Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
A SEPARATED PEOPLE
1 Peter 2:9, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:"
How many of you are included in this group of people Peter has described in this verse? I would hope that every hand would rise in agreement for anyone and everyone who has accepted Christ and repented of your sin is included in the chosen generation.
God has called every man to come to repentance but only a few are chosen. Not by God, but by his/her own choosing to become a part of this chosen generation.
We, who are saved by grace, are all children of God and, as such, we are all of one generation for God is our Father, we are His Children, but there are no “grand-children” for each of us must make our own decision and cannot ride into Heaven based upon the salvation of another person.
I am often concerned that we do not look like and act like God’s children. All too often, when the world looks at our dress, our mannerisms, our activities, and our appearance, they cannot see whether we belong to the family of God or not.
I have never been a “clothes line” preacher and I don’t want to start now but there are some things about the manner of dress that the world has that have no place in the family of God.
When I ride down the street or go to the mall I find that I am hard pressed to find those who I can recognize as Christians among those of the world for they are appear alike. People of the world have no concern for their body for it belongs to the Devil but people of God must be concerned for wherever we go and whatever we do we are portraying to the world a picture of God through our daily living.
What kind of God do people see in you? God has said that our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Ghost and that we are not to abuse them or use them in ungodly ways and yet I see so many who give no thought to the fact the Holy Spirit dwells within. Perhaps that’s because He doesn’t dwell in there after all!
I have always taught and will continue to teach that the Holy Spirit will convict us of those things in our hearts that are detrimental or destructive to the cause of Christ. Even so, I think that sometimes we need to be reminded of just how holy God really is and that He expects us to live a Holy and sanctified life unto Him.
The scripture says that we are to present ourselves and our bodies as living sacrifices unto God. Giving ourselves in living a sanctified and holy life is our debt to Him for the salvation of our souls. What a cheap price to pay for such a great deliverance from the pits of Hell!
I have begun to realize that the church, not just this church, but the church as a whole, with our included, has come to the place where we don’t recognize holiness any longer.
Now, I’m not going to lay down a lot of rules and regulations because that would only lead to legalism and drive many from God’s House. I don’t want to get into many specifics because I still believe that God will teach you His ways if you will listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and His conviction power within.
The problem is that I wonder if we ever listen, or if we do, are we discrediting the conviction power of the Holy Spirit because we just don’t want to change our ways?
God will wink at our ignorance for a little while but it won’t last for long. Once we know the truth and then refuse to follow and obey that truth then it becomes sin in our lives that will keep us out of Heaven.
In all manners of speech, here’s what God’s Word has to say.
Colossians 4:6, "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man."
Most of us have manners of speech that are not seasoned with salt but act like salt thrown into the eyes of those who hear us. We are offensive and sometimes downright vulgar in our language. It never ceases to amaze me of the things that I hear coming from the mouth of those who are supposed to love the Lord.
It doesn’t have to be an outright curse word or using the Lord’s name in vain to be vulgar. There are many terms and words that we use that we would never use if we were standing bodily before the Lord Jesus Christ. We forget that He is there anyway and that He hears every word we speak. Not only does He hear those words but He knows the very thoughts of your mind and the intents of your heart so we can’t fool Him.
Christians don’t care to hear or tell dirty jokes but we don’t mind using a lot of off color slang. Not only do we use them but when our children start saying them we laugh until they get a little older then the cute wears off and we have to threaten to wash their mouth out with soap.
Mom and Dad, your children are a direct reflection of what you are and what you say. If you don’t want to be embarrassed by them then you need to make sure that your speech is sanctified.
How many times have we caught ourselves saying a word that is not considered cursing in the eyes of the world and yet we feel the stinging rebuke of the Holy Spirit telling us that we should not say those words.
James 3:6-8, "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison."
That’s a pretty graphic description of what the tongue has power to do. Someone said just today that we often quote the saying, “Sticks and Stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me.” That’s a pure lie for there is nothing more long lasting and damaging to our heart than words that cut us deeply.
We may not be able to tame our tongue and clean up our language on our own but we can make a start and then let God finish the job. He can and He will clean up our language.
James 3:8-10 goes on to say, “…the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be."
What about our manner of dress? I believe that we can always be sanctified and holy in our dress also.
Let me ask you a question? Whenever you ride down the highway and see a beautiful young lady or a handsome guy on a billboard with little or nothing on, do you think “my Lord, I know that person loves God for they want to show off His Holy Ghost filled temple to the whole world.” I don’t think that’s what you would think.
Satan has degraded women and cheapened the human body to the place where it is nothing more than shopping at a meat market for your favorite pound of flesh.
Let me ask you young lady, if you are walking around in short shorts and with your stomach showing, with clothes that fit tighter than a wet suit and show every line and feature of your body, do you really think that depicts a temple of the Holy Ghost to the world? I think not!
Young man, when you run around with your chest showing and showing off the muscles of your arms and the nakedness of your legs, do you really think that some young lady will look at you and think to herself, MY, What a godly man he is? I don’t think that’s what they will think!
The question is; what are we trying to portray? What do we want people to see in us? Are we a stumbling block in their path to lead them further from the Kingdom of God or does our appearance, our speech and our mannerisms act as a magnet of the Holy Ghost to draw people to Christ because they see something different and something wonderful about us that creates a desire in them to know the Lord as their Savior and have what we have?
Do they see Jesus and someone who respects the Temple of the Holy Spirit or do they see us and then get thoughts and desires that are from the pits of Hell itself.
Do you want to know why there are so many more rapists, serial killers and kidnappers out there than ever before? It’s because we have flaunted these bodies of flesh in all the glory that God has blessed us with, before the eyes of the world and caused uncontrolled desires in the heart of those who will not stop until those desires are fulfilled at any cost.
Do you know why we make a dividing line in this church as to how you must dress or appear once you step into the place of leadership on this platform?
First let me tell you that even placing a dividing line should not be necessary if we are all living a sanctified and holy life. All of us should come to church, or go about our daily lives, representing Christ in such a fashion that we would never offend the House of God at any given moment. There should be no dividing line between how you dress in the world, how you dress in the congregation or how you are to dress on the platform.
Even having to make a distinction according to your position in the church is proof that we aren’t living a sanctified and holy life and that our commitment level to serving the Lord is not where it should be.
We do make that distinction for one reason only. These positions, as leaders in the church, whether on the platform or not are held to higher standard of holiness so that those who are in the congregation will have at least an idea of where they should be too.
Will dressing different make you anymore saved? NO! Will talking different make you anymore saved? NO! But, both of them should begin to change to make us more Christ like if we are really His disciples!
I will say this though. If we know that we need to change the way we talk and the way we dress and we refuse to do so, then it becomes sin in our heart and we are in rebellion against God’s will. That sin, by brother and sister, will keep you out of Heaven so don’t think that living a holy and sanctified life is not important for salvation.
Hebrews 12:14, "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:"
James 4:17, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
The same scenario is true in the places we go, the things we eat, the things we drink, the movies we watch, and everything else about our lives.
Being a Christian gives us freedom from sin but it also gives us freedom to sin if we don’t learn to obey God’s voice.
No matter what is in our lives that is displeasing or unrighteous before God, the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and teach us the ways of sanctification and holiness if we will only listen to that still small voice when He speaks.
If you dress wrong, say something wrong, or do something that is contrary to God’s Holy Word and you feel a prick in your heart and you feel a twinge of guilt you can believe that those feelings aren’t coming from the Devil because he delights in our unrighteousness. Only the Holy Spirit within will convict us of those things until we both ignore His voice and continue to harden our hearts or we get it right before God and clean up our act. God won’t force us to change; that’s up to us! He will help us to change if we start making the first move and then keep on doing what is right!
2 Corinthians 6:17-18, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."
This is a commandment from the Word of God to the church. This wasn’t written to sinners or to the worldly crowd who act like their father the Devil. This was written to people who were supposed to show the world Jesus and His great salvation!
If the world can’t look at you, or the church can’t look at you, and tell which side you are on in an instant, then there isn’t enough separation. If there isn’t enough separation then it’s time to start listening to the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit and begin cleaning up our life to be more sanctified.
The soul and heart are sanctified only by the Blood of the Lamb through repentance and salvation, but the body and this life are sanctified by our living a holy and righteous life before God and man so that people can see that there is a difference between us and the world.
2 Corinthians 7:1, "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
We have all of the promises of God’s Word! We have the glories of Heaven and blessings promised that we cannot contain in this life! We, as God’s children, are promised so very much by our Heavenly Father.
Since we have all these promises, should not we do all we can do within ourselves, with the help of the Holy Spirit to cleanse our lives from things of idols, things that are filthy and degrading to this body, things that wound the Spirit within and grieve the Holy Ghost? Shouldn’t we want to perfect our lives in holiness before God? I think so!
