Sermon #1304[1] Miscellaneous
Sermons
Title: “Perfecting Holiness
In The Fear Of God”
Text: 2 Corinthians 7:1
Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:1-7:1
Subject: Practical Holiness
Date: Sunday Morning - November 30, 1997
Tape # U-29
Introduction:
The title of my message this morning
is “Perfecting
Holiness In The Fear Of God”. Read the text with me - “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.”
In this verse of Scripture the apostle Paul appeals to the
noblest motives of the believer’s heart and exhorts us to live before God and
men in this world in righteousness, godliness, and holiness. He stirs up our
hearts to the perfecting of holiness. I pray that God the Holy Spirit will
graciously stir our hearts to the pursuit of this noble ambition.
This
message is addressed to you who are born of God, my “dearly beloved” brothers
and sisters in Christ. I am talking to you who are redeemed, justified,
and sanctified in Christ. I am calling myself and you to the perfecting of
holiness. The basis of my appeal is
the free grace of God in Christ, which we have experienced. I offer no
promises of reward. I make no threats of punishment. We are not mercenary
soldiers, hired servants, or slaves in bondage to law. I am calling upon us,
for Christ’s sake, to set our hearts upon the business of perfecting holiness.
·
I am not
suggesting that we add anything to the work of Christ, seek to contribute
anything to the work of the Holy Spirit, or in any way try to improve our
standing before God (1 Cor. 1:30; Col. 2:10).
·
And I am not
forgetting the corruption of our nature, the weakness of our flesh, and the
influence of the old man, Adam, upon our lives (Rom. 7:18; 1 John 1:8).
·
I know that
every believer is a person with two natures, which are constantly at war with
one another (Gal. 5:17).
·
And I know
that the flesh will never serve, or be in agreement with, the Spirit. And the
Spirit will never surrender to the flesh. This warfare will not end until we
cease to live in this world.
·
But I also
know that you and I have a responsibility to live in this world, in the
presence of God’s enemies and ours, in such righteousness, godliness, and
holiness of character that men and women may see our good works and glorify our
Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16).
Matthew 5:16 "Let
your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father which is in heaven."
NOTE:
My character and conduct in this world cannot, in any way, alter my
relationship with God. It neither improves it nor diminishes it. But my
character and conduct in this world does reflect my relationship with God.
Proposition: All who are born
of God are responsible to glorify God in every aspect of their lives in this
world, and willingly seek to do so.
Colossians 3:17 "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God and the Father by him."
Divisions: There are four things in this verse to which I want to call
your attention:
1.
The Promises
God Has Given.
2.
The Cleansing
We Must Perform.
3.
The Goal We
Seek.
4.
The Motive By
Which We Are Driven.
I. First, Paul uses THE
PROMISES GOD HAS GIVEN to inspire our hearts to obedience.
“Having
therefore these promises” - Paul is addressing believers, children of God.
He takes the Corinthians at their word. They did not act much like believers.
But they professed to be believers. Therefore Paul spoke to them as believers,
men and women who were free from the law and motivated by grace. He presumes that they will gladly obey God
when they are reminded of God’s goodness to them. So he prefaced his
exhortation with these words - “Having
therefore these promises.”
What are the promises to which he is referring? They are the promises given in 6:16-18 to
all who obey the gospel. If you have come out of the world and identified
yourself with Christ by an open profession of faith in public baptism, these
five promises are given to you. If
you trust Christ God himself has promised you...
A.
His abiding presence within you (v. 16).
2 Corinthians 6:14-16 "Be ye not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and
what communion hath light with darkness?
(15) And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel? (16) And
what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the
living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people."
He said, “I will dwell in them.” :You are the temple of God. Your very body,
soul, and spirit is the place of God’s permanent residence. That God whom the
heavens cannot contain, that God who refuses to dwell in shrines and temples
made by the hands of men, that God dwells in you (John 14:18, 23; Col. 1:27).
John 14:18
"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."
John 14:23
"Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep
my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our
abode with him."
Colossians 1:27
"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles;
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:"
God
dwells in you as...
1.
The Giver Of
Life.
2.
The Revealer
Of Truth.
3.
The Preserver
Of Grace.
4.
The Seal Of
The Covenant.
5.
The Earnest Of
Heaven.
6.
The Comforter
Of Your Heart.
B.
His manifest communion with you (v. 16).
God said, “I will walk in them.”
John Gill said, “This denotes the communion God is pleased to afford
his church and people, and the gracious presence of his with them, whilst they
are sojourners here, and passing on to the heavenly glory.”
Wherever
the believer goes, the name of that place is “Jehovah-shammah,” the Lord is
there! The Lord God goes with you...
·
To Work In The
Morning.
·
Through The
Trials Of The Day.
·
Into The
Wilderness Of Temptation.
·
To The House
Of Worship.
·
To Your Bed At
Night.
C.
His covenant faithfulness (v. 16).
The Lord God said, concerning you and
me, “I will be their God, and they shall
be my people.”
This is the language of God’s oath in the covenant of grace,
before the world began (Jer. 31:33).
Jeremiah 31:33 "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel;
After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my
people."
He
is the God of all men as the Creator of all, and the Ruler of all, and the
Judge of all. But he is our God by the special designs of his grace. And we are
his people, his special, peculiar people, by the sovereign operations of his
grace (Psa. 110:3).
·
The People Of
His Eternal Love.
·
The People Of
His Redemptive Purpose.
·
The People Of
His Saving Grace.
·
The People Of
His Unfailing Faithfulness.
D.
Perfect, unconditional acceptance with Him (v. 17).
The Lord God said, “I will receive them.” What wonderful,
good news. We are “accepted in the
Beloved!” God receives every sinner who comes to him by faith in Christ
because he has forever received us in Christ, our Substitute and Mediator.
·
He Received Us
Before The Worlds Were Made.
·
He Received Us
When We Came To Him (The Prodigal).
·
He Receives Us
Now.
·
He Receives Us
Forever.
·
He Shall
Receive Us Up Into Heaven.
E.
The assurance of adoption (v. 18).
The Lord God says to every believer, “I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall
be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (Read Gal. 6:4-6; 1
John 3:1-2).
Galatians 6:4-6 "But let every man prove his own work,
and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. (5) For every man shall bear his own
burden. (6) Let him that is taught in
the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things."
1 John 3:1-2
"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that
we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not,
because it knew him not. (2) Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as
he is."
1.
God himself is our Father!
·
A father takes
care of his children.
·
A father
provides for his children.
·
A father
prepares an inheritance for his children.
·
A father
disciplines his children.
2. We are the sons and daughters of God almighty!
Our Father is both able and willing to
do all that he has in love purposed and promised to do for us!
Having such promises as these, we
ought to be inspired to do anything we can for the honor of our God. We should
be willing to give ourselves in unreserved love to our great God (Rom. 12:1-2).
Wouldn’t you agree?
Romans 12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service. (2) And be not
conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
II. Because we have such a great, good, and gracious God, Paul,
in the second place, exhorts us to THE
CLEANSING WE MUST PERFORM.
“Having
therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all
filthiness of the flesh and spirit.”
You know, of course, that you cannot cleanse away your own
sins. That is God’s work alone.
“What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”
Paul
is not talking about our justification. We have been freely justified
by the obedience of Christ as our Substitute (Rom. 3:24-26; 5:19). And he is not talking about our
sanctification. We are fully sanctified by the application of Christ’s
work to our hearts in regeneration (Heb. 9:14; 10:10). Paul is talking about he exercise of godliness, the purity of our
lives, in our daily conduct. Being the heirs of such great promises, from such
a great God, we ought to live in this world for the honor of our God
(Tit. 2:10-14).
Titus 2:10-14 "Not purloining, but showing all good
fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. (11) For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men, (12) Teaching
us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly, in this present world; (13) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of
the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
(14) Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity,
and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
NOTE:
In our text Paul says, “Let us cleanse ourselves,” not “you
cleanse yourselves.” In all things, he takes the lead.
A.
We must cleanse ourselves.
Our business is not to cleanse one another, but to cleanse
ourselves.
B.
We must cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, the
body and the mind.
Inordinate sins of the flesh, the body, to my knowledge are
not a great problem with any member of this congregation. - Adultery,
fornication, drunkenness, theft, murder, and blasphemy are not, and must never
become, matters of indifference to us. These evils are not among us. But let us
take care that we avoid the appearance of evil.
Perhaps I need to say a little more
about the filthiness of the spirit, or the mind. These are things that others
do not see. They are inward more than outward. Therefore, we tend to be less on
guard against them. But these inward evils are just as vile as the outward
deeds of the flesh.
1.
Envy And
Covetousness.
2.
Malice And
Wrath.
3.
Gossip And
Slander.
4.
Strfe And
Division.
5.
Worry And
Unbelief.
6.
A Hard,
Critical, Judgmental, Unforgiving Spirit.
7.
All False
Religion (6:14-16).
C.
How can we cleanse ourselves of these things?
We cannot eradicate sin from our nature, or even make the
nature of flesh less sinful. We are going to have to live with sin as long as
we live in this world. But we can and must cleanse ourselves. This is not a legal work. It is a work
of faith (Acts 15:9; 1 Pet. 1:22).
Acts 15:9 "And
put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith."
1 Peter 1:22
"Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through
the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:"
1.
We must
continually flee to the Fountain opened, and wash ourselves by faith in the
blood of Christ (Zech. 13:1).
Zechariah 13:1 "In that day there shall be a fountain
opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and
for uncleanness."
Illustration: Old Faithful
2. We must bathe in the laver of God’s Word (John 15:3).
John 15:3 "Now
ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you."
3.
And we must
put off the old man, say “No” to the flesh, and put on the new man, say “Yes”
to Christ (Eph. 4:21 - 5:2).
Ephesians 4:21-32 "If so be that ye have heard him, and
have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: (22) That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old
man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; (23) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; (24) And that ye put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (25) Wherefore putting away lying,
speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. (26) Be ye angry, and sin not: let not
the sun go down upon your wrath: (27) Neither
give place to the devil. (28) Let him
that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that
he may have to give to him that needeth.
(29) Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which
is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (30) And grieve not the holy Spirit of
God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (31) Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and
evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: (32) And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
Ephesians 5:1-2 "Be ye therefore followers of God, as
dear children; (2) And walk in love,
as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a
sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour."
NOTE:
Do not give place to sin. Anything you know to be evil, or anything that
has the appearance of evil, forsake.
III. Thirdly, this is THE
GOAL WE SEEK.
“Having
therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all
filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness.”
When Paul speaks here of “perfecting holiness,” he is not
talking about perfecting God’s work of justification or perfecting God’s work
of sanctification. God’s work does
not need the touch of man’s polluted hand to perfect it! Paul is
talking about our lives in this world.
Paul is telling us that the believer
is “to be carrying on a course of righteousness and holiness to the end. To the
end of his life he is to persevere as in faith, so in holiness. As he is to go
on believing in Christ, so he is to go on to live soberly, righteously, and
godly to the end of his days” (John Gill).
We know that the perfection of
holiness in this life is an impossibility. But we can never allow ourselves to
be content, or satisfied, with anything less than the perfection of holiness in
character and conduct.
A.
The Perfecting holiness is the goal we seek.
That perfection of holiness is neither more nor less than
conformity to the character and conduct of Christ.
B. We
must blame ourselves for falling short of this goal.
The weakness of my nature, the infirmity of my flesh, the
sin dwelling in me is my own doing. It is my fault. I seek no excuses for it,
but only cleansing from it.
C. Soon
we will have that perfection of holiness which we desire (1 John 3:2).
1 John 3:2
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him;
for we shall see him as he is."
1.
We have been
predestined and elected to it (Rom. 8:29; Eph. 1:4-5).
2.
We have been
redeemed for it (Eph. 5:25-27).
3.
We have been
born for it (Rom. 8:21).
4.
We shall enter
into it!
Child of God, set the perfection of
holiness before you as your goal. Strive to attain it in experience. And trust
Christ alone for it. Those two statements are not contradictory! Strive to
attain perfect holiness in experience. And trust Christ alone for it.
IV. Now, fourthly, here is THE
MOTIVE BY WHICH WE ARE DRIVEN.
“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.”
The fear of God is not the dreadful, terrifying fear of
unbelief, but the reverential fear of faith and love.
·
The fear of
God casts out the fear of man, eliminating one common cause of sin.
·
The fear of
God is the root of faith, worship, and obedience.
·
The fear of
God works through love.
Application:
Need I say more? (Read 1 Cor. 6:9-11, 20 - 2 Cor. 7:1).
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, (10) Nor thieves, nor
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the
kingdom of God. (11) And such were
some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 "What? know ye not that your body is the
temple of the Holy Ghost which is in
you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (20) For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your
body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
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."
AMEN.
[1] See also Sermon #868 preached at Danville 8\15\89, Carbondale, IL 9\5\89, Lincoln Wood in Houston, TX 11\24\89.