Gospel Holiness: Source, Agent, Manner

The Essential Nature and Definition of Gospel Holiness

0:07 As we began our consideration last night of the theme, Gospel Holiness, we saw from this text, Hebrews 12 and verse 14, that this matter of holiness is an essential element of biblical salvation. As the writer to the Hebrews would exhort his listeners and readers to go on in the pursuit of holiness, he spurs them on by reminding them in those words, without which no man shall see the Lord, that this is not an optional matter. It's not a peripheral matter. It's something that's essential to the very issue of eternal life.

0:52 The second thing we saw in the text is that all true believers must pursue this holiness without which no man will see the Lord. And that pursuit must be accomplished in a conscious pursuit. The word that is used here is a strong word. Same word used elsewhere for persecute.

1:13 We must track it down. We must set our sights upon it. We must pursue it with a holy relentlessness, going after it, determined to lay hold of that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. It's to be our constant pursuit.

1:31 This is a present imperative. Be ye continually pursuing. Holiness. And then it's to be a clearly defined pursuit.

1:40 And I tried to give you a workable definition of holiness, defining it in this way. Holiness, or that sanctification spoken of in this verse, is practical conformity of the whole man to the revealed will of God by the power of the Holy Spirit in the use of the God-appointed means.

2:05 Holiness is not... some kind of a religious healing.

2:10 Holiness is conformity of the whole man, not just the external actions, but as we were reminded today, the attitudes and dispositions of the heart which lay behind the action. It's conformity of the whole man, not to some standard set by the denomination or set by some little segment of Christendom, but conformity to the revealed will of God, not out of some kind of the iron-willed self-discipline, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, and it comes in the use of the God-appointed means. Then we tried last night, for the sake of those who were with us for the first time this evening, to give somewhat of a biblical and doctrinal perspective on this great theme of holiness which is introduced so forcibly in the Hebrews 12, 14 text. We saw holiness in terms of the purpose of God in salvation and seeing that in the electing purposes of God and to that consummating work in the hearts of His own, God's purpose is to have a holy people. Then we looked at holiness in relationship to God's evaluation of all mankind in one of two classes. Either they are fleshy men or they are spirit men, those who are not holy men.

Christ as the Exclusive Source of Gospel Holiness

3:36 Those who are not holy men, those who are not holy men, those who are living after the flesh or those who are living after the spirit. Now tonight we want to begin a consideration of the subject of holiness itself, trying to analyze that holiness. What is its source? How is it communicated to us?

3:58 How can we know if we are actively pursuing that holiness without which no man will see the Lord? And I want to suggest three things. First of all, that this holiness spoken of in Hebrews 12, 14 and in many other passages, which is to be the pursuit of every Christian, has as its source Jesus Christ. Christ is the source of that holiness.

4:27 And then we want to consider from the scriptures the truth that the Holy Spirit is the agent by which that holiness is communicated to us. And then in the third place, the fact that the Christian is active in the realization of that holiness of which Christ is the source and the Holy Spirit is the agent.

4:52 Very well then, let's proceed to try to cover those areas of biblical truth.

4:59 In 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 30, we have the key text indicating that Jesus Christ himself is the source of all holiness. The gospel holiness of all biblical sanctification. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 30. The apostle writes, declaring that, but of him, that is, by God's mighty operation, are ye in Christ Jesus or in union with Christ Jesus.

5:41 It is by God's mighty work that people at Corinth were found united to Jesus Christ and the fruit of that union, he now mentions, who of God is made unto us wisdom, true wisdom, and righteousness, imputed righteousness, and sanctification. And the word in the original here is the same one as is used in Hebrews 12, 14. So we could translate it here as it was translated there, and holiness, and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And we must state in clear terms at the very outset of our consideration of the nature of gospel holiness, that to seek this holiness apart from vital union with Jesus Christ is to seek that which cannot be attained. When the scripture tells us to follow after that holiness or sanctification without which no man will see the Lord, it is admonishing us to pursue that holiness which has Jesus Christ as its source, and it has nothing but condemnation in the pursuit of any other kind or form of so-called holiness. In Ephesians chapter 1 we are told

7:10 that the Lord Jesus Christ in all the perfection of his person and by virtue of all the magnitude of his work has been constituted, the divine reservoir of all spiritual blessings. We are told in that chapter that God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He has become the one in whom all those blessings are stored up, and God does not parcel out any of his blessings, either imputed or imparted. Those blessings which are ours, positionally, and those which become ours experimentally, God does not parcel them out apart from vital union with his Son. He does not give out a little justification here and a little sanctification here and a little something else here, but what he does is to bring men and women into vital union with his Son and in joining them to his Son they then become blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. Just as there is no justification apart from him, so there is no sanctification apart from him. The scripture declares that of his fullness have we all received in grace for grace, and the Lord Jesus said in John 15 in verse 5,

8:38 Without me, or severed from me, cut off from vital union with me, ye can do nothing. And so I must state very clearly that this text that we are considering and its other ramifications in the scripture follow after holiness without which no man shall see the Lord is a text directed to those who are vitally joined to Jesus Christ in a saving relationship. Those who by virtue of the mighty work of the Spirit but of him are ye in Christ Jesus who is made unto us righteousness, sanctification, that it's only those who've experienced that mighty work of grace quickening them from their state of spiritual death and bringing them into vital union with Christ this text is directed to them and to them alone. And if you're a stranger to that mighty work of God's grace and notice how I'm stating it and I'm doing it purposely I'm not asking you if you've done something with reference to Christ and to the gospel. I'm asking if God has done something in you with reference to Christ and to the gospel. For when the apostles describe the work of God's grace they do not primarily or most frequently focus upon man's involvement in the response of grace

10:05 but they focus upon God's activity in the initiating of grace. When Paul describes the conversion of the Ephesians he says you have healed we made alive who were dead God did something in you. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good work. Ye were as sheep going astray Peter says but ye now have been returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls.

The Necessity of Union with Christ for Holiness

10:35 And on and on we could quote from the epistles where the apostles and the New Testament writers when thinking of the work of grace do not primarily focus upon man's activity though that's involved as the indication of God's prior activity but they focus upon the fact that it's God who does the work. And so I'm seeking to keep in in the spirit of the New Testament when I say if you're astray to that mighty work of God's grace quickening you to spiritual life and bringing you into vital life union with Jesus Christ then this text is not for you follow after that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord but the text for you is repent and believe the gospel seek ye the Lord while he may be found call ye upon him while he is near let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord for he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon but this is also a word to us as God's people. As we set ourselves to consider seriously the subject of gospel holiness we must remember as we get involved in some of the details of that pursuit and there are details there are no simple lessons to Bible holiness if this were so

12:04 then the Apostle Paul wasted a lot of ink and wasted a lot of time if there was one simple little secret that would be the open sacrament to a life of abounding sanctity and sanctification that all Paul would have done when he wrote the church at Corinth would have said to all the saints at Corinth greetings from the Apostle Paul you've got some problems here's a secret learn this and all is well sincerely Paul he would have written to the church at Philippi given the same little secret so when somebody comes along and gets your spiritual fangs all moistened and dripping by saying are you weary of the conflict are you tired of the struggle I ask about that time everybody's just there limp, low, just about but have the secret well when somebody talks that way turn him off there is no one simple secret there are details and it's a lifetime of learning how to pursue that sanctification that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord but in the involvement of seeking to equip ourselves with all the means that God has put at our disposal as we seek to keep before us all the gospel duties that are laid upon us let us never forget dear child of God that there is no holiness apart from vital union with Christ and it's only as we learn to feed upon him

13:34 and to draw out of his infinite fullness that we shall have grace to pursue that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord and we will increase in the measures of holiness only to the extent that we increase in our understanding of what it is to abide in the Lord Jesus to be rooted and built up in him as we are admonished in Colossians it's only as we learn that by him the fruits of righteousness are produced as we read in Philippians that we shall truly pursue holiness without which no man shall see the Lord now we must not only consider and continue to keep before us the fact that the Lord Jesus in all the infinite perfection of his person based upon the magnitude of his and perfection of his work is the source of our sanctification but we must consider the biblical truth that the Holy Spirit is the agent who and I speak reverently takes of the fullness of Christ and actually imparts to us in our experience that fullness which produces practical godliness and practical experimental sanctification now in the introduction to his wonderful book that I plugged a little bit last night

The Holy Spirit as the Agent of Holiness: Inception (Regeneration)

15:02 Holiness by Bishop Ryle Bishop Ryle has a page or two dealing with what he saw as one of the emerging heresies in his day living in England as he did he was very close to the beginnings of what we now know as the Keswick movement and this is by no means a blanket sweeping condemnation of the movement or the men connected with it I trust we're adult enough to be objective and separate personalities from principles and that's what I'm seeking to do tonight and he saw in the emergence of this movement an unbalanced emphasis on Christ in you and I have found from my own experience moving in these circles that there is a continual emphasis upon the indwelling Christ Christ in us Christ living through us is one of the terms that is used again and again almost to the absolute exclusion of the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit and Bishop Ryle sounds a warning note in his introduction that I believe needs to be sounded in our day with equal clarity that the Lord Jesus in his official place in Christ the position is at the right hand of the Father as the intercessor of his people he is their life we read in Colossians yet he is their strength we read in Philippians 4.13 but the Lord Jesus is these things to us

16:30 as the Holy Spirit takes of the fullness of Christ and imparts these virtues to us Christ dwells in our hearts by faith and the presence and power of Christ are made real to us by the Holy Spirit and so we must not neglect the person and work of the Holy Spirit in recognizing him as the agent in this matter of sanctification it is he who works in us to impart the virtues of Christ now let's think of this for just a few minutes in terms of the inception of holiness when does true gospel holiness begin in a life well it begins when the Holy Spirit does his regenerating renewing work in the heart of the sinner regeneration is the beginning of holiness in the life of an individual now the description of regeneration given in Ezekiel 36 is most graphic and most helpful and we'll look at it for just a moment Ezekiel chapter 36 the promise of God as touching this new covenant that he will make Hebrews 8 and Hebrews 10

17:58 clearly teach that this covenant is the covenant ratified by the blood of Christ made real in all believers now this is not something that they pushed out into some future age it's made with true Israel the elect of God and God says in verse 26 a new heart also will I give you and the new spirit will I put within you Ezekiel 36 26 and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do that now get the contrast Romans 8 in verse 7 describes the disposition of the natural heart the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can it be so that they that are in the flesh cannot please God there is that heart of stone adamant inflexible insensitive to the will of God unconcerned about the glory of God and God says that he will do a work that is likened to the actual extraction of that heart of stone

19:25 and in its place a heart of flesh that which has warmth that which has feeling that which has life and the first actings of that heart of flesh by the work of the spirit is this or are these I will put my spirit within you and make you happy that's not the essential evidence of the spirit's work in giving a new heart I will make you peaceful that's not the essential working but I will cause you to walk in my statutes God says I will do something that will set you in the way of my precepts from the heart now isn't that what sanctification is it is that conformity of the whole man beginning with the heart and outward to the light to the revealed will of God by the power of the Holy Spirit and here we have it set before us I will take out the heart of stone I will give you an heart of flesh I will put my spirit within you thereby causing you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and ye shall do that and so the Holy Spirit as the agent by whom sanctification is brought to us out of the fullness of Christ

20:51 by whom holiness is imparted he begins this work in his regenerating grace in the hearts of those who he brings to the world and once that governing disposition of the soul is changed from battered rebellion to submission from indifference to the will of God to a longing after the will of God the first acting of that renewed heart are in the area of repentance and God says in this very passage that they should loathe themselves when they remember their ways and they would as we read verse thirty one then shall ye remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations and so when God is pleased in regeneration to implant life within the heart of the dead sinner the first actings of that life coming to consciousness in the mind and life of the sinner are these there is that turning away from sin a loathing of that path of loving what is unclean a loathing of that path in which there was indifference to the commands and precepts of God there is in the words of the shorter catechism that repentance of the life which is an evangelical grace out of which a sinner having a due sense of his sin

22:20 and an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ does with grief and hatred of his sin turn from it unto God with full purpose and endeavor after a new obedience so you see that God's regenerating work coming to light in the deep repentance of the sinner this is the beginning of true gospel holiness could it be that the reason we know so little experimentally as well as doctrinally of the subject of holiness is because we know so little experimentally and biblically and doctrinally of the subject of repentance so you see the two stand or fall together there can be no pursuit of that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord unless we have the beginning of the matter in us and the beginning of the matter in us is a deep soul repension rooted in the mighty regenerating work of God the Holy Spirit this for several decades has been upon man's decision not into some past rather than upon God's mighty work of regeneration repentance has been thought settled because you won't get the natural man to give up his darling love

23:48 you can't get him to loathe himself you can get him to shake a few feathers at the thought of escaping hell if somehow Jesus will be a means to that end he'll buy that and so we must understand that the agent of holiness gospel holiness is the Holy Spirit who begins that work the inception of that work in regeneration that's why in 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13 we're not surprised to find words like this but we thank God for God is to be thanked that he has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth that sanctification of the Spirit is speaking of sanctification in its initial stages when the sinner is basically set apart unto God how? as the Spirit grants him a new heart there's a loathing of himself a turning from the port of sin and flesh and rebellion and a setting of the faith in the direction of holiness and obedience that's being set apart by the Spirit unto a life of holiness that occurs at conversion Paul puts it in the context of the belief of the truth this sanctification of the Holy Spirit now you see essentially the same thing

The Holy Spirit as the Agent of Holiness: Continuation (Mortification and Fruit)

25:15 in Romans chapter 6 and I want us to look at it for a moment where when Paul describes the conversion of the Roman Christians he describes it in terms of a radical breach with the past dominion of sin Romans chapter 6 he says in verse 16 know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey his servants ye are whom ye obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness but God be thanked now follow closely that ye were past tense the servants or the slaves of sin sin is personified here into the form of a master ye were the servants of sin but ye have obeyed from the heart now notice faith and repentance here are described as an obedience from the heart to that form of doctrine which was delivered you then what happened being then made free from sin ye became past tense the slave of righteousness

26:41 the gospel came to people at Rome how did it find them it found them there the willing bondservants of sin their carnal minds were enmity against God they were not subject to the law of God they were fulfilling as we read in Ephesians 2 the desires of the flesh and of the mind given over to the gratification of their own carnal desires but the gospel came as a form of doctrine and as the gospel was preached and there was the mighty working of God in his effectual call what happened there was an obedience from the heart to that form of doctrine and with that obedience came this radical change they got a new master sin was dethroned and righteousness was enthroned as conversion not some time down the road he's not exhorting them to this experience he is describing it as their experience in the past he says essentially the same thing in verse verses 22 verse 22 but now having been made free from sin and become servants to God ye are having your fruit unto same word

28:08 fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life you got a change of masters that's conversion you now are experiencing a change of practice that's holiness and out there you'll experience a change of destiny that's glorification and all three meet in every true Christian a change of masters a change of practice and a change of destiny all three meet in every true Christian for that's the one salvation imparted by the one savior by the power and might of the one holy spirit well I trust that these passages are sufficient to convince us that the holy spirit as the agent in gospel holiness begins that work the very inception of holiness is in his regenerating work but this is also true in the continuation of holiness he is the agent imparting to us the fullness of Jesus Christ Christ is made unto us sanctification not only begun but continued and completed but now how is that fullness of Christ made mine in the practical outworking of sanctification well let me suggest several texts

29:35 that show the ministry of the holy spirit in this regard in Romans 8 in verse 13 Paul says if ye by the spirit do put to death the deeds of the flesh you put them to death but by the holy spirit if he by the spirit he is the agent imparting to us that grace necessary for mortification and then of course the passage we looked at last night Galatians 5 verses 22 and 23 the fruit of the spirit not the fruit of our culture and the fruit of this or that but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace and all those other virtues that are listed in that particular passage this is why the apostle exhorts believers to be filled with the spirit to grieve not the spirit to quench not the spirit for it is his ministry to take of the fullness of Christ and impart unto us those virtues that are a part of gospel holiness now again I think the application of this second principle is obvious I trust it's obvious if you sitting here tonight if I standing here before you

31:00 if I would pursue that fullness without which no man shall see the Lord then I must have some experimental acquaintance with the person and ministry of God the holy spirit the reason you've got so many people running after all kinds of weird movements claiming a monopoly on the holy spirit is that we in our evangelical churches for the most part have left the terrible vacuum we've given a few doctoral studies on the work of the spirit we've given a few lectures on his place in the triune Godhead and the fact that he inspired the scriptures and a few other things but when it has come to this matter of the experimental aspect of the spirit's work and ministry I know pitifully little and I find few men from whom I can learn much that's why I've got to read some of the old men who mastered something of the cultivation of the knowledge of the person and experimental ministry of God the holy spirit you can see dear child of God why it's so necessary that we do not grieve him why we do not quench him for a grieved spirit becomes a withdrawn spirit not withdrawn as far as his presence in us we are sealed unto the day of redemption but withdrawn in terms of his mighty operation and working in us and truth so much for the first two principles

The Believer's Total Involvement in Pursuing Holiness

32:30 I want to spend the rest of the time on the third the scripture not only reveals that the Lord Jesus Christ is the source of all gospel holiness and that the holy spirit is the agent but this third principle is so vital if we would be kept from error and heresy and confusion in seeking to pursue gospel holiness and I've literally wrestled mentally trying to know how best to state this and I still am not satisfied and if you come up at the end with a better way to state it please come and tell me I'll not be offended I will be deeply appreciative and then perhaps if I have opportunity to speak along these lines again others will share the fruit of your insight but this is what I'm trying to say and then I'll use some other words to explain though Christ is the source and the holy spirit is the agent this sanctification comes as there is the total involvement of the child of God in its pursuit spirit the agent but it does not come to realization apart from or bypassing the total involvement of the child of God

33:58 in the pursuit of that holiness there are some who would deny the first and second principles that I laid down for you tonight they would deny the place of the holy spirit and the Lord Jesus in the matter of sanctification and they would say we must be holy this of course would be some of the error that was rife in the early centuries of the church and it gave birth to monasticism and some of these other things where holiness was looked upon in terms of rigid self-discipline and ascetic forms of behavior where people were going to pummel the flesh and they were going to beat it into subjection they were by meditation and retirement and being withdrawn from the world they were going to think holy elevated God-honoring folks well where anyone makes a serious attempt at holiness in this way it can lead to nothing but condemnation of conscience and frustration and of course Luther in his days of as a monk is a classic example of this Luther was but one of many who actually came to the place where they would beat themselves and sleep on hard beds in uncomfortable clothes somehow striving after holiness now they were totally involved

35:25 this was no half-way business I always get a little disturbed when we sort of laugh at them they meant business they realized they took seriously Hebrews 12-14 they knew unless a man was holy he wasn't going to make it he'd have it and they were so determined to be holy and to have the mind and life conformed to the revealed will of God they were willing to go to any extent to obtain that holiness now the problem is they failed to see that Christ is the source and the Holy Spirit the agent and until they were joined to Christ in faith and were recipients of the mighty work of the Spirit holiness was impossible but on the other hand the problem that you and I face and that is the practical problem in the circles in which you and I move is that we will give a loud Amen to the first two principles yes Jesus Christ alone is the source of holiness the Holy Spirit alone is the agent by which this holiness is to be realized but we fail to come to grips with this third principle that that holiness never comes to its realization apart from the involvement of the totality of the believer his mind, his will, his thought and all that he is only in the involvement of the whole man

Biblical Commands for Active Pursuit of Holiness

36:50 will it come to its realization now you say that sounds like a contradiction well the Bible is full of not contradictions but those antinomies that Dr. Packer would call them I want to get to you very briefly a number of texts we won't turn to them in the interest of time I'll just quote them that if they teach anything they teach that holiness is never realized apart from the whole man being involved in the pursuit of it the text that is basic to our study reveals this follow after, persecute, track down strive after that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord our Lord Jesus Christ said watch a military turret be alert like the man who's out there in Vietnam tonight he's sitting down in a rice paddy and his dog's by his side and he blinks his eyes and he strains out into the night and he looks for every quitter and twitch of a leaf he's watching for the enemy and the slightest movement that may indicate that the enemy is lurking there in the shadows brings into play all of his training all that he knows of military knowledge and all that he has at his disposal to destroy the enemy the Lord says watch

38:17 it speaks of an involvement of the whole man in this matter of sanctification watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation we're told in James 4 in verse 7 resist the devil a strong word the picture of someone trying to break into my house and I have my shoulder against the door and as long as I feel the pressure of his body against it I pit all the strength of mine against his resist the devil Peter states it even a little more strongly when he says in 1 Peter 5 verse 8 whom resist steadfast in the faith we're told in Colossians 3 verse 5 put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth we're told in 1 Timothy 2 verse 21 and 22 if a man purge himself from these flee youthful lust follow actor righteousness 2 Corinthians 7 in verse 1 having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse ourselves of all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit perfecting holiness and the fear of God Peter says add to your faith virtue and the virtue of knowledge and the knowledge temperance Paul says in Ephesians 6 you put on the whole armor of God and on and on we could go with all of these commands issued to the child of God but if they mean anything they mean that gospel holiness

Working Out Salvation with Fear and Trembling (Philippians 2:12-13)

39:46 will not be attained in any other way but the way of the total involvement of the child of God in its pursuit and of course perhaps the classic text and I've reserved it for the conclusion of this particular principle is Philippians chapter 2 Philippians chapter 2 therefore my beloved as ye have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling now it's easy to say perhaps what Paul does not mean by this fear and trembling

40:57 not so easy to say precisely what he does mean certainly he is not speaking of a fear and trembling that is the fear and trembling of a child before a drunkard father who doesn't know when in his erratic state of mind he's going to turn around and club him for no reason whatsoever he's not speaking of that cringing carking fear but he does say fear and we must not believe the word fear of every sense of its meaning till it becomes something other than fear and certainly the trembling is not that kind of trembling you don't believe the word of all meaning till you no longer have trembling but you have dancing a jig it's fear and it's trembling now we know it's not that kind as I mentioned that sinful kind of fear because you don't know the disposition of the one who may strike you but could it be that Paul is speaking of that fear Peter speaks of when he says in as much as you know that you're going to stand before the Father who judges every man's sojourning without any respective or judges every man's work without any respective persons past the time of your sojourning in fear is he speaking here could he be of that godly fear which has as its essence

42:21 a regard for the demands and claims of God which makes his smile my greatest longing and his frown my greatest dread to walk in the fear of God is to walk in that state where the smile of God is my greatest delight where the frown of God is my greatest dread Paul says work out your own salvation with that kind of fear with that holy regard to the God who's called you and the God before whom you will stand one day and give account of the deeds done in the body with fear and with trembling in the light of the awesomeness of the issues at stake both personally and in your responsibility to others now that sounds like conscious deliberate involvement of the whole man in the outworking of salvation you work out your salvation with fear and with trembling for verse 13 it is God who worketh into both to will and to do of his good pleasure you are to work out because God is working in but his working in does not cancel out your responsibility to work out

43:48 that's why the whole phraseology Christ living through me is an unscriptural phrase and conveys an unscriptural concept I don't think you'll find it in the scripture Paul says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me but I do them I do them I do them I do them Christ doesn't do them I do them through Christ who strengthens me he makes me adequate to do that which he's called me to do now the God of peace that brought again from the dead that great shepherd of the sheep make you perfect or complete in everything to do his will he makes you complete to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight he makes us complete adequate to do the task I can do through Christ who strengthens me you work out for God works in not bypassing my will and bypassing my doing but he works in the hidden springs of my being and his working comes to light in my willing and in my doing he works in me to will and to do of his good pleasure so that when I find the command addressed to me to put to death the deeds of the flesh that means I've got to take myself

Practical Applications of Active Mortification and Obedience

45:17 by the scuff of the neck and deal mercilessly in a way of mortifying some carnal love I to God for grace look to Christ alone and out of his infinite fullness plead that I shall know his power in overcoming and then as it were stick my own foot upon my neck and ha ha that which would be displeasing to God does that sound contradictory I believe it's biblical the Lord said if thine eye offend me have in all my prayer meeting no it says pluck it out there comes a time when praying has got to give way to plucking if thine eye offend me pluck it out if thy hand offend me cut it off you've got problem with youthful lust young people what are you supposed to do sit around the parked car in front of your girlfriend's house tonight and pray about your problem now open the door and get her out of that car quick you get back in it and go home youthful lust

46:40 scripture says the good fight of faith give no place to the devil tell you ladies your problems the last ten minutes of a fifteen minute telephone call first five minutes you've stated your business you've called the sister so and so talked to her about such and such you've stated your business and you feel you haven't given her enough and you feel you haven't given her money's worth so you've just got to talk about something so then you just start talking about something and if that last ten minutes is a fifteen minute telephone call to get you in trouble and you're guilty of gossip you're guilty of cutting unkind words now what are you going to do you've prayed about this thing for years time to stop praying entertain you say pull the telephone off the wall no your husband might not appreciate that but when you've stated your business you say to your friend I'm sorry I don't mean to sound quick but I've got other things to do goodbye oh but I might offend them well would you rather offend them or offend God that doesn't sound glamorous I mean that doesn't sound mystical

48:06 that doesn't sound like any deep secret it's an application of what the scripture says when it says put to death flee cut off walk out some of you have got a condemned conscience about the use of your television set you've had it for months and years and frankly I've only met in the past 15 years a half a dozen people who've been able to look me in the eye and say that they have an uncondemned conscience about the discipline and use of their television set and right now your conscience is smiting you saying oh I'm one of those I'm one of those what are you going to do about it oh you've prayed about it you've maybe even shed tears about it well it's time you start entertaining it don't plug out put it up in the attic if you're afraid you'll go there on the day of weakness put an ad in the paper sell it oh you say that's radical if you don't you believe that walking before God in an uncondemned conscience is your duty as a Christian you won't call it radical you'll say it's part of my Christian duty it's a pursuit of that holiness without which no man shall see the light you kids have problems cheating at school got a problem with it ungoverned cheating at school if you ought to have teachers during tests

49:33 let you sit way in the back row all by yourself say I don't want to sin against my God and do the thing that's wrong teachers may I sit in the back row that's part of being a holy boy being a holy girl pursuing holiness you find you fight with your brother and sister almost all the time if there's a certain thing then you get along fine on all this thing that thing that thing but or when she goes in and takes your books or when she goes in and touches your bike or something else you just fly right off and you say Lord I know I've sinned against you you've asked the Lord to forgive you and asked him to help you overcome that but now you need to do something practical about that thing you need to do something to deal with the source of that temptation if you ought to go to him say sis you can use my bike at such and such a time during the day alright strike a little bargain with me oh you say silly no it isn't silly but an application of the principles of the word of God which teach us that in the realization of that holiness of which Christ is the source and the Holy Spirit the agent there is to be the embalmment of the total child of God the only way I know to describe it his mind his will his affection

Summary and Prayer for Balanced Pursuit of Holiness

50:58 walking pursuing the path possible for him the Lord willing tomorrow night we shall consider what I believe the scripture sets forth as the three essential elements of that holiness that we are to pursue out of the fullness of Christ by the Spirit involving the activity of the whole man we shall consider under the heads of an honest desire and serious attempt to be delivered from all known sin secondly an honest desire and serious attempt to be conformed to all the will of God and an honest desire and serious attempt to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ and if we are to pursue that kind of holiness then we must seek it out of Christ by the Spirit in a way that will involve and engage your whole being in the pursuit of that holiness and if you want any other kind of holiness you want something that is not recognized in the scriptures let us pray

52:18 thank you for the marvelous provisions that you have made not only for the justification of your people but for their sanctification and that in Jesus Christ your people are blessed with all spiritual blessings that he has made unto us not only righteousness but sanctification O Lord we thank you that there is an inexhaustible supply of grace in him and we thank you for the ministry of the Holy Spirit who takes of the things of Christ and imparts them unto us in our experience for those fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit unto the glory and praise of your name and now O Lord teach us what it is to find our total beings involved in the pursuit of that holiness without which no man shall see deliver us Lord from sluggishness and passivity deliver us from a hard cold legalism that would be devoid of Christ and the grace of his spirit deliver us we pray on the other hand

53:45 from an ethereal kind of mysticism that would speak of Christ and his holiness that knows nothing of the cutting off and the plucking out and the pursuing of holiness with the whole man O Lord help us to walk that razor's edge between truth and error and grant that by your grace we shall be holy men and holy women hear us in our prayer and answer us for the glory of Jesus Christ we pray Amen