Habits of the Holy
Various Scriptures
It’s May again. Time for our annual reports. Every year, we are asked by our denomination to report the “number of people sanctified this year through local church ministries.” What does that mean?
For instance, shall we count how many prayed, or how many meant it? It’s a fair question these days.
And how do we know who meant it? Shall we measure the intensity of the seeker at the altar? Or the radical change to his or her lifestyle a year later?
But how do we measure intensity?
And what if there are radical changes, but we never saw him repent? Does this count?
Or worse, what if a person prayed and didn’t change much at all? Shall we count that? Or shall we cross him off the list before we report him in May?
And what if we have already reported him? Do we start next year with one in the hole? Or do we add a new category called: “total number of sanctified who petered out?” - Steve Deneff
Let’s face it. When we count the number of those saved or sanctified for annual reports, we are really counting good intentions. Some believe that if we can know just by counting them, as if adding them to a report for Assembly will somehow mean that our pen controls the pen to the Lamb’s Book of Life.
In the past, seekers sought sanctification until, one day, they “prayed through” with the people in the church. From this point forward, they were treated as sanctified, and added in the annual report. Sometimes, their lifestyle didn’t amount to the BIC in on the paper.
So how do we know? Is there any evidence that determines whether we are sanctified or not? What are the habits of the holy? Is there a way?
Yes there is. Today we will look at the points, and examine our lives. Paul would tell the folks in Corinth to “examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5)
1. Is My Conscience Clear or Exhausted?
We need to be careful with this one because both conditions feel the same. “Clear” means there is no rub off the good against the evil. “Exhausted” means there is a callus where the rub has been going on for years.
In a few weeks, I’ll donate blood again. One of the first tests that the nurses do, in case you have never donated blood before, is they check your iron by pricking your finger. I always give them the fingers on my left hand because of the calluses I have from playing the guitar. It doesn’t hurt as much as it does in my right hand fingers.
Daniel Steele, a holiness theologian from the 19th Century, taught that a man’s conscience has three capacities: 1) to discriminate between good and evil; 2) to supply him with an impulse to do what is right; and 3) to approve or disapprove his behaviour. He also pointed out that a new believer only has a slightly improved sense of the first capacity, but a heightened sense of the second and third capacity. The pure hear of completely surrendered person helps in all three, we just need to listen to our conscience.
The Living Bible says “a man’s conscience is the Lord’s searchlight, exposing his hidden motives” (Proverbs 20:27). It is wise, then, for a person to listen to their conscience.
So is there any friction against the will of God within me? That is the question. There are some that are afraid to ask it, for fear it may turn up things that compromise their claim to holiness.
2. Is My Religion an Obsession or a Hobby?
We must not confuse holy passion with obsessive compulsion. The later is largely a product of our culture. Holiness is not.
Holiness is not, however, the passion to reform society. It is not the hunger to know more about God. It is not the vision to build a great church for God, or even win souls. It is not a passion to express the eternal truths of God. A person may have all of these, but holiness is the passion to take upon himself the very image of God.
The writer of Hebrews called this passion “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2 KJV). This is the one element that pushes us right to the edge. It makes us abnormal in a society where easy does it; where wisdom is measured in terms of moderation and anything more is considered extreme, or even insane. But if we truly desire to live the life of being holy men and women, and not just to talk about it, we will find ourselves marginalized by the world around us. We will be out of step with the world, but perfectly in line with Heaven.
3. Do Others Say I Am Holy?
We are called to be Christ’s ambassadors. As ambassadors, we carry out the very wishes of the One who has sent us. We even act in the same way as the One would act. Nobody should be able to misinterpret our stance because we come in the name of the Lord. Our actions will speak louder than our words. People may dislike us, but we should still resemble Jesus in all these circumstances. Am I right in saying these things?
It could be pointed out that, while Jesus’ enemies hated Him, they did not misunderstand Him. Even after three years of bitter disputes with the religious leaders, and only hours away from His crucifixion on charges of blasphemy, Jesus would have His righteousness vindicated on four separate accounts by four unlikely people:
1) Devil - “he has no hold on Me” (John 14:30 - Jesus referring to Satan)
2) Pilate - “I find no basis for a charge against Him” (John 18:38)
3) Criminal on the Cross - “this Man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41)
4) Roman Centurion - “surely this was a righteous man” (Luke 23:47)
And while His holiness was never acknowledged by some of His enemies, it was well known and feared by others who shrieked “Jesus of Nazareth... we know who you are - the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24).
If holiness is perfect love, which is coming in a subsequent point, then the world still has some right to determine whether we have it or not. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
4. Do I Have Power Over Sin?
Can I confidently say, through the keeping of the Spirit, I will resist the next temptation, or do I only hope to? One is a resolve. The other is a mere preference.
Do I hate sin as much as I loved the pleasure of it before? Is there any sin that still has power over me?
It might be helpful here to distinguish between natural desires and sinful desires, because we often confuse them and are either too hard or too soft on ourselves.
Natural desires are those tendencies that are part of our humanity. They are neither good nor evil, and they will stay with us from the cradle to the grave, no matter where we are on the road to heaven. These are the basic needs of security, significance, love and acceptance, intimacy and the like. Everyone has these desires. So we need to purify the means by which we satisfy them.
Complete surrender, entire sanctification, whatever does not mean the end of temptation. We will still be tempted to gratify completely normal desires with selfish means. But the life of one surrendered to the will of the Father will not cooperate with the temptations because the desire to please God is greater.
There is a certain point between the earth and moon where a rocket no longer needs its thrusters to push itself away from the earth. Having entered into the moon’s own pull, it is drawn, gently at first, and then with more and more intensity until it has finally reached its destination.
There is also a point between sin and Christian perfection, or Christian maturity, in which the believer no longer worries about himself falling, but, instead, is drawn by a fascination with the likeness of Christ. The law no longer propels him; he is drawn love.
5. Do I Have Perfect Love?
John Wesley wrote; “There is nothing higher in religion - there is, in effect, nothing else. If you look for anything but more love, you are looking wide of the mark... And when you are asking others, “Have you received this or that blessing?” if you mean anything but more love, you mean wrong. You are leading them out of the way, and putting them upon a false scent. Settle it then in your heart, that from the moment God has saved you from all sin, you are to aim for nothing more, but more of that love described in [Scripture]. You can go no higher until you are carried into Abraham’s bosom.”
In Paul first letter to the Corinthian church, he declared that a man could have all the gifts that God had to offer, but he failed if he did not LOVE as God loved. William Sullivan said, “Thought, purpose, logic, industriousness, but without radiance or love... think of it. Isn’t that an accurate description of Satan?”
If we use only one question to settle the matter of the sanctification in our hearts and minds, this is it: Do I have perfect love? Ask yourselves:
a) When was the last time I returned good for evil?
b) Who are the enemies I pray for? Have I truly forgiven them, or do I simply avoid them?
c) Am I considerate of others?
Augustine said, “Love has hands to help others... feet to hasten to the poor... eyes to see misery and... ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.”
6. Do I Have a Genuine Joy?
One powerful reminder of our sanctification is the under current of joy. David expected the “joy of [God’s] salvation” to return again, once his heart was pure (Psalm 51:10, 12).
Christ was preoccupied with it, as was Paul, who referred to it forty-five times in eight epistles, and called it the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22) and the “kingdom of God” (Romans 14:17).
Later, it was true of Christ’s apostles, who faced Sanhedrin, and then the lions of Rome. It was true of early Christians who burned, singing at the stake. It was true of camp services when people shouted with joy in the middle of the services. It is true even today in the churches where the people have nothing, but give all they can to the Lord.
This type of joy is perfect contentment with our circumstances, because we believe they are ordered of God. It is unshakable trust. It is a heart that has settled down with God.
Conclusion
Dr. Evan O’Neill has the honour of being the first known surgeon to operate on himself. The sixty-year-old veteran removed his own appendix in 1921, not because he needed to, but because he wanted to prove that major operations could be performed under local anaesthesia. Finding no volunteers, he volunteered himself... because he believed his theory.
Will you allow the scalpel of the Lord, His Word, cut within you by the guided hands of the Holy Spirit? These gruelling examinations are never pleasant, but always worth it. So let us risk it. Let us take God more seriously than we take ourselves. Let us submit to His truth rather than barricade ourselves at a safe distance. Let us cherish the Word of God more than debate it... in order that we may be sons and daughters of our Father in heaven, and may one day know more fully the God we have come to love so far.
