Gooding, David: 5 - Knowledge of the Living Lord

For my last session with you, I wish to call attention to chapters thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen. I apologize for the utterly inordinate haste with which I go over these things. My hope is that rather than preach you extensive sermons, I should be allowed simply to open a few windows here and there, to point to the view that is to be seen through the window, and leave a lot of the detail to your own explorations. It is in that kind of spirit now that I turn to John chapters thirteen to sixteen, And in the title for this particular seminar, I have chosen the phrase, holiness is a balanced thing. First of all, I better explain why I regard these chapters in John as being teaching about holiness. The first piece of evidence I would call is the enacted parable with which chapter thirteen begins. While supper was being served, or got ready and put on the table, our Lord took a basin, poured water to it, stripped his outer cloak, girded himself with a towel, and washed his disciples' feet. That was an object lesson in humility. Left you an example that you should do what I have done. For washing the feet of a guest was the humble service given to a slave. And, uh, by the host of the occasion, the slave would be deputed to wash the feet of the guests who arrived to the banquet. So our Lord, in washing his disciples' feet, was giving, in the first place, an example of humble service. The phrase became metaphorical. One reads in the Pastoral Epistles, one Timothy chapter five, regulations about how the widows in the church should be treated. The younger widows, Paul says, should be encouraged, if they can, to marry again or to take up some kind of work. The older widows, uh, should be supported, and that on certain conditions. If in their younger life they have done this, that, and the other, they have proved themselves to be not layabouts and lazy and self-centered. And the things that, uh, are looked for, one of them is this, if they have washed the saints' feet, meaning the feet of ordinary believers, of course. And that does not necessarily mean that they have literally washed. It's a metaphor for humble service of any kind. And if these women have showed in their lifetime the willingness to serve the people of God in whatever humble service may have been theirs or bigger service, then they should be maintained by the church. The lesson applies to us all, of course, as Christ calls upon us to follow his example of humble service. But then it becomes very quickly apparent that the washing of the disciples' feet is more than a simple moral lesson that we have to serve others humbly. It has a spiritual dimension to it, because when our Lord ca- comes to Peter, you'll see it in chapter thirteen and verse 6. When he comes to Peter, uh, he says to him, Lord, do wash my feet. Jesus answered and said to him, what I doest, n- uh, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt understand hereafter. Je- Peter says to him, thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. And to that our Lord replies in very important language. Jesus says to him, he who has been bathed, that is bathed all over, needs not so to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, and not all, for he knew him that should betray him. Therefore, said he, you are not all clean. Ponder that a moment, and you will see that our Lord now is talking far beyond an act of humble service to somebody else. The thing has become a metaphor for something very much higher. So when Peter says, wash not my only my hands and my feet, our Lord says, but wait a minute, Peter, he who has been bathed all over doesn't need to wash except to rinse his his feet, but otherwise completely clean. What kind of bathing is he talking about? And what kind o- of cleansing? It is true that in the analogy at the ground floor level, the experience would be as follows, that if a man were invited to a great banquet in the house of the rich person down the road, he would perhaps take a bath that afternoon. But then, walking along the street to the, uh, to the banquet house, when he arrived, there would be the servants deputed not to bathe him all over again, but simply to to wash his feet, s- uh, sullied a little bit by the sandy roads through which he had walked with his open sandals, washing his feet, therefore, not bathing him all over again. So it was true at the literal level. But that our Lord meant it more than that is seen by what he says about Judas. Though he didn't name him, that was the one he was referring to. You are all clean, he said. Eh, you're not all clean. He that has been bathed all over is completely clean and doesn't need thereafter except to rinse his feet, but you're not all clean. He was referring to Judas, and he wasn't complaining because Judas hadn't taken a bath recently, was he? So now what did he mean? It is at that level that I come in to argue with you that these chapters are the beginning of our Lord's special teaching on holiness. And I want us to observe what will seem to you very elementary and obvious things. Forgive my pointing them out, you see. But there are two washings to which our Lord refers. One is a bathing all over. That doesn't need to be repeated. Once a person has been bathed all over, thereafter they need, he's completely, or she is completely clean and needs thereafter only to wash the feet. Two clean cleansings then, and we have to find out what they stand for. The next observation I want to make is that the cleaning material was water and not blood. This is not a reference to the atoning work of Christ at Calvary. And the once and for all bathing is certainly not being bathed with blood. It is, as you see, being bathed, the context is of being bathed with water. We need to get hold of that and be very, uh, very clear about that, for many fail to make that distinction, and they talk as though the bathing all over is that which is affected when we come to Christ and put our faith in his atoning blood, and by the blood of Christ we are completely cleansed from the guilt of sin. It is certainly true that when we put our faith in Christ, we're cleansed by the blood of Christ from the guilt of sin. That's not what this is talking about. This is talking about being bathed not with blood, but with pure water. There are two cleansings, therefore, and I want us to notice that in the doctrinal parts of the New Testament, both these cleansings are talked about and talked about quite distinctly. Let us remember, for instance, the first epistle by John, and chapter one and verse one, which says as this: If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses us from all sin. There is explicitly mentioned cleansing by blood. There is another, uh, word in the Epistle to the Ephesians in chapter five. It is in the course of husbands being exhorted to love their wives, and continues, this is Ephesians five and verse twenty five— Even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. There are two kinds of cleansing then, aren't there, the New Testament epistles explicitly mention them and distinguish them. Washing by blood cleanses us from all sin, the blood cleanses us from all sin. Washing by water. That there are two such cleansings. Let's turn now to Hebrews chapter ten. And this is, uh, a verse twenty two, which is explaining to believers in Christ how that they can enter even now in spirit into the holiest of all, into the immediate presence of God, and be welcomed in his presence. And the preparations are these. Verse twenty one: having a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. That's one cleansing. Now here comes the second. And our bodies bathed. I hope you've got a decent translation, cost you a lot of money, and therefore has got it right. Our bodies bathed, being bathed all over. It's the word that is used in John thirteen, He that has been bathed all over, our bodies bathed with pure water. Two cleansings. Our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, our bodies bathed with pure water. So why do we need two? And what's the difference between the cleansing by blood and the cleansing by water? Uh, the uh, epistle to Hebrews is very helpful here. Cleansing by blood. How does the blood of Christ cleanse you, and what does it cleanse? There's a popular hymn that used to be sung. I don't think it's sung now, places taken by other rhythms, but it used to go, would you be free from your passion and pride, there's power in the blood. We all sang it heartily in my day, jolly good tune. And you'll see, the theology was a bit askew, you'll see. It isn't the blood that gives us power and victory over passion and pride. The author of Red, there's power in the water, but that wouldn't have suited the rhythm, so we kept on with the rhythm, you see. But now, what does the blood cleanse, and why do we need the cleansing, and how does it do it? Hebrews nine verses thirteen to fourteen: For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience? There you have it. The blood of Christ cleanses the conscience from dead works. How does the blood cleanse the conscience? Well, not like some detergent or other. The thing is that when we sin and break God's law, and we become convicted of this, our conscience is defiled. We realize we have sinned, and our conscience bears witness to the fact that we deserve the penalty of sin. And not till the penalty of sin is paid will our conscience be at rest, or properly at rest. Well, what can deal with the penalty of sin? It is the blood of Christ that deals with the penalty of sin. For the blood of Christ is the outward evident token that Christ has borne the penalty of the law, which is death, and he died for us, and he paid our penalty. And when I see that the blood of Christ, this token of his death, has paid our penalty, my conscience goes free and is no longer guilt-ridden and defiled. The blood of Christ cleanses the conscience. Well then, if the blood of Christ cleanses the conscience, what does this water do, and what is the water? You'll see. Let's turn to another New Testament passage. You'll see. Uh, um, uh, and uh, uh, the passage is Titus, Epistle of Paul to Titus, and chapter three. And Paul is here writing to Titus, his fellow worker who had left- been left behind in Greece to appoint elders in the newly formed Christian churches. And Titus was having a little bit of a trouble because the Cretans in those days, I hope they're not like it now, but I have friends in Crete anyway, so they're not like it now. But, um, uh, in those days, even one of their own number, says chapter one of this epistle, testified that the Cretans are always liars, slow billies, evil beasts. Oh wow. You see, you can't never rely upon them to tell the truth, you see. Lazy, whoa, never do a stroke to help anybody else in the church or anybody else either. And evil beasts, they'd tear you to pieces, and your reputation likewise, as soon as they'd look at you. If you've got folks in your church like that, I hope you haven't, but that'd be a little bit difficult, you see. What's the answer to it? You'll see. That kind of character, with all its obvious faults of character. Paul comes to tell, uh, Titus what the answer is. He says, well, go easy with them. He says, you see, verse three of chapter three, for we too ourselves in times past were foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. That's what we were too in our unconverted days before God saved us. And how did God save us? Verse four says, but when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward man appeared, not by works done in righteousness which we did ourselves, but by his mercy, he saved us according to his mercy through, through. Pray, notice he doesn't say through the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ deals with the guilt of our conscience. It doesn't do w- deal with the defects of our character. The blood of Christ deals with what our we have done wrong and the guilt of it, but the defects of our character that lead to the wrong deed. What will deal with that? And here Paul is specific. When it comes to that side of salvation, not he saved us through the blood and the redeeming work of Christ, he saved us by the washing, if you please, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. This is the great bathing all over, once and for all. That absolutely basic work performed by the Holy Spirit that leads to repentance, not of merely deeds done, but of false attitudes and defects of character, and brings us to admit the sinfulness of them and the wrongness of them and what they lead to. The negative side of the washing. But then the positive side, it's the washing of a regeneration performed by the Holy Spirit of God. And he, blessed divine person, does not merely convict us of sin and issue exhortations to do better next time. It's a washing of a regeneration by which God's Holy Spirit produces in us a new life that wasn't there before, carrying with it the very life of God, the divine life, a new powers, a new possibilities, a new potentialities. Reality of regeneration performed by the Holy Spirit. The regeneration, therefore, and once and for all. That's how he saved us. There are two washings then, one by blood and one by water. Blood dealing with the guilt of sin, water dealing with the, uh, defilement of sin, the defect of not only our deeds but our characters. Further to back that up, let's go back to the verse that we mentioned earlier, Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians chapter five, And this is the verse that told us about washing, uh, with water. We'll read it again. Christ loved the church, Ephesians five twenty five, and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy, she should be holy and without blemish. The washing of water, concerned in the figurative language that Paul here uses, with the removal of what are here called spots and wrinkles and any such thing. With due pardon, uh, from half of our, uh, our audience today, let me just start at the ground floor and talk about spots and wrinkles and all other such things being where they shouldn't be. You know, if the dear lady comes home on evening and, uh, and cooks a marvelous dinner for her husband. And when he is full, you know, and well fed, she said, did you enjoy that, my dear? He says, oh, what marvelous, you are a marvelous wife. Glad I married you. So I have a little something to tell you. Oh yes, my dear, what's that? Well, I had a little accident. You did? Yes, I took the car. You mean my, my latest Jaguar? Yes, the new one. And I was downtown, you'll see, and uh, I was just talking to a, you know, a friend of mine. I was waving to a friend of mine across the street, and there was a stationary lorry that came up against me and bashed me, you see. And he says, you've done what? How many times have I told you to concentrate on the driving. Bash up my new Jaguar. And of course, she's full of her tears and pardons, uh, pleads for pardon and everything else. Who's going to pay for it? But then he relents, of course, and he comes to a sane of view. He says, you know, it's only a bit of old metal, isn't it? You're much, are you hurt? No, you're not hurt at all, my dear. Well, uh, he gives her a kiss on the forehead and says, never mind, forget it, the source will pay for that. It's all over, you see. She was really guilty, but he forgave her. That's guilt. If one day he comes down to breakfast and happening to look over the top of the newspaper, he sees his wife and she's got enormous red blotch on her cheek. He says, what's wrong with you? This red blot on your cheek. He says, yes, I've been trying to cover it up with cosmetics, but it's getting worse. He says, what does he say? He says it's your fault? You're guilty? Of course he doesn't. A question of guilt. So he says it doesn't matter. Well, no, of course it matters. He says, my dear, this is quite spoiling your beauty temporarily now. You must go to the doctor, you know. It's not criticizing the poor dear, do you see? It's a, not a question of guilt, and he doesn't say, well, I forgive you for having this blemish. No, but of course, it's not a question of forgiveness, but on the other hand, he's not prepared to let it stand. You must go to the health specialist and all this thing. We'll get rid of this blot and blemish. I want you a bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. You don't forgive spots, wrinkles, or any such thing. You cleanse them away. And that's why there need to be two cleansings for us all. Cleansing of the blood from the guilt of sin and forgiveness for that. You get forgiveness for what you've done. But then there's the blots and blemishes, the defects of our character, our short tempers and cowardice, our deceitfulness, our pomposities. In question of forgiving us, God, Christ doesn't forgive us, our blots and blemishes. He's determined to get rid of them, that eventually he might present the church to himself, a church not only forgiven, but not having any spot or wrinkle of character. And how does he propose to go about it? You see the verse saying, having cleansed it by the washing of water. So in this cleansing by water, there are, as you now see, coming back to John, uh, thirteen, two cleansings even by water. There is the first initial cleansing, the bathing all over, the washing of regeneration. That only needs to happen once. And when we first put our faith in Christ, we are thus bathed all over, regenerate. God gives his ho- puts his Holy Spirit within us, and the very life of God. That operation does not need to be repeated. What does need to be repeated, however, is a constant rinsing of our feet. But as we go through this world and we are provoked this way or the other and spattered by the world's habits and filth, we shall need constant attention, can't we? And that by the word of God, as the risen Lord himself still bows at our feet and applying his word to us lovingly but firmly, points out where we still have wrinkles and blots and blemishes of character. Not satisfied to say I've forgiven you. You will not be satisfied till the last blemish and blot is gone forever. The constant washing of the feet. So I come back to these chapters, and I want to say that this is going to be Christ's teaching on holiness, on cleanliness, and positive holiness. And here we meet what we shall find to be typical of our Lord's teaching in these four chapters, that when it comes to being holy, then we should notice in each of its branches, Christ is preaching us the gospel of holiness. Not saying you try to be holy, you've been forgiven, now you try to be holy. He's saying you have been forgiven, yes, but now get hold of this, that the secret of holiness starts with this basic operation. It's the washing of regeneration. It is something that the Holy Spirit does. That's important to get hold of. There have been multitudes that have wished to be holy like Christ was holy. They have tried to follow in his steps, and by all kinds of disciplines have tried to perfect holiness of flesh and spirit, and they have not succeeded. Why? Because they have forgotten to notice that if ever you are going to be holy, you start here, not with your effort to discipline, but with that what is absolutely basic to holiness, without which you'll never be holy, that is the basic washing of regeneration. And that's not baptism, whether infant or adult either. This is that washing of water of which our Lord spoke to Nicodemus. It's not performed with literal water. It's performed by the Holy Spirit, is the washing done by the Holy Spirit, the regeneration, the renewing performed by the Holy Spirit. So Peter talked of his converts when God gave them his holy Spirit. How could, uh, God put his Holy Spirit in the heart of an old Gentile? Great mystery to the Jews, do they? They thought that if only the Gentiles had consented to circumcision, that would help the old holiness considerably. But, uh, if they weren't even circumcised, how could God possibly put his Holy Spirit into a Gentile heart? And Peter explains he could do it because God purified their hearts. How? By faith, giving them the Holy Spirit, as he did to us as well. That's how it's done. The first basic sine qua non of holiness is not my efforts to be holy. It's that grand and glorious basic work done in my heart by the Holy Spirit, the work of regeneration, and performed when I first put my faith in Christ. Marvelous, isn't it? Anybody could be holy that way around. Yes? Ha. And you are all clean, not Judas. And in a moment we shall see why. So, the once and for all bathing in water, never needing to be repeated regeneration. Thereafter, the constant washing of the feet, the use of God's word and the Holy Spirit applying it to the risen Lord attending to us to point out that this thing, this attitude, you thought that was good, didn't you? You prided yourself how you could give people a little bit of your mind and be still be left with some over. Eh, do see, you thought that was marvelous, and then the risen Lord has eventually to show you that far from being marvelous, it's in fact sinful. Then comes the business of dealing with it, both by his grace and the power of the Holy Spirit that he has already given you. Yes. But now that is not the only part. Let's look at a, a brief table of contents. I said, uh, uh, uh, uh, that holiness is a balanced thing. You will see that, perhaps, begin to see it, if you notice that the teaching that fills chapters thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen was given in two places. First of all, in the upper room, chapters thirteen and fourteen, at the end of which our Lord says that rise and be going. There's no substantial reason for thinking that he stayed put after that. At the end of his teaching of chapter fourteen, he said, rise up and be going, and they rose up, clambered down the steps out into the cold night air, and on the way through the city, he taught the rest of it. Taught in two places. There are two sides to holiness. One was taught them in the comfort of the coziness of the upper room with its oil lamps and the nearness of the blessed Lord, in that lovely homely atmosphere. The other course on holiness was taught out into the cold, cold world outside, in the night air and the darkness and the hatred of Jerusalem city seething around them, and unseen hands waiting to grab them to lead the Lord to Calvary and to the cross. Two sides to hold. But now notice in the first side, there are three major parts. There is, first of all, the enacted parable of the foot washing and then the bathing all over. Then there is the story of Christ's exposure of Judas's treachery. And then there follows a long piece about Christ's explanation why he was going away. And we're given to see what his going away has to do with providing for our holiness. Christ going away, we repeat what we said in the first session this afternoon. Christ going away was not that his work was now finished and he retired to some heavenly retirement home. His going away is part of his work. His going away is part of the method of making us holy. And put in brief, it is this, that while he was here physically, he was with his disciples, he couldn't be in them. But when he went away, it made it possible for the Holy Spirit to come, and Christ by his Holy Spirit not only to be with his apostles and his people, but in his apostles and his, and his people. And this is an integral part, an exceedingly important part of our progress in holiness. The provision for holiness that Christ has made for us by his going away and the coming of the Holy Spirit. But let's take them in order this side. First of all, the basic provision, God's basic provision for making us holy. Now, what has this next thing to do with that? It's the story of Christ's exposure of Judas, but what has that got to do, if anything, with the topic of holiness? I'm going to suggest to you that the exposure of Judas's treachery showed us what the basic principle of holiness, and therefore of unholiness, is. How does that come about? Well, listen to a quick recitation of what the, um, uh, thing was. During the supper, Christ indicated that he was aware that one of his, the number, should betray him. He that eateth my bread has lifted up his heel against me. I take that phrase to mean this. I may be wrong in this detail, but that's what I take it to mean. Eating somebody's bread in the, uh, Middle East was not just a way of assuaging your hunger. It set up a fellowship, a relationship between the host and his guests. To eat somebody's bread was to be his close friend, to be accepted and trusted as a close friend. And the grievousness of Judas's sin was this, that he had eaten Christ's bread, accepted the blessing of Christ's friendship, accepted the blessing of Christ's teaching, actually held the bag in which Christ's money lay. I trusted man introduced into the very friendship of Christ and his apostles. And having eaten his bread and taken all his bread, he had lifted up his heel against him, made large his heel. There are two ways of kicking anybody. I will now explain them in the hope that you won't follow either of them. One way of kicking somebody is to see him coming down the street, and when he gets near you face to face, you say you and you kick your heel out toe first at him. That's one way of doing it. If you must kick somebody, that's at least an honest way of doing it. The other way is to say, oh, how lovely to see you. I'm delighted to see you, old friend. Wish you well on your journey. And just as he gets by, you lift up your heel. That's a rotten way of doing it, pretending to be his friend and then kicking him in the back. Someone here has eaten my bread and lifted up his heel against me, pretending to be a friend, now about to betray me. It shocked the disciples. Who is he? Is it I? Is it I? Is it I? Didn't think anybody could do it. Now came a most dramatic moment. Christ is going to expose this man. How will he do it? I know how I would have done it. I would have whittled him out to a little bit of scorched baked bean. Sarcasm, the vitriol would have been amazing. And our Lord sometimes talked to the Pharisees like that, you generation of vipers. He's talking to men that were perverting religion to line their own pockets and oppress the poor. But this time it was not that Judas was hurting other people. It was Judas's own treachery to Christ. How would he expose him? He could have pointed a finger across the table, couldn't he? He says, there's the rotter. He didn't do that. He took a sock and handed it to Judas. In the courtesies of oriental entertainment, if the host took a s- a morsel and dipped it in the common bowl and personally handed it to you, it was not just to satisfy your hunger, it was now to offer you his special friendship and his loyalty. What a dramatic moment it was. Judas determined to betray him. He'd eaten his bread, now lifting up his heel against him. How would Christ expose it? Judas, he says. You've eaten my bread, you're lifting up your heel against me. Judas, here's my friendship, Judas. Some more bread, Judas. I mean it. I'm offering you my friendship, Judas. And Judas took the bread and went out and continued to betray the Savior. Do you want to know what unholiness is? Unholiness is not just saying a few swear words. The basic principle of unholiness is to take everything God has to give you by way of physical benefits and even his friendship, but have no time for God himself. Holiness, therefore, is its exact opposite. Holiness is not merely keeping a set of rules. Holiness is personal devotion and loyalty to the divine Divine persons. persons. It comes there. It happened at that moment, but it's in line of Christ's teaching of holiness. If you're going to be holy, then you need to know what holiness is, what its basic principle is. Its outward manifestations can change, but at its heart will always lie true holiness is single-hearted devotion to the divine. And because that is so, then Christ announces the point of his going away. And he's going away, whatever for? Shouldn't he stay with them and help them in their struggles to be holy? No, he's going away. In my Father's house, he says, are many abiding places. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself. How wonderful. He's coming back to take us home to heaven, whatever for. You looking forward to go to heaven? One of these days, not this afternoon necessarily, but you say, well, I hope yes, when I get old and arthritic and half blind and a little bit stupid, oh, won't it be nice to go to heaven and not have any pains and aches anymore, to sit down on the heavenly seat, put my feet up on the heavenly, uh, footrest and, and listen to music for the rest of eternity. Is that your reason for going to heaven? And no, says Christ, I'm coming to take you to the place prepared for you. What for? That where I am, you may be also. Ah, that's marvelous, isn't it? What a provision for holiness. If holiness is devotion to the divine persons, if holiness is following the Lamb whithersoever he goes in personal loyalty and devotion to Christ, all hear this magnificent message. One day this old world will be over, where so often we stray and our devotion is imperfect. One day he shall come and take us to the many mansions above for this express purpose, that where he is, we may be also, and that eternally in our unbroken devotion to him. You know, the biggest part of holiness is what he does, isn't it? That's a glorious thing. This is the gospel of holiness. But if that is true, that one day he's coming to take us to a prepared, uh, home above, that we might be with him forever, the other side of the question is put at the end of chapter fourteen. If you love me, any man love me, he will keep my commandments, and my Father will love him, and we will come and make our abode with him. That's the other side, isn't it? There was one bathing all over, and then the repeated bathing. There's a, there's a mansion reserved in glory that one day we shall be with Christ, a dwelling place where we shall dwell with him in glory. But for the moment, he wants us to make him a dwelling place in our hearts. That also is the basic principle of holiness. And if we want him to dwell in our hearts ever more, expensively, then we have to keep his commandments. If you're going to entertain guests, you'll prepare the guest room and everything else to suit your guests, won't you? You're going to have Christ live in your heart. You'll have to pay attention to what he likes and what he dislikes, and arrange life accordingly. The secret, then, of holiness, and this is on the inside, our devotion to Christ. There's another side to holiness. This can be taught in the secluded, cozy fellowship of the upper room. To learn this side of holiness, we'd better accompany Christ down the steps out into the cold night air. It's dark, and the air is laced with the hostility of the world. It's a world that presently will put Christ to a cross. Have we got to be holy in a world like that? Oh yes, you have indeed. Holiness in the snug fellowship of the church inside is good and is necessary, and it comes first, but it's only half the story. To be fully balanced, holiness has also got to show itself outside in the cold, bleak world, amidst the world's hostility. Living a life to the glory of God in the world and witnessing for the Savior and the outside. Two sides to holiness. How shall we find the strength to be holy in the world outside? First of all, uh, the parable of the vine and the branches. It was a well-known parable. God had chosen Israel, brought them into their land, and blessed them with every conceivable blessing, presented himself among them, dwelled in the temple in their midst, given them his word, given them the prophets. And God says in the Old Testament, he treated Israel like a choice vine, planted it in a vineyard, tended it carefully, looking for grapes. And God grew some marvelous grapes on the branches of Israel, didn't he? Oh, I love it. I, I, I, I hope you enjoy going through God's conservatory that is the Old Testament, and, uh, uh, particularly paying attention to the vine and its branches. That one branch called David, the Davidic branch. Oh, he grew some marvelous grapes through his own personal experience of God, you know. Psalm thirty two, for instance, that was the real top of the pops when he wrote it, he said, oh, the blessedness of the man whose sins are forgiven, whose iniquities are covered, you know. Ooh, you can taste the grape, can't you? God experienced through David and his experience being a lovely cluster of grapes on the vine of Israel, he'll say, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Oh, marvelous stuff.