We again tonight look at the great subject of cultivating holiness, the importance of holiness in the life of the child of God. The farmer who sows his seed, who cultivates, plows, plants, harrows, and does all the other things, he cannot produce a harvest, for he is totally dependent upon forces outside of himself. He cannot make the rain to fall or the sun to shine. But if He doesn't plant and if He doesn't plow and if He doesn't do all the other things that I mentioned, He can't expect a harvest either. They both go together. He is totally dependent upon the Lord, yet coupled with His dependence is active working in this respect. This morning we looked at the what of holiness. and the how to cultivate. Tonight, we want to look at encouragement for cultivating holiness. And as we do so, we're going to look at the scriptures that we've been reading for the last two sessions that I've dwelt on this subject. And tonight, as we read together, we want to look at the context in which each of the verses fall. So let us begin at Leviticus chapter ten and verse ten. Leviticus chapter ten and verse ten where we read, And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean. The context of this passage is God's judgment upon the priesthood, in particular Aaron's son Nadab and Abihu, two of his sons, whom the Lord killed. as they offered strange fire before the Lord. The previous verse to the one we read speaks of a prohibition. God says through Moses, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou nor thy sons with thee, when you go into the tabernacle of the congregation. And God hereby tells them, I want you to know that you must put a difference between not which is holy, and that which is unholy. And this is so important in the day in which you and I live. People claim that they know the Lord. They've made a profession of faith, but there's never a change in the life. And God calls us to holiness. Leviticus chapter nineteen and verse two. Leviticus nineteen and verse two. where we read, speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel and say unto them, Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. And if you read the following verses, he speaks of the importance of our duty toward man, our parents, toward God, the abhorrence of idolatry, which is so important. And the New Testament speaks of that also. For the last verse in the first epistle of John says, My little children, keep yourselves from idols. And finally, he tells them about how important it is the sacrifices that they bring to God, their peace offerings and every other offering that he's brought to him. So now we turn to the book of Deuteronomy chapter seven. Deuteronomy chapter seven and verse six, where we read, For thou art and holy people unto the Lord thy God, the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all the people that are upon the face of the earth. Here we find God designates his people, a holy people, And they are a holy people because God has chosen them to be so. That is true of us. He moves in verse seven to tell us that he did not set his love upon them, nor choose you because you were more in number than any people. And great numbers are impressive. They're not impressive to God. God didn't choose Israel because they were the greatest people on the earth. No. He says, you were the fewest of all people. But then he adds, but because the Lord loved you and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, that the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. In other words, God's electing love sealed these people as a holy people. Therefore, it was their bounden duty to live this way before God in the inheritance that he was leading them to. Therefore, we now turn to First Peter, chapter one. First Peter, chapter one, verse fifteen. where we read, But as he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, in all manner of life. Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. In other words, here in the context of this, if you notice verses thirteen and fourteen, it is in the context of obedient walking with the Lord. in our everyday life. It calls for holiness. In other words, we're not simply to be holy on the Lord's day. We are to be holy Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Every day is unto the Lord. So now we turn back to Hebrews chapter twelve in verse fourteen. And Hebrews twelve verse fourteen says, Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Here in this passage, we are reminded of the importance of holiness. For apart from holiness, no man shall see the Lord. For as A.W. Tozer said, when God declares a sinner to be righteous, he immediately sets about to make him so. This is why we can expect the person who is saved to live a changed life. And the life that is not changed by conversion, we have every reason to put a question mark behind that profession. And this context in which this is found It is found in the context of the chastening hand of the Lord. That glorious New Testament, New Covenant, promise whereby God reminds us that we are His. When we step off base, He tags us out and He chastens us because He loves us. Whomsoever the Lord loveeth, He chastenseth. And in the midst, of the teaching of the chastening hand of the Lord. He does it that we might be partakers of His holiness as we read in verse ten and as we notice in verse eleven that afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are exercised by it. And then he gives the comforting word, wherefore lift up. the hands which hang down in the feeble knees. There's no need to be down over the fact that God desires holiness. We should be encouraged by the desires of God for holiness on our part. So tonight as we approach this subject of the cultivation of holiness, we've again read these very important scriptures. Now we've been predestinated to be conformed to the image of God's Son. He was called before he was born that holy thing. The angel Gabriel said to Mary, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Therefore, friends, holiness of life should be the continuous desire of the child of God. Now we examine the command to cultivate holiness and God's call to cultivate holiness from both the Old and the New Testaments. We also looked at the what and the how. Tonight we want to look at encouragement for cultivating holiness. First of all, God has called us to holiness for our good and for His glory. We read in First Thessalonians chapter four and verse seven, God has not called us to uncleanness, but unto holiness. And when we talk about the call of God, we're talking about that effectual call that brings us into a genuine relationship with a triune God. And friends, whatever God calls us to is necessary. And since he has called us to holiness, then holiness is necessary. And that last verse we read, it is so necessary that if it is lacking, no man shall see the Lord. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. The call of God itself, as well as the benefits of that call that you and I experience, should induce us to seek and to produce holiness. Now, holiness amounts to our spiritual well-being. How do I know? Psalm eighty-four, verse eleven says, No good thing will the Lord withhold from them to walk uprightly. And therefore to walk in holiness, all the good benefits that are going to accrue from that very thing. But there's another reason. Holiness glorifies the God we love. And we sang tonight, Lord Jesus, I love you. I know thou art mine. A holy walk proves it. A holy walk glorifies the God that we love. And then, of course, holiness makes the most for God's honor. We're desiring the honor of God, not the honor of ourselves. As we learned when our brother David spoke the other night on John the Baptist, And those words there in John three, He must increase. I must decrease. Now there's a second encouragement. Holiness makes us resemble God. And it preserves our integrity. Our witness as believers is very important. What is it? It is to present Christ to the world. Our bodies are world conscious. When people who know us, they know us as a person. And we are a person is a body. We exist as a body. And the thing is, it's through our body that we present Christ to the world. And that is why it is so important. And Romans twelve says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies. It is the holy life that he's seen a man. And the life of Christ on earth is our pattern. I remember Dr. Harold Laird, who was involved in the Splits, in the Presbyterian Church in the nineteen twenties, Dr. Machen. And Those men who formed Westminster Seminary. And he was preaching in Lebanon, my hometown. And he was a personal friend. And he had just come from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. And Lancaster had the big stockyards. And there's a man there by the name of Sam Schatzberger. He was an ungodly rascal. But God saved him. And he was in the trucking business. And after Sam Schatzberger was saved, his life was so transformed that when he walked on the aisles of the stockyard, the men took off their hats. So great was a transformation. And my friend Harold Laird said this. He said, Facts are stubborn things, especially... when they walk our streets and breathe our air. These men could not get over the transformation in the life of Sam Schatzberger. What an encouragement to holiness. With his body he was not showing forth that from which he was saved, but he was showing forth the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. You see, This becomes a pattern for our humility. Philippians two, verses five through thirteen. It begins in verse five, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God. And it shows his humility as he stepped from the Godhead, even to the death of the cross. And God highly exalted him and gave him a name, which is above every name. And then he adds, His word of personal application to us. He says, Wherefore, my beloved brethren, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who worketh in you, both the will and the do of his good pleasure. And in working out what God has worked in is a working out of holiness. So when I read the New Testament, I learned a number of things. First of all, the compassion of Christ was a holy compassion. Mark's Gospel, chapter one, and verse forty-one. He had a holy compassion upon the multitude. The forgiveness of Christ was a holy forgiveness. Colossians three and verse thirteen. And Matthew twenty-three shows that Christ indignation against sin was a holy indignation as he pronounced woes upon the scribes, the Pharisees, and the hypocrites. You see, this desire and this encouragement to holiness, which causes us to resemble God and preserve our integrity, it delivers us from something. It delivers us from Sunday morning only Christianity. It does something else. It gives us vitality. It gives us purpose. It gives us meaning. And it gives us direction in the Christian life. I tell you, beloved, holiness is a great encouragement. It makes us resemble God and it preserves us in our integrity. But more than that, you know, Integrity is a great word. When we think of what has happened in the area of televangelism over the last number of years, integrity fell to a new role among many men because of a lack of holiness. But there's a third encouragement, beloved. Holiness gives evidence of our justification and election, and it ministers assurance. You know, assurance is a wonderful, wonderful thing to possess. To be able to sing from the heart, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. But you see, assurance is basically resting upon sanctification and it rests upon election. Notice, sanctification is the inevitable fruit of justification. You can distinguish between justification and sanctification. but you can never separate them because God has married them. The man whom God justifies, declares righteous. That same one, that same man he works in to make holy. Now, the new birth, it issues in a new life, and the justified person or persons, they walk in the king's highway of holiness. That's where they walk. You see, justification gives a child of God a title for heaven and boldness to enter into the holiest of all. But sanctification, it gives him the fitness for heaven and the preparation necessary to enjoy it. You know, when I get the glory, I don't want to just get there by the skin of my teeth. I want to enjoy heaven on my way there. And holiness is that great encouragement that God gives us for the enjoyment of it. You see, sanctification is the personal appropriation of the fruit of justification. Or to the immoral woman of John eight. Remember what our Lord said to her? The woman taken in adultery in John eight. When they brought her to the Lord and our Lord looked at her, he said, Neither do I condemn thee. He said, Where are these thine accusers? And she had her confess to the Lord. No man, Lord. He said, Neither do I condemn thee. That's justification. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. And with Wesley we can sing, No condemnation. Now I dread Jesus, my Lord. And the in him and he is mine alive in him my living head and clothes in righteousness divine that's justification what our Lord immediately said to the woman sin no more that's sanctification don't miss it neither do I condemn thee that's justification go and sin no more that's sanctification you see But when I not only mentioned sanctification as being an encouragement to holiness, but so is election. You see that passage that we read there in Deuteronomy chapter seven, thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. God has called us to holiness. And when we turn to first or second Thessalonians chapter two, verse thirteen, I will read this. God has chosen you from the beginning. for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit. That's election. He has chosen us for this very thing. That's what He said to the people of Israel under the Old Testament economy. Thou art and holy people unto the Lord thy God. Election is that most comforting doctrine for the believer. and it gives us a sure foundation and it explains the grace of God working in us. That's what it does. Not to rely upon election. Without living a holy life is to fall prey to a satanic misuse of this precious and encouraging doctrine. There are many. who have fallen prey to this. Elect men and women are known and distinguished by holy lives. Holiness is the visible side of salvation. Someone said to C. H. Spurgeon one day, He said, if I believed what you did about election, I'd only preach to the elect. For they're the only ones that are going to get saved anyway. Spurgeon said, the only problem is God has told us to go into all the world and preach a gospel. And if he put a yellow streak down the backs of those that are the elect, I'd go to them. But I don't know who they are. So I preach a gospel to everybody. And you see, that gospel that transforms life, It is a life then that issues in holiness. Holiness is the visible side of salvation. But you see, holiness ministers assurance. Oh, this is an encouragement. Because I found in my witnessing over the past number of years that not everybody that sings blessed assurance has it. I say that kindly. You let any believer forego the daily pursuit of holiness and they lose a sense of assurance. And assurance and joy go together. If they don't pursue holiness, they're going to lose their joy in the Lord. And if they lose their joy in the Lord, they're going to that extent lose their assurance. See, a growing love to obey God by means of grace and a corresponding obedience is what ministers assurance. For the sheep of God, hear his voice, and they follow him. Ah, there's a fourth encouragement in the Word of God for holy living, to cultivate holiness. As a believer, holiness alone can make you pure. Titus chapter one in verse fifteen says, but unto them. And this is a contrast in that verse. It's a contrast with those unto the pure all things are pure. but he says unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure holiness alone can purify us as God says through the psalmist he says if you show yourself stubborn I'll show myself stubborn and I'm going to tell you you cannot stubborn God it's impossible holiness alone is what can make us pure before God. Now, holiness cannot be exercised, beloved, where the heart has not been transformed by divine regeneration. This is why the new birth is so necessary. Unless the heart has been transformed by divine regeneration, you cannot expect purity of life. See, There's a reason for this. It's in the new birth wherein God writes his law upon our hearts. As you read in Hebrews ten and in Hebrews chapter eight, it's in the new birth that Christ is crowned Lord and King and the believer made desirous to obey God and live a holy life that pleases him. It's the new birth that does this for us as the children of God. See, the Holy Spirit not only teaches us what Christ has done, the Holy Spirit actualizes that work in us. It's the Holy Spirit's ministry to us, and it's manifested in holy living, in a cultivation of holiness. But there's a fifth encouragement in the Word of God for holiness. and to cultivate it in the believer's life. Holiness is essential for effective service to God and for God. Second Timothy chapter two, verse twenty-one says, If a man therefore will purge himself from these, and he's speaking about vessels unto dishonor. If a man purge himself from these, then he shall be a vessel unto honor sanctified and meet for the master's use and prepared unto every good work that's a great text there in second Timothy too and how do we purge ourselves it's by a definite choice as a people of God we're dependent upon forces outside of ourselves like the farmer to produce a crop but we do for out of field. And we do cultivate. And we do the necessary things in order that the crop will be there. Depending upon God to do those things that we cannot do. You see, holiness is used by God in the preaching of the gospel. You see, holiness builds up the credit of the preacher. Are you ready to live or to listen to a preacher who lives immorally or a preacher who lies or a preacher who is involved in embezzlement? I'm certainly not. And you see, God uses holiness in the preaching of the gospel. You see, holiness builds up the credit of the Christian faith, and carelessness in Christians dishonors the word and the work of God. See, Holy Living preaches reality. Sam Schatzberger walking down the aisles of the stockyards of Lancaster County. His life preached reality. God had done a work. You see, and there's no argument against reality, for facts are stubborn things, especially when they walk our streets and breathe our air. Finally, holiness fits us for heaven. What an encouragement. A holy life fits us for heaven. Our final text there in Hebrews twelve says, Follow peace with all men and holiness, apart from which no man shall see the Lord. Our text is simply saying, God leads no one to heaven whom he does not sanctify on earth. And that needs to be spoken today. That needs to be written in big letters before professors. God leads no one to heaven whom He doesn't sanctify on earth. For apart from holiness, no man shall see the Lord. See, the enjoyment of heaven begins on earth. Heaven begins in the heart before it's consummated in a home. Hell begins in the heart before it's consummated in a home. Beloved, God simply honors the choices that men make in time, and He honors them in eternity. Do we have that desire to cultivate holiness in our lives that we may bring forth fruit unto God? Or what encouragement God gives us to do what we read in the close of the book of Job, of the book of Jude, where he says, building up yourselves in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And then he adds, now unto him who is able, to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only wise God our Savior the glory majesty dominion and power both now and forever amen let's pray together our father we thank you tonight for these truths concerning a holy life and for the encouragement that the word of God gives us to walk in holiness and purity before thee. We thank you, O God of our praise, for every detail of life, for the importance of fellowship with thee in thy word day by day. We ask you now that you would take this word and bless it to every heart for the Lord Jesus' sake. Amen. Now, in the will of the Lord, on Wednesday night, we're going to look at hindrances to cultivating holiness. The Lord bless. Good night.