“Holiness Doctrine” by George E. Crumbly
II CORINTHIANS 6
Holiness Doctrine
George E. Crumbly
II Corinthians 6:14-7:1
April 18, 2004 AM
Sheridan, Arkansas
INTRO:
Was in Baptist Church this past Sunday. Enjoyed the people, the service….it was good. I thought this week as we came back that they were Baptist and I was a Nazarene. Although I love the Nazarene doctrine, we can get attached to ‘names” when we should get attached to Jesus. Regardless of where they attended church, we were CHRISTIANS!!
I thought to about the doctrine of Holiness. We believe in scriptural Holiness. We believe in proclaiming the good news that we may be delivered from all sin to a new life in Christ. By the Grace of God we Christians are to “put off the old self”-the old patterns of conduct as well as the old carnal mind-and are to “put on the new self”- a new and holy way of life as well as the mind of Christ.
This morning…..wouldn’t you like to be DELIVERED? SET FREE? As a Holiness church we believe that we can be set free & live the life God created us to live. I believe there are things that we need to STOP doing…….and there are things we need to START doing as well!!
II CORINTHIANS 6: verses 14 – 7: 1
The first thing this morning? God needs you to be “FIT TO USE”. I’m afraid there are too many in every church that is just not fit to use. How many of us if we were to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water would reach in the sink full of dirty dishes to put the water in? God isn’t going to use an unclean vessel.
Today: the question is: AM I AN UNCLEAN OR A CLEAN VESSEL? It does matter!!! You are either one or the other!!
This is what Paul is saying to the Corinthians (Read 7:1 again) We are to clean up & SERVE the Lord!! (People really need to get serious with God & come clean)
People think they can just do as they please…..and get by…it don’t work that way. There are rules & regulations, there are boundaries that have been set, boundaries that people have given their lives fighting for.
We believe that you are saved from your sins & that you are to seek completeness in Christ Jesus. We believe you are to have a Godly walk and that you should be or desire to be cleansed from all indwelling sin. These are things that shall evidence our commitment to God.
I. By DOING that which is enjoined in the Word of God: (Job was a perfect & upright man)
1.) Loving God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength – loving one’s neighbor as oneself. This is absolutely the most IMPORTANT thing we do….LOVE GOD!!!!
(Mark 12:28-31) “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, He asked him, of all the commandments, which is the most important? The most important one, answered Jesus, is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”
It’s funny…..when people love God first, you will see them in church, you will see them giving & serving. Not just talking!! Too much talking today.
2.) Pressing upon the attention of the unsaved the claims of the Gospel, inviting them to the House of the Lord, and trying to compass their Salvation.
(Romans 1:14-16) “I am obligated both to the Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the Gospel also to you who are at Rome. I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jews, then for the Gentile.”
How EAGER are we too win the lost? Win our family? How many folks during the week do we invite to church? (It is possible that you might be ashamed today!?!)
Are you inviting people you know to this church?? Why not?? It’s OUR responsibility to be inviting them in.
3.) Being courteous to ALL men.
(Ephesians 4:32) Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Courteous means “Polite”. These are things that we do that lets the world know that we have Jesus in our heart. Treat folks like you want to be treated!! Bottom line? IF YOU ARE SAVED – THEN ACT LIKE IT!! We don’t treat folks like they treat us….we treat them like we want to be treated!!
4.) Being helpful to those that are in the faith.
(Romans 12:13) “Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”
If God has blessed you – then SHARE it with others…..He’s talking about your Christian Brother or Sister.
5.) Seeking to do good to the bodies and souls of men.
(I John 3:17-18) “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
The service test in Matthew tells us to :
Feed the hungry
Cloth the naked
Give water to thirsty
Visit the sick
Visit the imprisoned
The question today is: Are you doing your part??
6.) Contributing to the support of the ministry and the church and its work in tithes and offerings.
(Matthew 6:33) “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
God has got to come first!! Many people in the Bible got into real trouble when they tried to give God what was left. God has given His very best so He expects us to give Him our very best.
You will not be blessed when you steal from God.
7.) Attending faithfully all the ordinances of God, and the means of Grace, including the public worship of God.
(Hebrews 10:25) “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the day approaching.”
Bottom line? If you love the Lord you need to be in church worshipping Him. Folks everywhere out there today worshipping other Gods…..We can’t stress enough the need for us to be in God’s House, we encourage each other. You never know by looking at someone whether or not they may be on the verge of “giving up”.
These are things that we DO…….next I want to talk about things we DON’T DO.
II. By avoiding EVIL of every kind: (Job also was a man that eschews evil)
1.) Taking the name of God in vain.
(James 5:12) “Above all, my brothers, do not swear-not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your yes be yes, and your no, no, or you will be condemned.”
That’s one of the saddest things today…..To hear Christians talking ugly. The Bible says :”from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Bottom line? If it’s in your heart it will come out.
Today you need to be set free from this terrible witness.
2.) Profaning of the Lord’s day by participation in unnecessary secular activities.
(Revelation 1:10) “On the Lords Day I was in the spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.”
(Acts 20:7) On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.”
To the Christian, the Lord’s Day is important. It is the day we worship & honor God. We need to be careful of the things we do on the Lords Day……..It’s not just another day of the week.
3.) Sexual immorality, such as pre marital or extra marital relations.
(I Corinthians 6: 9-11) “Do 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. Nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And 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.”
I don’t know how I can get across the importance of us to know that God is very SERIOUS about sexual immorality. When folks do these things it is a sure sign that they need to GET RIGHT WITH GOD…….
4.) Habits or practices known to be destructive of physical and mental well-being.
(I Corinthians 6:19) “Do 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; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
It’s not “when God gets ready for me to quit He will take them from me.” It doesn’t work that way…..We’re not to let things control us. Whether it is alcohol, drugs, nicotine…..they are all drugs & addictive. Folks need to get ADDICTED to Jesus Christ & I think they’d leave the junk of the world alone!! (even prescription drugs can be abused)
5.) Quarreling, returning evil for evil, gossiping, slandering, spreading rumors that are injurious to a good name.
(Galatians 5:15) “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”
Folks today want to go places…be somebody….Many don’t care who they step on as they travel up the ladder. Folks will run others down in order to lift their own selves up. This goes back to treating folks good. I believe there are more in the church that would rather not hear garbage on others than there are that want to hear it!!!
6.) Dishonesty, taking advantage in buying & selling, bearing false witness, and like works of the darkness.
(Romans 12:17) “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.”
No matter where you are or what you are doing……there is someone watching you. Bottom line? GOD IS WATCHING YOU…….this does matter. We will be judged according to the things we do in these bodies, where good or bad!!!!
7.) The indulging of pride in dress or behavior. We are to dress with Christian simplicity and modesty that become Holiness.
(I John 2:15-17) “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and it’s desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”
We are to act like Holiness people. We need to be everything God created and what God wants us to be!! We’re not to be competing with each other or to try & keep up with the Jones. BE WHAT GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO BE!!!! When the inside gets cleaned up then the outside will be clean too.
8.) Music, literature, and entertainments that dishonor God.
(James 4:4) You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
What a sad place to be….An enemy of God. I’m afraid that there are a great deal of folks out there will find out one day that they have been an ENEMY OF GOD!!
CONCLUSION
Where are you today? Maybe this Doctrine of Holiness is new to you today? Maybe you don’t quite understand. Do you want FREEDOM today from things that are dragging you down? Do you need to BE SET FREE?
Come down….we will pray for you today to be FILLED…CLEANSED & EMPOWERED!!!!!
