THE CHARACTER OF A WORLD CHANGER - A SHINING LIGHT!
Philippians 2:15 "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;"
I. Blameless
A. Literally - faultless, unblameable - whatever charges might be made, no charge can be maintained.
B. There should be nothing in our lives that would cause discredit to Christ.
C. Better not live at all than live disgraced. -- Greek proverb
D. Ghandi refused to embrace Christianity not because of the claims of Christ or Scripture, but because of the actions of Christians.
E. 1 Timothy 5:14 "I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully."
II. Harmless
A. Literally - without mixture, absence of foreign mixture.
B. It was a term used to describe wine that wasn’t watered down, or metal without alloy.
C. Absence of inconsistency.
D. Sir Thomas Fuller (1608-1661) - He does not believe who does not live according to his belief.
E. James 1:22 "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."
III. Sons of God
A. Identifiable
B. We are to be unmistakable children of God.
C. John 10:35 "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another".
D. Billy Graham - "The greatest need today is not more Christians but more true Christians."
IV. Without Rebuke
A. Literally - without blemish, absence of stain
B. James 1:27 "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."
C. The words, holiness and sanctification are not prominent in much of Protestant theology. We have tended to speak of justification without a commensurate emphasis on sanctification. ... Holiness means that one belongs wholly to God. This is also the meaning of sanctification, being set apart as God’s own possession. When this begins internally, with the heart, the transformation becomes something that affects the total person. - copied
