“The Divine Call To Holiness”
Text: I Thessalonians 4:7
“For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.”
Introduction:
The Lord calls the sinners to repentance,saints to the marriage feast, the lost to judgment, and the believer to holiness. The Lord in His mercy sought out our fore-parents in Eden and called them to return from their sin, into which they had fallen, to holiness again. Every divine effort from that time to this has been to lead men from sin to salvation and from uncleanness to holiness.
In this message we are going to take a look at four calls which are: Call to Separation, Call to Death, Call to Consecration, and Call to Holiness. Let us start with
I.The Call to Separation.
A. From the sin of the world (not from the world itself);
separated unto God.
B. “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith
the Lord” (II Corinthians 6:17).
C. Jesus was in the world but not of the world; so are we to
be.
D. The Christian belongs to heaven; strangers and pilgrims
here.
II.The Call to Death.
A. “If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall
live” (Romans 8:13).
B. Death to self, to the “old man” of sin.
C. As Catholic nun is to be dead, “Our sister is dead,” and
alive, “Our sister is alive,” so are we to be as servants of
God.
III. The Call to Consecration.
A. “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service”
(Romans 12:1).
B. Your part is to put your all on the altar of consecration.
C. Give your all to Him that He might give His all to you.
IV. The Call to Holiness.
A. Holiness means a pure heart; not maturity but purity.
B. Holiness means a clean life, not uncleanness.
C. Holiness means an anointed service.
Conclusion:
Come to Christ now and receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
Outline By: Fred J Hawk
