INTRO.- Have you noticed that there are some things in life that are not very worthwhile even though some people feel that they must have them? It’s like cars and their accessories.
ILL.- I saw an article on the internet entitled, "10 Most Worthless Car Features." Care to guess what they are?
10. Rain-Sensing Wipers
They generally use infrared sensors to monitor a certain section of the windshield for moisture or dirt, then trigger the wipers to respond according to a threshold the driver sets.
9. Soda Can Cool Zone
Various automakers offer air-conditioned compartments to keep sodas and other sundries cool. Problem is, those cool zones get hot in the summer when the car is off; we had a couple sodas explode in a certain Dodge after a 90-degree weekend.
8. Smart Transmission
The Smart ForTwo deserves its own category. The minicar’s automated-manual transmission shifts gears with its own electronic clutch while the driver sees a traditional automatic setup. Drive the thing and you feel like you’re on a bucking bronco. No thank you!
7. Power-Sliding Doors
Parents, rest assured the power-sliding doors on upscale minivans employ all sorts of electronic cutoffs to ensure they won’t eat your Brownie troop.
6. Multi-Manual Owner’s Booklets
The thought of wading through an owner’s manual to figure out how something works is daunting enough. Try wading through 10 of them or more; that’s the number of pamphlets, manuals and quick-start guides included in some cars’ libraries.
5. Self-Parking Cars
Lexus’ self-parking feature is optional on the LS sedan. Line up the superimposed square in the backup camera with your intended parking spot, gently let off the brakes and the LS will slowly steer around adjacent cars as it backs into the spot.
4. iDrive
It’s is a computer-like system, which is used to control most secondary vehicle systems in many current BMW cars. iDrive’s user interface consists of a LCD panel mounted in the dashboard and a controller knob mounted on the center console.
3. Voice Turn-by-Turn Navigation
Navigation systems have been barking out orders for years. With the exception of Land Rover’s charming Brit, most of them employ a female American voice whose intonations range from casually disinterested to downright annoyed.
2. Heartbeat Sensor.
You read correctly. Yep, Volvo has one. The engineers at Volvo know our fear, and have incorporated a heartbeat sensor inside the new S80 sedan that alerts your wireless key fob if there’s a criminal-type lying in wait for you as you approach.
1. Overly Aggressive Seats
Driver’s seats run the gamut, from flat benches to the sort of hip-huggers. The BMW 7 Series offers a massaging driver’s seat, but its throbbing motions feel downright Frankensteinian compared to a real massage. In some of Mercedes-Benz’s pricier models, active side bolsters automatically inflate to hold you in as you take a corner. Sounds silly to me!
To be honest about it, there are a multitude of things in life that we think we just have-to-have and find out later that they are not nearly as important or needed as we thought.
All of us would probably be better off if we’d simplify our lives and focus more on what is really important in life. AND WHAT’S THAT? Our relationship to God and holiness, I might add.
I Peter 1:13-15 "Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 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."
God desires that we be like Him, holy like Him.
PROP.- Our text tells how God can make us holy. It tells what we must recognize for this to take place.
1- Holiness is desirable
2- Holiness is continual
3- Holiness is God-produced
I. HOLINESS IS DESIRABLE
23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
ILL.- And old gentleman seated in the back of bus, said, “Did somebody drop a roll of bills with a rubber band around them?”
“I did!” shouted several voices in chorus from up front. “Well,” drawled the old man, “I just picked up the rubber band.”
ILL.- One of the richest men in the world, oil tycoon Paul Getty, was being interviewed in London. “If you retired now,” asked a reporter, “would you say your holdings would be worth a billion dollars?” Getty paced up and down the room, mentally adding. “I suppose so,” he said, “but remember, a billion doesn’t go as far as it used to.”
What’s your greatest desire in life? To make money? To become rich? This is true for many people. Greed is good to them and money is their goal. For most of us, however, just being able to make a decent living and enjoy life is good enough. Still, is this enough? Shouldn’t we desire something more or something greater in life?
ILL.- C.S. Lewis gave us the following insight: Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. INTERESTING INSIGHT.
We could have a lot or be a lot more if we only desired it. Of course, Lewis is referring to great spirituality. I’m not sure most people want this, because people prefer what the world offers. And we fear that if we get more of God we won’t get to enjoy the things of this word. WHICH MEANS THIS: Which means we don’t see the things of God as being greater than what the world offers! We often choose the least instead of the best!
I Peter 2:1-3 "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."
Have we truly tasted of the Lord’s goodness? If so, we should want more.
ILL.- There’s a story about a proud young man who came to Socrates asking for knowledge. He walked up to the philosopher and said, "O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge." Socrates recognized a numbskull when he saw one. He led the young man through the streets, to the sea, and chest deep into water. Then he asked, "What do you want?" "Knowledge, O wise Socrates," said the young man with a smile.
Socrates put his strong hands on the man’s shoulders and pushed him under. Thirty seconds later Socrates let him up. "What do you want?" he asked again. "Wisdom," the young man sputtered, "O great and wise Socrates."
Socrates crunched him under again. Thirty seconds passed, thirty-five. Forty. Socrates let him up. The man was gasping. "What do you want, young man?" Between heavy, heaving breaths the fellow wheezed, "Knowledge, O wise and wonderful..."
Socrates jammed him under again Forty seconds passed. Fifty. "What do you want?" "Air!" he screeched. "I need air!" Socrates said, "When you want knowledge as you have just wanted air, then you will have knowledge."
And when we want God’s holiness as much as we want air or perhaps some other things in life, we will seek after it. God’s holiness should be a very desirable goal in life.
II. HOLINESS IS CONTINUAL
23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
ILL.- Little Susan was mother’s helper. She helped set the table when company was due for dinner. Presently everything was on, the guest came in, and everyone sat down. Then Mother noticed something was missing.
"Susan," she said, "You didn’t put a knife and fork at Mr. Smith’s place."
"I thought he wouldn’t need them," explained Susan. "Daddy says he always eats like a horse!"
Aren’t little children funny? They generally say whatever they are thinking; good, bad or otherwise. It takes time for children to learn certain things. It takes time for them to grow up. But it also takes time for grown people to grow up!
ILL.- A Washington, DC, airport ticket agent said: A senior Vermont Congressman called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando. He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that’s not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, "Don’t lie to me. I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state!"
She also said: An Illinois Congresswoman called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:30 am and got to Chicago at 8:33 am. I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois, but she couldn’t understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the plane went fast, and she bought that.
Brothers and sisters, it takes time for Senators and Congressmen to learn some things in life. Actually, this is true for us all. We are often slow to learn and especially, when it comes to the spiritual realm of life. WE AGE QUICKLY, BUT NOT SPIRITUALLY.
Holiness is a process of growth. There is nothing instant about it. We love the microwave for what it can do. I can cook a sweet potato in a matter of 7 or 8 minutes. We can do quick wonders with the microwave, but there is no spiritual microwave to speed up the holiness process.
23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.
Sanctify you through and through. These words sound like we need to be saturated, through and through with holiness, which may take some time. We all need holy minds, which leads to holy bodies and holy living.
The problem is: some people don’t care. Some people don’t care whether they get better or not. And then there are a few rare souls who actually get frustrated because they are not better than they are.
ILL.- One time a preacher asked a little boy, "Sonny, who made you?" He replied, "I don’t know. I ain’t done yet."
I do know who made us and I also know that I’m not done yet. Nor are you. And we need to keep on growing in the faith and becoming more like our holy God. Holiness is a continual process.
III. HOLINESS IS GOD-PRODUCED
24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
ILL.- While out in Virginia visiting with my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren, I put a light bulb in the brake light on the rear of their old 1999 Ford van. There were only two screws that fastened the light to the rear fender. After removing those screws, however, I had to pry the whole lense assembly from the fender. It had some kind of plastic fasteners that had to be pried apart. After that it was very easy to change the light bulb. Just unscrew the unit, pull out the bulb and replace it. Then put the whole thing back together. Total time consumed: maybe 10 minutes. NO BIG DEAL. But it would have been a big deal to my son-in-law. I’m not sure he could have done it. He’s not blessed with much mechanical ability.
Is there anything you can’t do? Why of course! Probably many things you can’t do and I can’t do. Can you teach a Sunday School class? Can you present a witness or give a testimony to someone for Christ? Many Christians couldn’t do these things if their life depended on it. They wouldn’t know how or else they’d be scared to death to try. I’M SAYING THAT WE ALL NEED HELP IN LIFE! Sometimes we need divine help.
And here’s another way to look at this help business. We need help in all areas of life.
ILL.- I have an elder friend back in Missouri. He lost his wife three years ago. I went to visit him a year ago. When I was preaching at Iberia, MO, he smoked cigars. Now smoking cigars is not the worst thing in the world that a person could do but they do stink.
I ministered there nearly 11 years and he smoked all that time. He is now 82 years old and doesn’t smoke those cigars, but do you know how long it took him to overcome that habit? A very long time, probably 30 years or more.
Old habits, strong habits, bad habits are hard to break or overcome. Consequently, we need help in life!
What is there in your life that needs to cleaned up and/or put to death? What is there in your life that could make you a better person and more importantly, make you a better servant of Christ? There are some things in life that we just can’t do for ourselves. We need divine help.
ILL.- A young married woman come to me with a problem many years ago in Iberia, MO. She said, "Please don’t tell my dad that I came to see you for help." Her daddy was the town sheriff. And he was one of those guys who believed in being self-reliant or self-sufficient. Consequently, he didn’t need God or the church.
NOT SO FOR US. We all need divine help and especially when it comes to holiness. Holiness is not self-produced. It’s a divine thing, produced by the Spirit of God who is at work in us. Sure, we must practice holiness the best we can, but ultimately, God is the one who produces holiness in us and makes us better than we could ever be by ourselves! PRAISE HIS NAME!
CONCLUSION------------------------
ILL.- Oswald Chambers said, “Holiness, not happiness, is the chief end of man.” Meaning holiness should be our goal in life, not happiness.
I realize, however, that this contradicts the thinking of most people and particularly Americans. They want to be happy regardless of the cost, even if it means throwing God out of the picture of their lives. THIS CANNOT BE FOR US WHO ARE IN CHRIST!
Col. 3:1-4 "1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."
To me, this tells the story about holiness and seeking God. If you have been raised with Christ to a new life then there is only one thing to do. And we know that thing.
