Invite you to open your bibles to 1st Peter chapter 1. First Peter chapter 1. We're in a series called doctrines I hold dear, and I guess if I were to use correct English, it would be doctrines I hold dearly, which is a pretty loose series. Basically, it means I could preach on whatever I want because I hold all my doctrines dearly. This is certainly not exhaustive by any means.
Joel Brooks:We've looked at just some, now I wouldn't even call them distinctives of our church, but things that we really want to hold on to as a church. We looked at preaching the word of God, and we we looked at that when we did Jeff's ordination. We've looked at the sovereignty and the supremacy of God as something that we will hold to. And tonight, we're gonna look at the holiness of God. 1st Peter chapter 1 beginning in verse 13.
Joel Brooks:Therefore preparing your minds for action, and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do
Connor Coskery:not be conformed to the passions of
Joel Brooks:your former ignorance, but as formed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy. And if you call on him as father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers. Not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you.
Joel Brooks:Who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God. Pray with me. Lord, we ask that you would speak to us through the power of your spirit. Nobody needs to hear words from me. My my words might be good advice or bad advice.
Joel Brooks:But Lord, your words, they're life, and we need to hear them. So I ask that my words would fall to the ground and blow away, but Lord, let your words remain and may they change us. And I pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. I've I've had the I was about to say privilege, but it's not always a privilege to speak at a number of different youth events.
Joel Brooks:And because it's really interesting the way a lot of these youth events do worship. And a couple of years ago, I was at one event, and I kid you not, that during the middle of worship, they had a mirrored disco ball come down and it started the lights started spiraling around. And that was after the smoke machine. And, and it could have, you know, you could have cared less what the band was actually playing. You know, they're they're right up there front and center, and everybody's just kind of mobbed up there going crazy.
Joel Brooks:Lasers also not making that up. And I wish I could say that was a unique experience, but I've been to several, youth camps or spoken at these things in which that has been the norm. And it's interesting at this one that really sticks out, the one with the mirrored ball and the disco, the the theme was on the holiness of God. And the band was playing, you know, one of the many 1000 Christian songs we have that are about holy, holy, holy. And all of the youth are just screaming holy, holy, holy to this scene.
Connor Coskery:And it
Joel Brooks:made me just wonder, do we know what the heck we're talking about? We sing a lot of songs about the holiness of God. It seems as if almost every single hymn we have ascribes holiness to our Lord. We've already sung some that dealt with the holiness of God, but let me ask a question. When thinking about the holiness of God, what use is God's holiness to you?
Joel Brooks:What use is god's holiness to you? How does god's holiness benefit you? Now all of the other attributes of God, if you think about it, they can be selfishly pursued in a sense. You know, we like to praise God for His mighty power. Well, I mean God's mighty power can get you out of a jam.
Joel Brooks:It's great, that can benefit you. You can praise God for His wisdom, but of course, you love God's wisdom because His wisdom is gonna guide you. How about His mercy? We love to ascribe mercy to God because that means we're forgiven. We we rely on His mercy.
Joel Brooks:His omnipresence is something we can praise God for because that means no matter where I am, how far I have fallen, God is there with me. Faithfulness, who wouldn't wanna praise God for his faithfulness? For whenever I sin against him over and over again, he is still faithful to me. And if you you could go through all of the attributes of God, and you can find a selfish reason for those, to praise or to ascribe those to the Lord. But what about his holiness?
Joel Brooks:What use is God's holiness to you? What can you possibly benefit from it? And yet, we sing about the holiness of God in almost every song. It's actually the most descriptive attribute we have of God. You know that most famous vision in Isaiah 6 in which he hears the seraphim calling back and forth to one another.
Joel Brooks:Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And in revelation, there's that vision of the 4 creatures surrounding the throne and they're crying out day and night for all of eternity eternity, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. And so for all of eternity, the attribute of holiness is being attributed to God. And most of you know this, you know, in the Hebrew language that if they really wanted to emphasize something, they would repeat it.
Joel Brooks:So if you're ever going through your Old Testament, it says pure gold. It actually doesn't say pure gold, it says gold gold. Or if people fell into really deep pits, actually they fell into pity pits. They just repeat the word twice if you really want to communicate, that characteristic. And so the superlative of holy, is holy, holy, holy.
Joel Brooks:And God says that more than anything else, that is what is descriptive of him. We might wish he'd said kind, kind, kind, or merciful, merciful, merciful, but God, when he when he wants to describe who he is, forevermore people are ascribing holiness to him. Now the Hebrew word for holy is kadosh and it's somewhat of a difficult word to translate. At its most fundamental meaning, it means other, other. When something is so radically different from anything that you know or have experienced, you would call it holy.
Joel Brooks:It's completely other. There's not a category in which you can put it. And we usually, we just think of holy as, you know, without sin, but holy means so much more than without sin in the bible. Because even the angels who don't have sin ascribe holiness to God. They they keep ascribing that to him.
Joel Brooks:You know, we we studied the life of Moses a few months ago, and I had mentioned that the name Yahweh, I am, really reveals the Lord's holiness. When God says, I am, he doesn't say, I am kind. He doesn't say, I am merciful. He doesn't say, I am powerful. He doesn't he doesn't say any of those adjectives that we would say because that would put them in a category, and that would be something that we could relate to, but god simply says I am, and when he says, I am, what he is basically saying is, I'm holy.
Joel Brooks:I'm altogether different from you. You can't place me in any category, I simply am. Anything else would just lead us into heresy because if he did say, I am kind, we would think, oh, I get it. I understand kindness. And we'd attribute that to him and God will say, Not at all because my kindness is nothing like your kindness.
Joel Brooks:Nothing like it. It is a holy kindness. So when we cry out, holy, holy, holy, you can actually think that we are crying out to God, you are not like us. You are not like us. You are not like us.
Joel Brooks:Or as Isaiah would say, to whom will you like in God or what likeness will you compare him with? Now, is this the God that when we gather together that we we corporately worship? Is this the God we cry out to or does the God that you have in mind, does he look a lot like you? Is he altogether different from you, or does he look a lot like you? You know, one of the things that's somewhat an irritation is the moment people find out you're a pastor, instantly, they start asking you all these questions, these technicalities about the Bible or about God or whatever.
Joel Brooks:And and always it comes up a saying like this, you know, I I just my God wouldn't do that. You know, maybe if you had to mention some sin, or my God is not like that, or I really kind of believe God is more like this. And when I have this conversation so much, it doesn't take long to realize that all these people, they actually have their own little God, and their god looks a lot like them. God says the things they want him to say, God does the things that he wants them to do, or they want him to do, and that is not a holy God. They're worshiping this God that they have created, not a God who simply is.
Joel Brooks:They're not worshiping the I am. God is not like us. He does not think like we think. God does not act like we act. He doesn't say things that we would really like him to say all the time.
Joel Brooks:He's altogether holy. And let me give you practically, this is what it means. It means that from time to time, God is gonna rub you the wrong way. From time to time, God is going to rub you the wrong way. Matter of fact, I would say that's a good that's a, a good sign of spiritual growth is God rubbing you the wrong way.
Joel Brooks:If you're worshiping the true God, He's gonna rub you the wrong way because that's what conversion is. It's when God rubs against us, and he starts converting us, and he starts changing us, He starts breaking off all of our rough edges until we start to look like Him, not He starts looking like us. And so if God never rubs you the wrong way, if he never thinks differently than you think, if he never says things that you wouldn't want him to say, what it means is you have converted God into your image instead of you being converted into his image. And I think that the modern church is in danger of doing this. We worship in front of a mirror.
Joel Brooks:We put a mirror, and we worship ourselves. A God just like us, not a holy God. And we'll say things, well, like, my God, well, he wouldn't want us to suffer. My God wouldn't, or my God wouldn't want me to stay in this unhappy marriage. Not my God.
Joel Brooks:My God would never say that that was a sin, and and God's just we're creating him. We're creating him. What we're doing is building an idol. But a god just like us can never save us. Can't.
Joel Brooks:Well, how do we keep from doing this? How do we keep from building these idols in our mind and worship a true holy God? Look at verse 13. Verse 13 says that we are to prepare our minds for action. Literally this, in Greek, this phrase is gird up the loins of your mind.
Joel Brooks:Gird up the loins of your mind. You know, in the 1st century, men wore these these long flowing shirts or robes and if ever they were doing a task or want a freedom of movement, they would gird up their loins, they would roll it up and they would tuck it in their belt. If you want a English equivalent, and I don't know if, you know, The Message says this or not, Eugene Peterson's translation, but it would be roll up your sleeves. Roll up your sleeves. It's time to get work done.
Joel Brooks:And what Peter is saying is it's it's it's time for us to get your mind ready to work. Ephesians 6, Paul uses the same phrase when he says, gird up your loins with truth. And this is the same thing as Peter is saying. It is time for you to think hard. It's time for you to think hard about what is truth.
Joel Brooks:Think hard about God. What does the Bible say about God? What does God say about God? You can't be ignorant about him anymore. Think hard.
Joel Brooks:And then Peter says, sober up in your spirit. That means don't just do what feels good for you to do, don't just believe what's popular for you to believe, don't get drunk on the philosophy of this age. As Christians, the Bible is our guide. God's word reveals to us God's character. And so we have to allow God from time to time to be abrasive to us.
Joel Brooks:That's conversion. And looking back in my life, many of the truths that I once really really had a problem with. I mean, I can remember times and I would get down on my knees, I'd say, god, I don't like this about you. I really don't. Scripture, here it is.
Joel Brooks:It says it. I believe it. I'm sure I'll praise you for it sometime. I don't I don't like it. Looking back now, those truths now have become the things I most delight in and I most love to ascribe to God.
Joel Brooks:And when I look at that, I can see, okay, God's been converting me, he's been transforming me. Things that I once thought were hideous, I now see as beautiful. Well, now that you've understood what holy means, I hope you can appreciate just how absurd the command is. Look at 1516 again. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.
Joel Brooks:Since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy. You could read that as this, you shall not be like you because I am not anything like you. It's kind of an absurd command. I mean, how can how can we become other? How can sinners become pure?
Joel Brooks:How can we become not like ourselves? I mean everybody tells you, just be yourself, be yourself, and God says, no, don't be yourself at all. Be holy. Be nothing like yourself. And so this is a problem, and I hope I hope you see this as a problem.
Joel Brooks:For some of you, maybe you've you've never seen this before as a problem, the command to be holy, but it is certainly a problem. You've probably felt it in your bones deep down this, your whole life, this unsettling truth that no matter how good you are, no matter how much you try to perform for God, really you fall short. That you're not good enough. That he is all together different from you. Even when you try to think the most pure thoughts that you could think, you know it falls short.
Joel Brooks:Years ago, my little girl Caroline, about 2 years ago, she came up to me and she confessed something, and I really don't even know what it was, something little. And, so I said, okay, well well, you know, I forgive you, God forgives you of that, and she broke down crying. And, you know, Caroline is somewhat of a drama queen also, but, I mean, she just she was I couldn't bring her out of this. I mean, she was going in deep despair, and I was like, well, what's what are you so upset about? She goes, well, daddy, I was trying to be perfect today.
Joel Brooks:I was trying to be perfect today. And in her mind, that was an achievable goal. But you can't be perfect and you can't be something that you're not. And so Peter writes this, and it's a problem. But you know what?
Joel Brooks:He felt the problem. And you've got to feel the problem if you really want to understand our call to be holy. Look how Peter first encountered this problem. In Luke 5, you don't have to turn there, just reference it in your notes. Luke 5, Jesus is in the boat with Peter, and he tells Peter to cast out his nets.
Joel Brooks:He said, cast out your nets on this side. And Peter says, okay, we've been doing this all day. Whatever. I'll do it just because he told me to, and he throws out his nets, and he catches this enormous, enormous catch of fish. So much of when they're trying to bring in the nets, all the nets are breaking.
Joel Brooks:And this is in Luke 5, and this is one of Peter's first encounters with the Lord. And so his reaction is this, fear. Total fear. He says, depart from me Lord. I'm a sinful man.
Joel Brooks:And he wants nothing to do with the Lord, and he realizes that holiness the Jesus had died, he's resurrected, but now Peter is in a fishing boat once again, and Jesus calls out to him and says, hey Peter, cast out your nets to the other side. Peter says, alright. So he cast out his nets to the other side, and and despite the fact he hadn't caught anything that entire day, all of a sudden, there's all of these fish, so much he could barely bring this in. And this time, he has a totally different reaction. When he sees it's the Lord, the Lord is this time right on the beach.
Joel Brooks:When he sees it's him, he jumps into the water fully clothed and he swims as fast as he can to Jesus. Almost the exact same miracle. 1st time you have, depart from me, I'm a sinful man. 2nd time, it's there's Jesus, he jumps in, he just starts swimming, fully clothed. He just starts swimming there.
Joel Brooks:Same miracle, 2 different reactions. Why? Well first, you're tempted to say, well, I mean, Peter at this point, he's been with Jesus for 3 years and he's pulled his life together. That's not it at all. If you remember, Peter had just earlier denied even knowing Jesus 3 times, once to a little girl.
Joel Brooks:No, no, he's not a better person. I mean, he's just sinned big time. Why the difference in the reaction? Look at verse 18. Knowing that you were ransomed from your futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
Joel Brooks:He was foreknown before the foundations of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in god. Who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and your hope are in God. And so now, at this point in Peter's life, he understands Jesus is the one who is spotless and without blemish, Jesus is the one who is holy, and Jesus has redeemed him through his own blood. Peter's faith and his hope is not in what he can do, but it's what Jesus has done, and it changed everything. And he understands now that Jesus is resurrected, he is a child of God and he has been declared holy.
Joel Brooks:As God's child, Peter has been declared holy, and if you have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, you have been declared holy. And so when Peter tells you to be holy, he's not telling you to to be something you're not. He's actually saying, become who you already are. Become who you are as a child of God. That's why in verse 14 and 15, he says, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.
Joel Brooks:He says, quit acting like the person you are not. You're a child of God, and so act like 1, because you are a child of God. You're not a drunkard. You're a child of God. You're not an adulterer.
Joel Brooks:You're a child of God. So act like one. You're not a cheater. You're not a liar. You're not a gossiper.
Joel Brooks:So act like that because God has declared you to be his child through the blood of Jesus, and it's time for you to start becoming who you are. Now earlier, I asked this question, okay, what benefit is god's holiness to you? What benefit is it? Once you've been washed by the blood of Jesus, and once you begin to understand God more and more through his word, and those qualities of God you begin to once you detest it, but now you're beginning to delight in, he becomes beautiful. Throughout scripture, you'll find this phrase that you worship God in the beauty of his holiness.
Joel Brooks:The beauty of his holiness. And when I, I've been to Northern Ireland 14 times, I used to lead groups from, University Christian Fellowship there, and we would always climb this one mountain, some of you all been up there, called Sleep Donner, beautiful mountain. Hopefully, most of you all went when it was a gorgeous day, I know some of you went when it was a horrendous day. But when it is a beautiful day, there's nothing like it. And and it's the tallest mountain in Ireland, and so I take them through this hike.
Joel Brooks:It's about 3 hours, and you're going through all of this this pretty stream, the flowers, and you're going up and you could just see miles in every direction. The ocean is out this way. All these mountains, as far as you can see is this way. And and over and over again, what I will what I will hear students say is they state the obvious. Man, that is so beautiful.
Joel Brooks:Did you see that? That's so beautiful. Of course, the person next to him sees that. But they just keep saying, man, that is just that is gorgeous. Oh my gosh.
Joel Brooks:You know, and they're just that's so beautiful, that is so beautiful, and they're saying it over and over and over, but they have to say it. Even though they know the person next to them sees it, they know the person next to them is appreciating it, somehow they just still have to say that completes their joy. And this is not very much different at all when we go into Revelation, or we come to Isaiah 6, and we have those seraphim, and they're calling back and forth one to another, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. And what they're doing is they're worshiping God in the beauty of his holiness. And so what you should picture is this, not that they're robots for all of eternity just saying, holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty.
Joel Brooks:They can't help themselves. And so they're saying they're pointing, holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty. I know. Holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty. I know.
Joel Brooks:Holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty. I know. And for all of eternity. And it completes their joy as they ascribe the beautiful holiness of God. And that's what worship is when we worship God in the beauty of his holiness.
Joel Brooks:That's what worship can be when we don't create God in our own image, but we allow him through his word to start transforming us, being abrasive to us, converting us, so we could truly start seeing him as beautiful. And that's one of that is the reason why this is one of the doctrines that we do hold dear. Because I want us to be changed by God. We're not gonna come here and just make an idol out of our own minds. We're not gonna hold up a mirror and worship ourselves.
Joel Brooks:A god like us can't save us, and a god like us is not worth our worship. Pray with me. God, we thank you for your word. I pray that through your spirit even as we leave that you would bring clarity to that. I ask that we would see you as beautiful in Your Holiness, that there would be nothing we would rather ascribe to you.
Joel Brooks:Forgive
Connor Coskery:us
Joel Brooks:to rub us the wrong way, to where we become like you. We ask that this week, Lord, that we would allow you to keep converting us because we wanna be holy as you are holy. And I pray this in the strong name of Jesus, our Lord and our Savior. Amen.