirit: hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, envy, pride, bitterness, critical and unforgiving spirit
• Prodigal son defiled his body; elder brother defiled his spirit
• the elder brother would inherit all his father's possessions, and yet he became jealous over a banquet to celebrate his brother's return
•  critical spirit: pharisee who prayed loudly, thank you for I am not like these man
• plank in own heart, criticizes speck in another
• we must diligently pray for humility and honesty to see oneself in the light of God's word

"For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." (Philippians 2:13)

• it is our will that ultimately determines our pursuit of holiness
• our will, our moral destiny, must be holy
• must renew our minds, set our affections on high, and submit our wills to God
• our wills are determined either by reason or emotions
• therefore, we must guard what enters our minds 
• from the heart flows the springs of life (Prov 4:23)
• Satan attacks primarily through our desires 
• reading a book about exercise; testimonies on exercise; success stories on exercise can motivate us to exercise
• likewise with bible - the more we know and understand, the more we are motivated to follow the bible

 "Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness and holiness." (Romans 6:19)

• the more we sin, the more we are inclined to sin
• every sin we commit reinforces the habit of sinning and makes it easier to sin
• we must train ourselves to be godly
• frequent repetition; depending on Holy Spirit
• no exception, no compromise
• diligence in all areas, all aspects of life
• don't be discouraged by failure
• we fail when we give up; never stop trying

"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place which he would later receive as his possession, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." (Hebrews 11:8)

" My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one." (John 17:15)

• hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied (Prov 27:20)

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Romans 14:17)

• John 15:10-11
• Psalm 16:11; Psalm 51:12