How To Be The Church In Y2k: The Call To Holiness

HOW TO BE THE CHURCH IN Y2K: THE CALL TO HOLINESS

Pastor Andrew Chan

Jan.9, 2000

And you will be to me a kingdom of priests, my holy nation. Give this message to the Israelites. Exodus 19:6

God envisions A HOLY NATION.

A. Count the Cost of Being Unholy

“…the way of the unfaithful is hard.” Proverbs 13:15 (NIV).

1. Lack of direction.

No where to go!

But the way of wicked is like complete darkness. Those who follow it have no idea what they are stumbling over. Proverbs 4:19 (NLT)

Wilt the Stilt, may have conquered 10,000 women but he had no idea what he was stumbling over, in end he died alone!

2. Lack of real life.

One word: misery!

When a bird sees a trap being set, it stays away. But not these people! They set an ambush for themselves; they booby-trap their own lives! Such is the fate of all who are greedy for gain. It ends up robbing them of life. Proverbs 1:17-19 (NLT)

Many celebrities, rich beyond imagination but hear them wishing “normal” life. George Harrison attacked, hired more bodyguards

Pavel Bure, refused to play for Vancouver because he hinted at fish bowl existence, in Florida can get lost in crowd

3. Lack of a good name.

Poor reputation.

We all have happy memories of the godly but the name of a wicked person rots away. Proverbs 10:7 (NLT)

No one names their child Adolph today, right?

Name like Ben Johnson linked with drugs cheating, disgrace

4. Lack of peace.

Fear of being found out.

The wicked run away when no one is chasing them…. Proverbs 28:1 (NLT)

The Y2K Bug got some stockpiling food, water, built bunkers in the wilds, store guns and ammo. Go bonkers in bunkers!

5. Lack of hope.

What is there to hope for?

When the wicked die, their hopes all perish, for they rely on their own feeble strength. Proverbs 11:7 (NLT)

There are those who believe science can bring hope some freeze their bodies, using cryogenics …

Common sense, dead don’t rise!

6. Lack of satisfaction.

Thrill me to death!

Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied. Proverbs 27:20 (NLT)

Vancouver’s tone down Y2K celebrations really got some people upset, we’ve got have the same sort of thrills and chills, not satisfied but if it were done, barrage of letters to editor saying what a waste of taxpayers money, use money for hospitals, downtown eastside.

Human desire will never be satisfied… that’s what drives economy spend on desires, even if no money to pay for it.

To depart from righteousness is to choose a life of crushing burdens, failures, and disappointments, a life caught in the toils of endless problems that are never resolved. Here is the source of that unending opera, that sometimes horror show known as normal human life. The “cost of discipleship”, though it may take all we have, is small when compared to the lot of those who don’t accept Christ’s invitation to be a part of his company in The Way of life. - Dallas Willard in The Spirit of the Disciplines

Linda Kavelin Popov, BC Psychotherapist, quoted in Sun, appeared on Oprah

“Too many of our children are technical wizards and moral illiterates.” Society is churning out so real bad stuff but the unholy things it is feeding on.

7. And the ultimate cost of an unholy life is:

… Without holiness no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14 (NIV)

B. Holiness: The Way to Go

for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16 (NIV)

“Follow me”

 It’s a matter of position

we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus once for all… because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy… there is no longer any sacrifice for sin… let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith… Hebrews 10:10-22 (NIV)

Play out of position, gonna lose game.

 It’s a matter of practice

And let us consider how we may spur one another toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24

Play without practice, gonna lose game.

 It’s a matter of perspective

Christ invites us to practice holiness just as He did:

Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program. No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They’ve got him all backward… It’s person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our righteous Messiah… The one who won’t practice righteous ways isn’t from God, nor is the one who won’t love brother or sister. A simple test. 1 John 3:5-10 (The Message)