7, December 2003
Dakota Community Church
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Week Seven: Holiness
Proverbs 9:1-6
Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars.
2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city.
4 "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment.
5 "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.
6 Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.
- We are not told what the seven pillars are.
- I believe they are themes of truth that will lead to life.
The seventh “pillar” of wisdom is: Understanding the importance of personal holiness.
Proverbs teaches us that a life of wisdom is characterized by holiness.
Proverbs 5: 7-9
7 Now then, my sons listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you give your best strength to others and your years to one who is cruel
Proverbs 4: 10 - 14
10 Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many.
11 I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble.
13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.
14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men.
First of all we need to understand what it means to be holy. If I asked everyone here to write on a piece of paper what they think holy conduct is we would probably get, as many different responses as there are individuals.
From Your Dictionary.com:
Holy
Belonging to, derived from, or associated with a divine power; sacred.
1. Regarded with or worthy of worship or veneration; revered: a holy book.
2. Living according to a strict or highly moral religious or spiritual system; saintly: a holy person.
3. Specified or set apart for a religious purpose: a holy place.
4. Solemnly undertaken; sacrosanct: a holy pledge.
5. Regarded as deserving special respect or reverence: The pursuit of peace is our holiest quest.
6. Informal Used as an intensive: raised holy hell over the mischief their children did.
Not entirely helpful in clearing up the murky water, so I went to “Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words”
From the Greek Word – Hagiasmos – translated; holiness. It signifies:
(a.) Separation to God.
(b.) The resultant state, the conduct befitting those so separated.
So then Proverbs tells us that the wise separate themselves to God, recognizing that we are His:
1Corinthians 6: 19-20
19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
And that our conduct or behavior is affected by that separation:
2Corinthians 7: 1
1Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
1. We are called to imitate a Holy God.
Proverbs 9: 10
10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Psalm 99: 9
9 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.
Exodus 135: 11
11 "Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you- majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?
Revelation 15: 4
4Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."
There is no doubt that God is Perfect in Holiness, He is without fault.
The reason that we were not allowed into His presence until the Blood of Jesus cleansed us is not that He thinks sin is icky and doesn’t want it around Him. It is because we would cease to live in the awesome purity of His perfect Holiness.
1Peter 1: 14-15
14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! It is the ultimate act of worship.
Question:
How does all this holy talk fit into our message of freedom from legalism?
Romans 14: 1
1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.
The legalism issue is about disputable matters:
- Going to the theatre.
- Reading certain books.
- Halloween.
- Christmas Trees.
- A glass of wine with dinner.
- Witnessing by playing in a bar.
Holiness is about clearly defined sin:
- Drunkenness.
- Homosexuality.
- Adultery.
- Vulgar Language.
1Corinthians 6: 9-11
9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Quotes:
How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets real thing, it is irresistible. - C.S. Lewis, Letters to an American Lady, New Bible Commentary, p. 28.
"Holiness does not consist in mystic speculations, enthusiastic fervors, or uncommanded austerities; it consists in thinking as God things, and willing as God wills." - John Brown, Nineteenth-century Scottish theologian, quoted in J. Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness, p. 51.
Galatians 5: 13-23
13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
We are not free to sin we have been set free from sin to imitate a Holy God.
2. We are called to encourage holy brethren.
Proverbs 11: 29
29 He who brings trouble on his family will inherit only wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise.
Proverbs 1: 22
"How long will you simple ones [1:22 The Hebrew word rendered [simple] in Proverbs generally denotes one without moral direction and inclined to evil.] love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?
Proverbs 9: 3-4
3 She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city.
4 "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment.
Our key scripture for this series tells us that the heart of the wise cries out to save the simple.
We must encourage one another to the wisdom of holy living.
Hebrews 10: 23-24
23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
At a meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Bobby Richardson, former New York Yankee second baseman, offered a prayer that is a classic in brevity and poignancy: "Dear God, Your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen."
C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, writing, of course, as an elder devil to a younger devil,
"One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess is a spectacle, which makes our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans. All your patient sees is the half-finished sham Gothic erection on the new building estate. When he goes inside, he sees the local grocer with a rather oily expression on his face bustling up to offer him one shiny little book containing a liturgy which neither of them understands, and one shabby little book containing corrupt texts of a number of religious lyrics, mostly bad, and in very small print. When he gets to his pew and looks round him he sees just that selection of his neighbors whom he has hitherto avoided. You want to lean pretty heavily on those neighbors. Make his mind flit to and fro between an expression like “the body of Christ” and the actual faces in the next pew. It matters very little, of course, what kind of people that next pew really contains. You may know one of them to be a great warrior on the Enemy’s side. No matter. Your patient, thanks to Our Father Below, is a fool. Provided that any of those neighbors sing out of tune, or have boots that squeak, or double chins, or odd clothes, the patient will quite easily believe that their religion must therefore be somehow ridiculous . . .. Keep everything hazy in his mind now, and you will have all eternity wherein to amuse yourself by producing in him the peculiar kind of clarity which Hell affords."
3. We are the light to an unholy generation.
Proverbs 24:11-12
11 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. 12 If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?
Addressing a national seminar of Southern Baptist leaders, George Gallup said, "We find there is very little difference in ethical behavior between churchgoers and those who are not active religiously...The levels of lying, cheating, and stealing are remarkable similar in both groups. Eight out of ten Americans consider themselves Christians, Gallup said, yet only about half of them could identify the person who gave the Sermon on the Mount, and fewer still could recall five of the Ten Commandments. Only two in ten said they would be willing to suffer for their faith.
1Peter 2: 11-16
11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
13Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
2Peter 3: 8 – 11
8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed it’s coming.
A holy life will make the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns, they just shine. - D.L. Moody.
