1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,700 Hey, he took his first flight at age six and he was cap captured by it. 2 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:10,200 He was just enraptured by the idea of being up in the air, up in the sky, 3 00:00:10,559 --> 00:00:14,610 so much so that he got his pilot's license by the time he turned 16 before 4 00:00:14,610 --> 00:00:16,260 he even got his driver's license. 5 00:00:17,370 --> 00:00:20,850 At 19, he was flying combat missions in the United States Navy. 6 00:00:21,450 --> 00:00:24,840 After his military career, he didn't retire. 7 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:27,930 He instead went on to become a test pilot for the United States. 8 00:00:27,930 --> 00:00:31,200 He was flying some of the most advanced machinery in the 9 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:32,800 air that we had at the time. 10 00:00:34,065 --> 00:00:38,835 After he finished that, he still wasn't satisfied with where he had 11 00:00:38,835 --> 00:00:40,395 gotten to and what he had achieved. 12 00:00:40,395 --> 00:00:44,745 And so when NASA came calling, he was more than ready to answer that 13 00:00:44,745 --> 00:00:47,475 call to become one of the astronauts. 14 00:00:47,535 --> 00:00:52,365 And see, NASA came calling because they wanted this man to get inside of a, 15 00:00:52,365 --> 00:00:57,375 a spaceship, one of the most powerful airborne vehicles known to mankind. 16 00:00:58,455 --> 00:01:01,155 All in order to be able to take one small step for man 17 00:01:01,155 --> 00:01:02,805 and one giant leap for mankind. 18 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:06,720 You've probably guessed at this point, but we're talking about Neil 19 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,990 Armstrong, and when you think about Neil Armstrong, I want you to think 20 00:01:09,990 --> 00:01:15,509 about the words means, method, and motivation means method and motivation. 21 00:01:16,229 --> 00:01:20,160 See, for young Neil Armstrong, if he had been in his backyard after that 22 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:24,120 first flight, thinking about how can I get higher than I got in that airplane? 23 00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:27,870 Looking up in the night sky and seeing the moon and thinking to himself, what would 24 00:01:27,870 --> 00:01:29,910 it be like to drive a car on the moon? 25 00:01:30,690 --> 00:01:33,210 What would it be like to hit a golf ball on the moon? 26 00:01:34,020 --> 00:01:36,930 You can imagine if Neil Armstrong had shared those thoughts with his family 27 00:01:36,930 --> 00:01:39,900 members, with his mom, with his dad, with his cousins, with his friends 28 00:01:39,900 --> 00:01:43,229 down the street, that they would've laughed hysterically at the thought. 29 00:01:44,220 --> 00:01:45,270 That's impossible. 30 00:01:45,780 --> 00:01:47,460 No one can drive a car on the moon. 31 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:49,890 No one can hit a golf ball on the moon. 32 00:01:50,910 --> 00:01:55,110 So what changed that led to Neil Armstrong being among the first 33 00:01:55,110 --> 00:01:59,220 people and still the only people that have ever stepped foot on the moon? 34 00:02:00,884 --> 00:02:04,155 The answer comes down to means method and motivation. 35 00:02:06,225 --> 00:02:09,975 The North American Space Agency, nasa, they came to him and they 36 00:02:09,975 --> 00:02:11,865 said, Hey, we, we've got the means. 37 00:02:12,464 --> 00:02:14,204 We have a spaceship. 38 00:02:14,204 --> 00:02:19,035 We have the technology and, and we believe in you and these others, buzz 39 00:02:19,035 --> 00:02:21,795 Aldrin and some of the others, that we have the men with the right stuff. 40 00:02:21,795 --> 00:02:23,714 So we have the means to make this happen. 41 00:02:24,404 --> 00:02:28,065 And beyond that, we have the, the method we can get you to space. 42 00:02:28,065 --> 00:02:32,265 We can get you to the moon, and we can get you from your spaceship down to the 43 00:02:32,265 --> 00:02:35,144 surface of the moon and from the surface of the moon back to your spaceship, 44 00:02:35,234 --> 00:02:37,154 and then back home again safely. 45 00:02:37,725 --> 00:02:39,195 And we have a motivation. 46 00:02:39,614 --> 00:02:41,265 We wanna be the first ones to do it. 47 00:02:42,135 --> 00:02:44,174 See, this was the great space race at the time. 48 00:02:44,174 --> 00:02:46,725 They wanted to beat anyone else, and specifically they wanted to beat 49 00:02:46,725 --> 00:02:48,945 Russia to be the first on the moon. 50 00:02:48,945 --> 00:02:52,605 And so the means, the method and the motivation were in place, and that's 51 00:02:52,605 --> 00:02:56,174 what changed between Neil Armstrong at six years old, looking up in the sky 52 00:02:56,174 --> 00:02:59,625 at the moon, going, I wonder what it'd be like to drive a car on the moon to 53 00:02:59,625 --> 00:03:01,274 him actually getting able to do that. 54 00:03:04,109 --> 00:03:08,970 When we read in our text this morning what Peter's gonna call us to at surface 55 00:03:09,450 --> 00:03:15,480 reading at at at face value, it may seem like an impossible task when Peter says, 56 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,019 as he who called you is holy, be holy. 57 00:03:19,019 --> 00:03:22,200 In all your conduct, you may read that. 58 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,440 You may think to yourself, I might as well think about hitting a golf ball on the 59 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:29,940 moon instead of being holy as God is holy. 60 00:03:31,079 --> 00:03:32,520 How can I attain to that? 61 00:03:33,060 --> 00:03:33,840 How can I get there? 62 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:35,040 How can I make that a reality? 63 00:03:36,450 --> 00:03:39,510 Well, just like Neil Armstrong needed the means, the method and the motivation. 64 00:03:40,290 --> 00:03:42,270 We need the means, the method, and the motivation as well. 65 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:46,140 And what we find in our text this morning is just that the means, the 66 00:03:46,140 --> 00:03:48,945 method and the motivation not to get to the moon, but to get to a life 67 00:03:48,945 --> 00:03:52,920 of holiness that is both possible and life giving, a life of holiness. 68 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:57,060 That does lead to us being able to say, we can pursue a life of holiness that is. 69 00:03:57,554 --> 00:04:00,345 Us being holy as God is holy. 70 00:04:01,515 --> 00:04:03,195 To get there, we have to start with the means. 71 00:04:03,345 --> 00:04:05,174 And so look with me at verse 14. 72 00:04:05,984 --> 00:04:09,974 Peter says this, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the 73 00:04:09,974 --> 00:04:12,195 passions of your former ignorance. 74 00:04:12,195 --> 00:04:13,094 Let's stop right there. 75 00:04:13,950 --> 00:04:17,010 Again, to set the context Peter has been talking about in the first 12 verses, 76 00:04:17,010 --> 00:04:20,909 the reality of who we are in Christ, that according to the foreknowledge 77 00:04:20,909 --> 00:04:24,960 of God and the sanctification of the Spirit, for the obedience to Jesus Christ 78 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,690 and for sprinkling with his blood, God has caused us to be born again to a 79 00:04:27,690 --> 00:04:31,140 living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to an inheritance 80 00:04:31,140 --> 00:04:34,805 that's imperishable, undefiled, and unfading kept in heaven for us who are. 81 00:04:35,055 --> 00:04:38,325 Being guarded by God's power for that salvation and ready to 82 00:04:38,325 --> 00:04:39,795 be revealed in the last time. 83 00:04:39,825 --> 00:04:42,555 He's called us to rejoice with a joy that's inexpressible. 84 00:04:42,675 --> 00:04:45,585 He's called us to have this confidence, this hope like we talked about last 85 00:04:45,585 --> 00:04:48,645 week, and to set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us 86 00:04:48,645 --> 00:04:50,235 at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 87 00:04:50,295 --> 00:04:54,495 And now he's pivoting to saying, and in the meantime, this is the life that 88 00:04:54,495 --> 00:04:56,265 we live while we wait for that day. 89 00:04:56,265 --> 00:05:00,795 And he says this as obedient children, obedient children. 90 00:05:01,859 --> 00:05:05,370 That word children is the one that I want us to zoom in on initially here. 91 00:05:05,609 --> 00:05:10,020 That word children is key to our understanding of the means to our being 92 00:05:10,020 --> 00:05:13,289 able to pursue a life of holiness, a life of godliness here on this earth. 93 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:18,359 The word children, it, it recalls all of the, the things that I just mentioned 94 00:05:18,359 --> 00:05:21,989 from verses one through 12, maybe specifically you think of verse three. 95 00:05:21,989 --> 00:05:24,630 Blessed to be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has caused 96 00:05:24,630 --> 00:05:27,750 us to be born again to a living hope. 97 00:05:28,770 --> 00:05:30,420 He's caused us to be born again. 98 00:05:30,420 --> 00:05:31,410 To be born again. 99 00:05:31,415 --> 00:05:34,950 It, it, it's, it's the idea that we are going from being children of wrath, 100 00:05:34,950 --> 00:05:36,810 Ephesians two to now children of God. 101 00:05:37,470 --> 00:05:40,770 And so that's why he can address us as obedient children. 102 00:05:41,940 --> 00:05:45,690 John said in his introduction of Jesus, in, in John chapter one, verses 12 103 00:05:45,690 --> 00:05:50,100 and 13, he said to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave 104 00:05:50,100 --> 00:05:51,990 the right to become children of God. 105 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,130 Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor 106 00:05:56,130 --> 00:05:59,220 of the will of man, but of God. 107 00:06:00,510 --> 00:06:02,940 Thinking about yourself as a, a child of God may be a simple 108 00:06:02,940 --> 00:06:05,400 concept, maybe one that you've thought about many times before. 109 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,790 It's one that you've entertained before, but it's profundity is, 110 00:06:08,820 --> 00:06:10,560 is massive for us this morning. 111 00:06:12,060 --> 00:06:14,940 Massive and essential for us to, to understand what it means 112 00:06:14,940 --> 00:06:16,140 that we are children of God. 113 00:06:16,140 --> 00:06:18,599 That is, if you are in Christ this morning, if you are a 114 00:06:18,599 --> 00:06:21,030 Christian this morning, you are a son or a daughter of God. 115 00:06:21,180 --> 00:06:24,659 This is key to the means of our ability to pursue a life of holiness. 116 00:06:26,430 --> 00:06:29,219 If you were growing up like me, you at some point probably did 117 00:06:29,340 --> 00:06:32,010 the weird flex of saying, oh yeah, well, my dad could beat up your dad. 118 00:06:33,330 --> 00:06:34,200 Why do we do that? 119 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:38,729 As a dad, I've never once gotten in a fight with another dad yet. 120 00:06:38,789 --> 00:06:39,870 Maybe someday. 121 00:06:40,305 --> 00:06:41,235 But not yet. 122 00:06:41,835 --> 00:06:42,795 But we did that, didn't we? 123 00:06:42,795 --> 00:06:43,155 Growing up? 124 00:06:43,155 --> 00:06:44,235 Well, my dad can beat up your dad. 125 00:06:44,445 --> 00:06:44,565 Yeah. 126 00:06:44,565 --> 00:06:45,435 Well, okay. 127 00:06:45,435 --> 00:06:46,635 How's this one for a flex? 128 00:06:46,635 --> 00:06:49,695 Your dad, if you are in Christ, your father is the God of all creation. 129 00:06:51,675 --> 00:06:55,455 If you wanna boast about a relationship with a father, how about we start there? 130 00:06:55,545 --> 00:06:59,865 Point number one this morning is that boast in your adoption? 131 00:07:01,575 --> 00:07:03,615 Boast in your adoption. 132 00:07:04,590 --> 00:07:08,430 That the God of the universe has adopted you, has taken you from being a child of 133 00:07:08,430 --> 00:07:10,500 wrath, which is what we are by nature. 134 00:07:10,500 --> 00:07:13,860 Ephesians chapter two, and he is now through Christ and through the gospel 135 00:07:13,860 --> 00:07:17,160 and through the the death of Jesus on the cross for your sins and the resurrection 136 00:07:17,340 --> 00:07:18,840 of Jesus for your eternal life. 137 00:07:18,930 --> 00:07:23,490 He has now taken you and he has made you a son or a daughter in his household. 138 00:07:25,380 --> 00:07:28,050 Adoption's, not always something that is looked upon favorably in our culture. 139 00:07:29,190 --> 00:07:31,140 You can think of the movie scene or the TV show where somebody 140 00:07:31,140 --> 00:07:32,220 finds out that they're adopted. 141 00:07:33,825 --> 00:07:37,064 Some of you told your siblings that they were adopted when you were growing up, 142 00:07:39,135 --> 00:07:41,683 but y'all, all that reveals is a misunderstanding of how amazing 143 00:07:41,683 --> 00:07:43,215 the concept of adoption is. 144 00:07:44,414 --> 00:07:48,075 We don't understand that God has adopted us based on earthly adoption. 145 00:07:48,075 --> 00:07:50,744 We understand earthly adoption through the understanding of what God has 146 00:07:50,744 --> 00:07:56,474 done for us, and it's amazing 'cause Think about the process of adoption. 147 00:07:56,474 --> 00:07:58,275 Adoption is a one-sided transaction. 148 00:07:59,205 --> 00:08:01,304 You don't cause someone to adopt you. 149 00:08:02,115 --> 00:08:03,914 You don't pay for your own adoption. 150 00:08:04,515 --> 00:08:06,344 You don't earn your own adoption. 151 00:08:08,085 --> 00:08:12,405 And when you are adopted, at least ideally, you come into the family as one 152 00:08:12,405 --> 00:08:17,145 who is not a second class citizen, but as one who has every right, as a full-fledged 153 00:08:17,145 --> 00:08:22,094 member of the family of God, or as the family that is on earth adopted you. 154 00:08:23,295 --> 00:08:25,065 Perhaps growing up you thought about, man, it would be really 155 00:08:25,065 --> 00:08:25,910 cool to have been adopted by this. 156 00:08:26,474 --> 00:08:28,035 Family over here, this family over here. 157 00:08:28,185 --> 00:08:30,675 There's no indictment on your own family, but you probably just thought, 158 00:08:30,675 --> 00:08:32,985 man, it would really be cool if my best friend's family adopted me. 159 00:08:32,985 --> 00:08:35,115 Then we could be brothers or sisters or whatever it is. 160 00:08:36,044 --> 00:08:38,565 Or maybe you thought, man, it'd be super cool if this celebrity adopted me. 161 00:08:38,565 --> 00:08:42,015 Wow, that would be awesome to be their son or their daughter. 162 00:08:42,585 --> 00:08:44,955 What a, the president of the United States, they've got a bowling 163 00:08:44,955 --> 00:08:47,530 alley in the basement that would be super cool to be adopted by the 164 00:08:47,530 --> 00:08:48,255 president of the United States. 165 00:08:48,255 --> 00:08:48,465 Right? 166 00:08:48,735 --> 00:08:51,945 You have maybe some of those thoughts, but try this one on for size this morning. 167 00:08:51,945 --> 00:08:52,515 You've been adopted. 168 00:08:52,515 --> 00:08:54,650 If you're in Christ by the God of the universe, the God of all creation. 169 00:08:56,220 --> 00:08:57,810 There is no higher adoption that we have. 170 00:08:58,740 --> 00:09:01,260 There's no one that we might be able to say, man, imagine the privilege of being 171 00:09:01,260 --> 00:09:03,120 adopted by this person, by this one. 172 00:09:04,350 --> 00:09:08,190 The Bible says that you are children of God if you are in Christ this morning. 173 00:09:08,190 --> 00:09:13,140 That's why it's as obedient children, as obedient children. 174 00:09:15,060 --> 00:09:16,560 What does our adoption do for us? 175 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:18,660 Here's just a few things that I came up with this week. 176 00:09:18,660 --> 00:09:23,130 Galatians four five says that our adoption is a sign that Christ's 177 00:09:23,130 --> 00:09:26,160 redemptive work was accomplished for us. 178 00:09:27,510 --> 00:09:33,240 Galatians four six says that our adoption signifies for us that God 179 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,690 has sent his spirit to dwell in us. 180 00:09:38,355 --> 00:09:40,185 Galatians four seven marks. 181 00:09:40,215 --> 00:09:43,695 It says that adoption marks a status change for us in that we go from 182 00:09:43,695 --> 00:09:47,925 being slaves to being children of God. 183 00:09:50,145 --> 00:09:52,785 Ephesians one five says that our adoption was always a part 184 00:09:52,785 --> 00:09:54,645 of God's sovereign plan for us. 185 00:09:54,645 --> 00:09:59,085 He predestined us for adoption, Romans eight 15, which we heard earlier this 186 00:09:59,085 --> 00:10:01,905 morning during scripture reading says that our adoption means that we now 187 00:10:01,905 --> 00:10:04,965 get to approach God as Abba Father. 188 00:10:04,965 --> 00:10:07,815 That word Abba in the Greek was only reserved for somebody 189 00:10:07,815 --> 00:10:08,925 that was in the family. 190 00:10:11,325 --> 00:10:14,895 Romans eight 17 reveals that our adoption secures for us a 191 00:10:14,895 --> 00:10:17,955 future inheritance with Jesus. 192 00:10:20,265 --> 00:10:20,475 Y'all. 193 00:10:20,475 --> 00:10:23,295 The significance of our identity as those who have been adopted by 194 00:10:23,295 --> 00:10:27,075 God cannot be overstated, and it is essential to our pursuit of holiness. 195 00:10:27,075 --> 00:10:27,615 And here's why. 196 00:10:27,615 --> 00:10:29,175 It's essential to our pursuit of holiness. 197 00:10:30,135 --> 00:10:34,725 We talk about with our salvation justification quite a lot, don't we? 198 00:10:34,815 --> 00:10:35,745 And rightly so. 199 00:10:36,225 --> 00:10:38,745 Justification is an essential component to the gospel. 200 00:10:39,420 --> 00:10:42,360 Justification is the legal declaration that you are not only 201 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:43,800 not guilty, but you are righteous. 202 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:46,440 You are innocent with the innocence and righteousness of Jesus. 203 00:10:46,890 --> 00:10:48,180 That's justification. 204 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,870 But here's the thing, y'all justification is forensic in nature. 205 00:10:52,230 --> 00:10:55,740 Justification is about a judicial statement that has been made 206 00:10:55,740 --> 00:10:57,750 from God as judge over you. 207 00:10:57,870 --> 00:11:01,800 You are no longer guilty in your sin, condemned in your sin, but 208 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:03,930 Romans eight, one, there's no condemnation for you anymore. 209 00:11:04,110 --> 00:11:05,040 You have been judicious. 210 00:11:05,655 --> 00:11:09,525 Judiciously declared not guilty, innocent with the righteousness 211 00:11:09,525 --> 00:11:11,895 of Jesus, but that is forensic. 212 00:11:11,895 --> 00:11:12,700 That is not relational. 213 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:18,600 So that is why we have to understand both our justification and our adoption 214 00:11:18,900 --> 00:11:22,860 because our adoption when it comes to the gospel is the relational component 215 00:11:22,860 --> 00:11:27,780 that we have with God the Father, and that relationship is 100% crucial and 216 00:11:27,780 --> 00:11:29,220 essential to our pursuit of holiness. 217 00:11:29,490 --> 00:11:33,180 If you are pursuing holiness without the relational component of God, 218 00:11:33,450 --> 00:11:35,730 then you are pursuing holiness for all of the wrong reasons. 219 00:11:35,730 --> 00:11:39,390 And my guess is it feels soul crushing and defeating to you this morning. 220 00:11:40,890 --> 00:11:42,060 It's when we understand. 221 00:11:43,395 --> 00:11:46,455 That we pursue holiness because God has first entered into this relationship 222 00:11:46,455 --> 00:11:49,785 with us, that God has adopted us, that God has made us his sons and daughters. 223 00:11:49,965 --> 00:11:51,075 That's what enables us. 224 00:11:51,075 --> 00:11:54,615 That's the means to us being able to pursue this life of 225 00:11:54,885 --> 00:11:57,495 godliness, this life of holiness. 226 00:11:57,495 --> 00:12:00,435 And maybe you still struggle over the tension of this reality of adoption 227 00:12:00,435 --> 00:12:01,755 because you don't fully feel it. 228 00:12:01,815 --> 00:12:04,725 And that's because there's an already not yet component to this. 229 00:12:06,090 --> 00:12:07,530 Paul writes in Romans 8 23. 230 00:12:07,530 --> 00:12:11,010 He says, not only creation, but we ourselves who have the 231 00:12:11,010 --> 00:12:12,180 first fruits of the spirit. 232 00:12:12,330 --> 00:12:17,400 We groan inwardly and, and notice this as we wait eagerly for adoption 233 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:20,385 as sons, and then he defines that the redemption of our bodies. 234 00:12:22,015 --> 00:12:25,800 And, and so it's like this, if we can paint this picture, we're currently, 235 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:27,870 we're, we are still in the orphanage. 236 00:12:28,050 --> 00:12:29,640 The papers have been signed. 237 00:12:29,820 --> 00:12:33,600 Everything, all the boxes have been checked, everything has been paid for. 238 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:38,400 You are by status adopted, and yet you're still waiting for the full reality. 239 00:12:38,715 --> 00:12:40,845 Somebody is there to tell you about the new family. 240 00:12:40,905 --> 00:12:42,345 They're telling you about the parents. 241 00:12:42,345 --> 00:12:43,995 They're telling you about your new dad. 242 00:12:44,145 --> 00:12:46,875 They're telling you about what the house is gonna be like that you're going to 243 00:12:46,875 --> 00:12:48,345 live in and what the reality will be like. 244 00:12:48,525 --> 00:12:51,165 And you are looking forward to that and it's a sure thing, 245 00:12:51,255 --> 00:12:52,755 but you're not yet there. 246 00:12:54,255 --> 00:12:55,815 That's where we find ourselves right now. 247 00:12:57,675 --> 00:12:59,895 We aren't in our father's house yet. 248 00:13:00,315 --> 00:13:02,235 We're still exiles here and now. 249 00:13:04,185 --> 00:13:06,435 And one of the reasons why we're still here, one of the reasons why he 250 00:13:06,435 --> 00:13:08,805 hasn't come to get us yet is because he wants us to go and tell other 251 00:13:08,805 --> 00:13:10,605 people that they too can be adopted. 252 00:13:11,715 --> 00:13:14,655 In Ephesians two, Paul connects this concept of being adopted, being a child 253 00:13:14,655 --> 00:13:19,935 of God, to the idea of being reconciled, being brought from far off near to God. 254 00:13:20,745 --> 00:13:23,925 And then in second Corinthians five, he takes that same concept of reconciliation. 255 00:13:23,925 --> 00:13:27,435 It says, we have now been given the ministry of reconciliation to go out and 256 00:13:27,435 --> 00:13:31,605 tell other people, to implore people to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. 257 00:13:32,730 --> 00:13:35,850 And so we as those that have been adopted, can go and tell other people the good 258 00:13:35,850 --> 00:13:39,750 news that they can be adopted to see there's been this change in status. 259 00:13:39,750 --> 00:13:40,710 We are no longer slaves. 260 00:13:40,710 --> 00:13:41,850 We're no longer children of wrath. 261 00:13:41,850 --> 00:13:42,325 We are children of God. 262 00:13:43,650 --> 00:13:45,150 But it's more than just a change in status. 263 00:13:45,150 --> 00:13:48,300 It's a change notice also in our passions, in our affections. 264 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,330 He says, as obedient children do not be conformed to the 265 00:13:51,330 --> 00:13:53,580 passions of your former ignorance. 266 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:56,190 That word passions there is the Greek word epit. 267 00:13:56,195 --> 00:14:00,810 Theia, which means passions, lusts, desires, and usually it has a negative 268 00:14:00,810 --> 00:14:01,995 connotation, and that's what it does here. 269 00:14:03,300 --> 00:14:06,840 Don't be conformed to the things that you once lived for in your former ignorance. 270 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:08,250 Well, your ignorance of what? 271 00:14:08,550 --> 00:14:11,250 Your ignorance of everything that he's talked about so far in the 272 00:14:11,250 --> 00:14:14,280 first 12 verses, your ignorance of God is your heavenly Father. 273 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:17,070 Your ignorance of the inheritance that's gonna be yours, your ignorance of the 274 00:14:17,070 --> 00:14:18,360 hope that's gonna be delivered to you. 275 00:14:19,020 --> 00:14:21,240 All of these things that we've talked about, you once lived 276 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:22,620 not knowing about those things. 277 00:14:22,620 --> 00:14:26,850 And so for you, your hope was put on all of the things that the flesh lusts for. 278 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:31,050 And Peter is simply saying as obedient children now. 279 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:34,020 There's been a status change that now affects your passions as well. 280 00:14:34,260 --> 00:14:36,630 Don't live for the same things that you once lived for. 281 00:14:36,870 --> 00:14:40,140 Don't live for the lust and the greed and the covetousness and the idolatry. 282 00:14:40,530 --> 00:14:45,030 Don't live for the, the, the sloth and the laziness and the self-centeredness 283 00:14:45,030 --> 00:14:46,470 and the pride and the contempt. 284 00:14:47,580 --> 00:14:50,310 Don't be conformed to those things any longer. 285 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:52,650 Romans 12, Paul says something similar. 286 00:14:52,650 --> 00:14:56,430 He says, do not be conformed to the patterns of this world. 287 00:14:57,180 --> 00:14:59,250 Instead, as God's adopted children, you've been made new. 288 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:03,540 God has caused you to be born again, and that means your passions have 289 00:15:03,540 --> 00:15:05,640 been redeemed by the blood of Christ. 290 00:15:07,500 --> 00:15:09,480 Peter's about to call us as we're gonna see here, to a 291 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:10,680 life of holiness and godliness. 292 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,280 That's only possible if we understand this relationship with 293 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:16,350 God, this relationship with God. 294 00:15:17,655 --> 00:15:20,370 In, in Psalm 84, 10, the Psalmist says this. 295 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:23,850 He says, it's better to be a doorkeeper in the house of God than 296 00:15:23,850 --> 00:15:25,050 to dwell in the tents of the wicked. 297 00:15:26,430 --> 00:15:28,710 He says, it's better to hold the door in heaven. 298 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:31,530 Then to dwell in the the mansions of hell. 299 00:15:31,650 --> 00:15:34,950 In other words, but here's the amazing news. 300 00:15:35,310 --> 00:15:38,430 Psalm 27, 4, king David writes this. 301 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:42,570 He says, one thing I've asked one thing I've asked of the 302 00:15:42,570 --> 00:15:44,520 Lord and this I will seek. 303 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,420 After that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days in my 304 00:15:48,420 --> 00:15:52,320 life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. 305 00:15:53,085 --> 00:15:54,585 To dwell in the house of the Lord. 306 00:15:54,585 --> 00:15:58,035 See Christian when you, when you leave this place and go to be with the Lord, 307 00:15:58,215 --> 00:16:01,245 either when he comes back for his bride or when you die to go to be with him, you're 308 00:16:01,245 --> 00:16:02,505 not going to be with him to hold doors. 309 00:16:02,505 --> 00:16:04,185 You're gonna be with him to live in his house. 310 00:16:04,185 --> 00:16:07,965 Jesus said, I'm gonna prepare a place for you in my father's house. 311 00:16:07,965 --> 00:16:10,155 There are many rooms and I'll come back for you. 312 00:16:11,175 --> 00:16:12,525 So that's our new passion. 313 00:16:12,525 --> 00:16:14,565 That's our new desire is to go and be with him. 314 00:16:14,925 --> 00:16:17,505 But Peter's gonna help us understand what that means for our lives as 315 00:16:17,505 --> 00:16:18,735 he continues on in his argument. 316 00:16:18,735 --> 00:16:21,255 See, the means is the fact that you have been adopted. 317 00:16:21,255 --> 00:16:22,935 The means is you have this relationship. 318 00:16:22,935 --> 00:16:26,985 You can boast in that adoption because now you have the means by which 319 00:16:26,985 --> 00:16:28,605 you can pursue a life of holiness. 320 00:16:29,385 --> 00:16:32,370 Without that first act of God, you can't pursue a life of holiness 'cause 321 00:16:32,375 --> 00:16:36,285 we do not pursue a life of holiness in order to be adopted by him. 322 00:16:36,405 --> 00:16:40,005 We pursue a life of holiness because we have been adopted by him. 323 00:16:40,725 --> 00:16:41,895 So what does that life look like? 324 00:16:41,895 --> 00:16:42,825 Look at verse 15. 325 00:16:42,825 --> 00:16:46,125 Now, he says, but as he who called you is holy, you also 326 00:16:46,125 --> 00:16:48,015 be holy in all your conduct. 327 00:16:48,945 --> 00:16:51,615 And so he said, do not be conformed to the patterns of your former 328 00:16:51,615 --> 00:16:55,095 ignorance, the passions of your former ignorance, but verse 15, contrast 329 00:16:55,425 --> 00:17:00,675 instead as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. 330 00:17:02,265 --> 00:17:04,214 In other words, the one who has adopted you is holy. 331 00:17:04,574 --> 00:17:07,845 Therefore, being part of his family is naturally gonna make you holy as well. 332 00:17:08,685 --> 00:17:10,513 You're gonna bear the family resemblance. 333 00:17:10,993 --> 00:17:14,263 There's physical traits that you can tell people are part of the same family 334 00:17:14,263 --> 00:17:15,464 because they look like each other. 335 00:17:15,973 --> 00:17:18,733 But then there's also those non-genetic traits of a family. 336 00:17:19,513 --> 00:17:24,314 The same traditions, the the same maybe morals, values, ethics, 337 00:17:24,314 --> 00:17:25,844 interests, rooting, interests, sports. 338 00:17:25,964 --> 00:17:28,425 F you can't live in my house if you're not gonna root for the Texas Rangers. 339 00:17:28,425 --> 00:17:32,024 That's a, we have that as a, it's part of the Constitution of the Burner family. 340 00:17:34,590 --> 00:17:34,799 Right. 341 00:17:34,799 --> 00:17:37,080 You, you, you share things in common with your family that 342 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:38,219 aren't necessarily genetic. 343 00:17:39,059 --> 00:17:42,509 We may not be genetic children of God in, in our current state, but 344 00:17:42,509 --> 00:17:44,879 there are other family markers of God that we will begin to bear 345 00:17:44,879 --> 00:17:46,080 because we become part of his family. 346 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:46,709 We're around him. 347 00:17:46,709 --> 00:17:47,759 We're gonna be more like him. 348 00:17:48,090 --> 00:17:50,070 Holiness is one of those things. 349 00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:52,199 What is holiness though? 350 00:17:52,799 --> 00:17:54,629 That's kind of key to this whole conversation, isn't it? 351 00:17:55,590 --> 00:17:57,870 Well, holiness is more than moral perfection. 352 00:17:58,664 --> 00:18:02,309 It, it, it's more than being set apart, which is what the Hebrew word kosh means. 353 00:18:02,909 --> 00:18:04,620 To cut or to set apart. 354 00:18:04,979 --> 00:18:07,560 So in the Old Testament, in the temple, there were instruments. 355 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:09,659 There were vessels in the temple that were considered holy. 356 00:18:09,989 --> 00:18:12,899 They were consecrated, they were set apart only to be used in worship of God. 357 00:18:13,649 --> 00:18:16,229 If the priest woke up in the middle of the night thirsty, he wasn't gonna 358 00:18:16,229 --> 00:18:19,139 grab a cup that was used in worship of the Lord to go get a cup of water. 359 00:18:19,815 --> 00:18:20,955 That was used for worship. 360 00:18:20,955 --> 00:18:22,034 It wasn't used for common things. 361 00:18:22,784 --> 00:18:24,345 It was holy to the Lord. 362 00:18:24,615 --> 00:18:25,754 It's more than that though. 363 00:18:25,810 --> 00:18:29,504 It, it, it's more than being unstained, more than being unblemished. 364 00:18:29,745 --> 00:18:32,085 The offerings, the sacrifices that were brought in the temple were 365 00:18:32,085 --> 00:18:34,995 to be holy in that they weren't to have any defect in them. 366 00:18:35,774 --> 00:18:38,264 But again, holy means more than all of these things because 367 00:18:38,264 --> 00:18:42,554 holiness by definition is defined by everything that God is. 368 00:18:43,754 --> 00:18:45,075 That is what is holy. 369 00:18:46,514 --> 00:18:49,455 Theologian, Stephen Charna defined it this way in relation 370 00:18:49,455 --> 00:18:51,074 to the holiness of the angels. 371 00:18:52,094 --> 00:18:52,995 Listen to what he says here. 372 00:18:53,955 --> 00:18:58,094 He says, though God has crowned the angels with an unspotted sanctity. 373 00:18:58,215 --> 00:19:02,985 In other words, a holiness, and he's placed them in a habitation of glory. 374 00:19:03,225 --> 00:19:09,645 Yet as illustrious as they are, they have an unworthiness in their own nature to 375 00:19:09,645 --> 00:19:12,074 appear before the throne of so holy a God. 376 00:19:14,145 --> 00:19:17,385 Their holiness grows dim and pale in his presence. 377 00:19:17,925 --> 00:19:22,485 It's but a weak shadow of that divine purity whose light is so glorious that 378 00:19:22,485 --> 00:19:25,845 it makes them cover their faces out of weakness to behold it and cover 379 00:19:25,845 --> 00:19:27,855 their feet out of shame in themselves. 380 00:19:28,095 --> 00:19:33,135 Holiness is a quality separable from them, but it is inseparable from God. 381 00:19:34,365 --> 00:19:37,845 So there Charna is saying even the angels who are holy. 382 00:19:38,595 --> 00:19:42,705 They still recognize that God is to wholly to agree that they will never 383 00:19:42,764 --> 00:19:47,685 be able to, to attain to such that the angels of Isaiah six are covering their 384 00:19:47,685 --> 00:19:51,975 faces with two of their wings, covering their bodies with two of their wings and, 385 00:19:51,975 --> 00:19:53,565 and flying hovering with the other two. 386 00:19:55,575 --> 00:19:59,565 See, the holiness of God involves everything that God is, and so in 387 00:19:59,565 --> 00:20:01,905 a sense, only God is truly holy. 388 00:20:03,314 --> 00:20:04,635 He's holy in his love. 389 00:20:04,635 --> 00:20:05,925 He's holy in his justice. 390 00:20:05,925 --> 00:20:07,125 He's holy in his wrath. 391 00:20:07,125 --> 00:20:08,205 He's holy in his wisdom. 392 00:20:08,324 --> 00:20:09,764 He's holy in his providence. 393 00:20:09,764 --> 00:20:11,355 He's holy in his patience. 394 00:20:11,355 --> 00:20:13,995 He's holy in his discipline. 395 00:20:16,095 --> 00:20:18,855 But the area we often think of so often when, when it comes to 396 00:20:18,885 --> 00:20:21,225 holiness is moral perfection, right? 397 00:20:21,794 --> 00:20:26,235 And I think that's what Peter largely has in view here as well When he says, as he 398 00:20:26,235 --> 00:20:29,564 who called you is holy, you also be holy. 399 00:20:30,195 --> 00:20:33,165 That's why this is in contrast with the passions of our former ignorance, the 400 00:20:33,165 --> 00:20:37,155 sinful things we once live for Peter saying now, as children of God, don't 401 00:20:37,155 --> 00:20:41,955 live for those things, instead as he who called you is holy, so you also be holy. 402 00:20:42,285 --> 00:20:45,075 But how is that even possible? 403 00:20:46,125 --> 00:20:49,725 How can I be holy if we just said that holiness is all, 404 00:20:49,725 --> 00:20:51,225 that God is in fact holiness. 405 00:20:51,225 --> 00:20:55,125 You can think about it this way is is God's complete otherness from us. 406 00:20:56,639 --> 00:21:01,620 So, how in the world can I strive to be that which only God truly is? 407 00:21:03,660 --> 00:21:05,760 The answer's gonna be found in our second point this morning? 408 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:12,660 Point number two is this relentlessly pursue full life holiness relentlessly, 409 00:21:12,660 --> 00:21:15,540 pursue full life holiness. 410 00:21:16,649 --> 00:21:18,810 Because even if we get to that place where we're like, well, I feel like I 411 00:21:18,810 --> 00:21:20,100 have a little bit of holiness in my life. 412 00:21:20,100 --> 00:21:21,450 I gotta shred a holiness over here. 413 00:21:21,450 --> 00:21:25,320 Then Peter lowers the boom and he says, in all your conduct. 414 00:21:26,175 --> 00:21:29,865 And every facet of your life be holy. 415 00:21:29,955 --> 00:21:30,675 As he's holy. 416 00:21:31,875 --> 00:21:35,745 Isaiah appeared before the throne of God, and the angels are there, and the 417 00:21:35,745 --> 00:21:37,605 angels are crying out Holy, holy, holy. 418 00:21:37,605 --> 00:21:38,715 As the Lord God Almighty. 419 00:21:39,075 --> 00:21:40,185 The earth is full of his glory. 420 00:21:40,695 --> 00:21:45,675 And Isaiah witnesses this and he's there momentarily before the, the realization 421 00:21:45,675 --> 00:21:48,135 sets in on him and he says, wo is me. 422 00:21:48,135 --> 00:21:50,115 I am destroyed. 423 00:21:51,105 --> 00:21:52,905 I'm, that's what he means when he says, I'm undone. 424 00:21:54,314 --> 00:21:57,495 Isaiah is aware of the holiness of God and that if he remains in the 425 00:21:57,495 --> 00:22:00,314 condition that he is in front of the holiness of God, that is in a, a 426 00:22:00,314 --> 00:22:04,544 sinful condition, that he's going to be consumed by the holiness of God. 427 00:22:05,594 --> 00:22:09,524 And so God sends an angel with a coal to touch the lips of Isaiah, 428 00:22:09,524 --> 00:22:12,195 the prophet, to atone for his sin. 429 00:22:13,094 --> 00:22:18,225 And once his sin has been atoned for the wrath of God, satisfied, then 430 00:22:18,225 --> 00:22:20,895 Isaiah can stand in the presence of God and say, here I am Lord. 431 00:22:20,895 --> 00:22:21,554 Send me. 432 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:23,969 I want to be set apart for you. 433 00:22:24,179 --> 00:22:26,699 I wanna be holy to be useful for you. 434 00:22:29,429 --> 00:22:34,889 Church, we like Isaiah, needed our sin to be atoned for if we were going to be 435 00:22:34,889 --> 00:22:36,929 able to be holy, to be useful to the Lord. 436 00:22:37,260 --> 00:22:39,480 This goes back to our first point about being adopted by him. 437 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:40,469 That's why this is the means. 438 00:22:40,469 --> 00:22:44,219 That's why that's the foundation of our holiness, because we had to have our 439 00:22:44,219 --> 00:22:47,790 syn tone for if we were gonna be set apart, to be able to have any sort of 440 00:22:47,790 --> 00:22:49,590 holiness in our lives at all whatsoever. 441 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,360 And so if you have had your sin atoned for, then the 442 00:22:54,360 --> 00:22:55,860 call on your life is be holy. 443 00:22:55,860 --> 00:22:56,639 As he is holy. 444 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,459 But then we have to ask the question, has God called us to 445 00:22:59,459 --> 00:23:02,520 something that he hasn't enabled us or equipped us to be able to do? 446 00:23:04,530 --> 00:23:06,810 This is where Romans chapter six comes into play. 447 00:23:07,890 --> 00:23:11,220 In Romans chapter six, verses 10, down through verse 14, it says 448 00:23:11,220 --> 00:23:12,420 this, for the death, he died. 449 00:23:12,450 --> 00:23:15,960 He died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. 450 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:16,980 Speaking of Jesus. 451 00:23:17,010 --> 00:23:22,620 And then Paul writes this, so you also must consider yourselves dead to 452 00:23:22,620 --> 00:23:25,290 sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 453 00:23:25,300 --> 00:23:31,090 Yes, let not sin, therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. 454 00:23:31,389 --> 00:23:34,690 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, 455 00:23:35,020 --> 00:23:38,320 but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from 456 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:43,690 death to life and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 457 00:23:43,690 --> 00:23:46,629 And he goes on and says, for sin will have no dominion over you since you 458 00:23:46,629 --> 00:23:48,940 are not under law, but under grace. 459 00:23:49,060 --> 00:23:53,590 What Paul is saying here is you have a choice whether or 460 00:23:53,590 --> 00:23:54,865 not you are going to sin Now. 461 00:23:56,070 --> 00:24:02,670 In Christ because he has set you free from the the dominion of sin, because in 462 00:24:02,670 --> 00:24:06,629 Christ, the cross has paid the penalty and you are no longer a slave to sin. 463 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:10,200 You have a choice now of saying, am I going to pursue holiness 464 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:11,730 or am I going to give into sin? 465 00:24:11,730 --> 00:24:15,720 So that means every time we give into sin, we are willingly picking up that 466 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:19,560 old slave yoke and putting it back on our neck, even though Christ broke it from us. 467 00:24:21,540 --> 00:24:26,879 And so God has called you to something that you are in Christ able to do. 468 00:24:27,330 --> 00:24:30,960 This is what Paul means when he calls us to work out our salvation with 469 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:34,800 fear and trembling, knowing that it's God who works in us both to will 470 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:36,210 and to work for his good pleasure. 471 00:24:36,389 --> 00:24:39,360 This is what we refer to as a synergistic relationship. 472 00:24:40,290 --> 00:24:42,810 Your salvation coming to faith in Jesus. 473 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:45,360 That is what's known as a monistic act. 474 00:24:45,764 --> 00:24:50,774 Mano meaning ones and, and then in nega in the Greek energy or action. 475 00:24:50,925 --> 00:24:52,455 So only God acts there. 476 00:24:52,455 --> 00:24:53,504 He saves you. 477 00:24:53,504 --> 00:24:54,254 He alone. 478 00:24:54,495 --> 00:24:56,540 Your sanctification is synergistic. 479 00:24:57,225 --> 00:24:57,525 Okay. 480 00:24:57,765 --> 00:25:01,485 Your, your growth in Christ's likeness involves God equipping 481 00:25:01,485 --> 00:25:04,215 you and enabling you through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 482 00:25:04,215 --> 00:25:06,735 That's part of the adoption privileges that we talked about earlier. 483 00:25:07,035 --> 00:25:10,905 To now be able to live a life of godliness and holiness, such that 484 00:25:10,905 --> 00:25:16,155 when you face temptation, you have a choice to say no and not sin. 485 00:25:17,265 --> 00:25:20,355 So when the thousand pound gorilla that is temptation is sitting on your 486 00:25:20,355 --> 00:25:24,705 chest in Christ, if you are gonna believe the word of God to be true. 487 00:25:25,185 --> 00:25:27,764 Through the spirit, you can say no to the lust. 488 00:25:28,004 --> 00:25:30,435 You can say no to that angry outburst. 489 00:25:30,645 --> 00:25:35,024 You can say no to the, to the, the greed and the cove covetousness, the 490 00:25:35,024 --> 00:25:36,945 slander, the gossip, the immorality. 491 00:25:38,084 --> 00:25:41,534 See in, in Christ, you've been put into a position where the command to 492 00:25:41,534 --> 00:25:44,504 be holy like God is holy is possible. 493 00:25:46,064 --> 00:25:50,445 Now, we are not perfectionists here, right? 494 00:25:50,745 --> 00:25:52,425 Meaning what we, we don't believe that it's. 495 00:25:53,054 --> 00:25:55,605 Possible to, to live a perfect life here on Earth. 496 00:25:56,504 --> 00:26:00,945 That we won't be free from the presence of sin until we go to be with Jesus. 497 00:26:02,504 --> 00:26:07,395 But that's too often been used as an excuse for why we're 498 00:26:07,395 --> 00:26:08,715 okay with sin in our lives. 499 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:14,804 It, it may need, may not, not be about perfection, but it is about direction. 500 00:26:16,605 --> 00:26:20,024 It's about what we're doing with our life on an on a daily basis. 501 00:26:20,415 --> 00:26:24,045 Am I living my life to say I want to be holy today as he is? 502 00:26:24,075 --> 00:26:26,985 Holy 'cause that's what he's called me to be. 503 00:26:29,475 --> 00:26:32,685 You think about fighting sin and all the resources that we have against that. 504 00:26:34,125 --> 00:26:35,265 Fleeing is one of them. 505 00:26:35,265 --> 00:26:37,425 As Paul told Timothy, flee from these things, right? 506 00:26:37,575 --> 00:26:38,955 You gotta flee, flee, run. 507 00:26:39,255 --> 00:26:39,915 Get out of there. 508 00:26:40,515 --> 00:26:41,235 Scripture memory. 509 00:26:41,235 --> 00:26:43,905 How can a young man keep his way pure by keeping it according to your word? 510 00:26:44,505 --> 00:26:46,995 I've treasured up your word in my heart that I may not sin against you. 511 00:26:49,125 --> 00:26:49,845 Accountability. 512 00:26:50,955 --> 00:26:53,324 And we, we haven't talked about it in a minute, but, but community 513 00:26:53,324 --> 00:26:56,024 groups, that's why we stress community so much in our church right now. 514 00:26:57,915 --> 00:27:01,034 This life is, is not meant to be lived in isolation from your 515 00:27:01,034 --> 00:27:02,205 brothers and sisters in Christ. 516 00:27:02,864 --> 00:27:05,955 You need relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ who know you 517 00:27:05,955 --> 00:27:10,334 and you need to know them so that they can speak truth in your life. 518 00:27:10,725 --> 00:27:11,864 They can call you to holiness. 519 00:27:11,864 --> 00:27:13,485 They can help you pursue holiness. 520 00:27:13,935 --> 00:27:16,935 Accountability, confession is another way we battle sin. 521 00:27:17,354 --> 00:27:20,145 When we bring sin to the light and agree with God that yes, this 522 00:27:20,145 --> 00:27:23,564 is sin and I need to put it off, 523 00:27:25,604 --> 00:27:29,475 cultivation of a hatred for your sin, cultivating a desire for 524 00:27:29,475 --> 00:27:32,955 righteousness, meditating on the cross, and the cost of forgiveness. 525 00:27:32,955 --> 00:27:36,435 These are all ways that we can battle sin, but maybe you're tempted to say, 526 00:27:36,435 --> 00:27:38,084 okay, but how much holiness is enough? 527 00:27:38,084 --> 00:27:38,745 Holiness? 528 00:27:40,034 --> 00:27:41,745 When can I say it's, it's enough? 529 00:27:43,425 --> 00:27:46,485 Well, that's where that last part, and, and Peter answers that question 530 00:27:46,485 --> 00:27:52,275 for us when he says, what, in all your conduct, in all your conduct, 531 00:27:52,910 --> 00:27:54,045 I, I want you to think for a minute. 532 00:27:54,045 --> 00:27:57,135 If you've ever seen an ultrasound of a baby, maybe you've gone to 533 00:27:57,135 --> 00:27:58,470 an anatomy scan of your own child. 534 00:27:59,999 --> 00:28:03,030 I want you to imagine being in the room and the, the doctor is doing 535 00:28:03,030 --> 00:28:06,239 the, the anatomy scan here and he's going every over everything and he, he 536 00:28:06,239 --> 00:28:09,659 shows you all the, the major parts and stuff and, and he sees those things 537 00:28:09,659 --> 00:28:10,530 and he says, these are all good. 538 00:28:10,709 --> 00:28:12,959 And then he looks at you, goes, and the rest of 'em is good enough. 539 00:28:14,909 --> 00:28:15,389 I'm sorry. 540 00:28:15,929 --> 00:28:16,379 Come again. 541 00:28:16,379 --> 00:28:16,979 What? 542 00:28:18,629 --> 00:28:19,499 The rest of 'em is good enough. 543 00:28:21,179 --> 00:28:21,840 He'll be good enough. 544 00:28:23,189 --> 00:28:27,419 There's not a parent in the world that would stand for that, that 545 00:28:27,419 --> 00:28:28,409 would be satisfied by that answer. 546 00:28:29,774 --> 00:28:30,855 What do you mean good enough? 547 00:28:32,264 --> 00:28:36,495 Unpack this for me, doc, because that parent wants to hear your, your 548 00:28:36,495 --> 00:28:38,745 child's good, your child's healthy. 549 00:28:39,014 --> 00:28:41,115 Everything's functional, just like it should be. 550 00:28:42,855 --> 00:28:44,955 Why would we think that our heavenly father would look at us 551 00:28:44,955 --> 00:28:46,334 and settle for us being good enough? 552 00:28:48,615 --> 00:28:50,324 Why would we think that he would look at us and be like, you're, you're, 553 00:28:50,324 --> 00:28:53,794 you're close enough, that pet sin that you have, I'm good with it. 554 00:28:57,285 --> 00:28:58,335 There's no way he would. 555 00:28:58,455 --> 00:28:58,755 Right? 556 00:29:00,585 --> 00:29:04,095 Thomas Watson, the Puritan writer said this, sin is of an encroaching nature. 557 00:29:05,325 --> 00:29:07,125 Sin is of an encroaching nature. 558 00:29:07,335 --> 00:29:11,895 It creeps on the soul by degrees, step by step till it has the 559 00:29:11,895 --> 00:29:14,355 soul to the very height of sin. 560 00:29:17,235 --> 00:29:20,445 That's why we have to be after sin everywhere that we see it in our life. 561 00:29:20,625 --> 00:29:22,755 That's why Peter is saying, be holy in all your conduct. 562 00:29:22,935 --> 00:29:24,015 Sin is a cancer. 563 00:29:25,110 --> 00:29:26,610 And we don't want it mostly managed. 564 00:29:26,610 --> 00:29:27,840 We want it totally eradicated. 565 00:29:29,310 --> 00:29:32,040 And again, that has to be our aim every single day. 566 00:29:32,100 --> 00:29:35,100 We cannot settle for the culture that says, I'm a Christian and I cuss a little. 567 00:29:37,860 --> 00:29:40,350 That is a lie from the pit of hell that that's okay. 568 00:29:42,570 --> 00:29:47,550 Your heavenly father wants your complete devotion, wants your complete holiness. 569 00:29:49,350 --> 00:29:51,330 My wife and I, we, we just watched. 570 00:29:51,794 --> 00:29:54,915 This kind of follow up on, on The Biggest Loser. 571 00:29:54,915 --> 00:29:56,985 I don't know if you guys ever watched The Biggest Loser Back when 572 00:29:56,985 --> 00:29:58,365 it was still on TV and considered. 573 00:29:58,365 --> 00:29:58,754 Okay. 574 00:29:59,084 --> 00:30:03,675 Um, we used to watch the show too, and, and when we were watching the 575 00:30:03,675 --> 00:30:06,135 show, there was always a, a point in time where one of the contestants 576 00:30:06,135 --> 00:30:08,865 would be allowed to go home from the, the ranch as they called it. 577 00:30:09,855 --> 00:30:11,235 And everybody was always there. 578 00:30:11,235 --> 00:30:12,195 There were mixed emotions. 579 00:30:12,195 --> 00:30:12,975 It was bittersweet. 580 00:30:13,739 --> 00:30:15,899 You wanted to go home to see your family, but you knew as soon as you 581 00:30:15,899 --> 00:30:19,889 left the ranch, the safety of the ranch, and you stepped foot back at, at home. 582 00:30:20,070 --> 00:30:23,550 Then you had your pantry at home and, and, and when you were pulling into 583 00:30:23,550 --> 00:30:26,100 your neighborhood, you had to drive by the McDonald's on your street. 584 00:30:26,399 --> 00:30:29,189 By the way, y'all, there's two McDonald's on either side of my house. 585 00:30:29,669 --> 00:30:32,850 They put two mc like the enemies after me so you guys can be praying for me. 586 00:30:33,989 --> 00:30:35,909 You have to drive by on the ranch. 587 00:30:35,909 --> 00:30:36,840 You don't have any of that. 588 00:30:36,989 --> 00:30:37,560 You go home. 589 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:38,370 The temptation's there. 590 00:30:39,870 --> 00:30:40,020 You. 591 00:30:40,020 --> 00:30:42,960 You know the contestants that showed up back at the ranch and managed 592 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:47,580 to have still lost weight are the ones that knew the danger that 593 00:30:47,580 --> 00:30:49,290 was represented by those calories. 594 00:30:49,290 --> 00:30:52,710 Even though it might taste good in the moment, even though that that Big Mac 595 00:30:52,710 --> 00:30:54,449 and those large fries and that diet Dr. 596 00:30:54,449 --> 00:30:55,800 Pepper, 'cause you might as well get a diet Dr. 597 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:59,189 Pepper if you're gonna eat a Big Mac and a large fries, right covers for it. 598 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,480 Even though that tastes good, the ones that survived knew the damage that that 599 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:04,919 would do when they got back to the ranch. 600 00:31:06,735 --> 00:31:08,834 That has to be how we understand sin. 601 00:31:08,834 --> 00:31:11,865 Y'all in some ways, this is the ranch. 602 00:31:12,495 --> 00:31:14,564 Sunday morning we show up here, we get motivated. 603 00:31:14,564 --> 00:31:15,824 We're like, yeah, I, amen. 604 00:31:16,004 --> 00:31:17,445 I gotta go after my sin in my life. 605 00:31:17,445 --> 00:31:18,135 I gotta be holy. 606 00:31:18,284 --> 00:31:19,125 I agree with you. 607 00:31:19,245 --> 00:31:21,105 We've sing, sing these songs together. 608 00:31:21,105 --> 00:31:21,524 We do this. 609 00:31:21,524 --> 00:31:22,905 I'm around my brothers and sisters in Christ. 610 00:31:23,084 --> 00:31:25,905 I wanna just get outta here and, and let me go after it and let me fight sin. 611 00:31:26,175 --> 00:31:28,875 And then we, we leave and we drive by the McDonald's, so to 612 00:31:28,875 --> 00:31:29,834 speak, spiritually speaking. 613 00:31:31,215 --> 00:31:33,135 And we gotta look at that McDonald's and say, it's not worth it. 614 00:31:34,905 --> 00:31:37,814 In our community group this past week, one of our, our, our guys was, was talking 615 00:31:37,814 --> 00:31:40,725 to us and he told a story that another pastor had told, so this isn't mine. 616 00:31:40,725 --> 00:31:43,725 I, he, it comes second, third, fourth person. 617 00:31:43,725 --> 00:31:44,175 I don't even know. 618 00:31:45,225 --> 00:31:48,855 Anyways, he told the story of a guy that had been caught in an affair and the guy 619 00:31:48,855 --> 00:31:51,705 came forward and they were talking to him and they said, when did it start? 620 00:31:52,935 --> 00:31:56,475 And the guy said, well, um, and they were all expecting him to say, 621 00:31:56,475 --> 00:31:58,754 you know, it started at this, this conference that I went to, or it 622 00:31:58,754 --> 00:32:00,284 started at this restaurant where I was. 623 00:32:01,064 --> 00:32:03,044 He said, well, no, it did start at a restaurant. 624 00:32:03,615 --> 00:32:06,585 It started a restaurant when I asked for a, a cup for water and 625 00:32:06,585 --> 00:32:07,815 instead of getting water, I got soda. 626 00:32:11,085 --> 00:32:13,665 What he meant is that's where compromise first crept in. 627 00:32:15,285 --> 00:32:19,815 And once he started to compromise there, every other compromise in his 628 00:32:19,815 --> 00:32:23,475 life became easier and easier, and easier and easier until he betrayed the 629 00:32:23,475 --> 00:32:24,945 one that he had pledged his life to. 630 00:32:24,975 --> 00:32:27,585 Earthly speaking more than anybody else. 631 00:32:29,385 --> 00:32:32,354 That's how we have to understand sin and threat that it is in our life. 632 00:32:32,354 --> 00:32:36,314 And that's why Peter is saying, in all of your conduct, be holy 633 00:32:38,175 --> 00:32:43,155 JC Riel theologian in 18 hundreds, who, who writes in such a way that 634 00:32:43,185 --> 00:32:45,165 he could have written to us today. 635 00:32:45,915 --> 00:32:47,145 Pastor as well. 636 00:32:48,405 --> 00:32:50,959 He, he writes this, he says, if there's any point. 637 00:32:52,005 --> 00:32:56,205 If there's any point on which God's holiest saints agree it's this, that they 638 00:32:56,205 --> 00:33:02,265 see more and know more, and feel more and do more, and repent more and believe 639 00:33:02,265 --> 00:33:04,725 more as they get on in spiritual life. 640 00:33:06,015 --> 00:33:08,865 This is why there's not an answer to when am I holy enough? 641 00:33:09,915 --> 00:33:13,875 Because as fallen human beings, the closer we get to God and holiness, 642 00:33:13,875 --> 00:33:15,160 the more sin we will see in our lives. 643 00:33:15,930 --> 00:33:18,300 The more of it we'll see in the nooks and crannies of our life. 644 00:33:18,330 --> 00:33:22,320 And the more we're going say, I, I, I want to repent more like Ry is saying 645 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:24,570 here, I wanna know more of God's holiness. 646 00:33:24,570 --> 00:33:27,810 I wanna understand more of my depravity so I can see less of 647 00:33:27,810 --> 00:33:30,720 it in my life, and repent and get rid of it more and more and more. 648 00:33:32,100 --> 00:33:33,690 Man, I've been thinking about this all week long. 649 00:33:33,690 --> 00:33:33,840 Y'all 650 00:33:35,850 --> 00:33:39,300 start seeking full life holiness, and you'll start realizing 651 00:33:39,300 --> 00:33:41,520 how much sin does exist in the nooks and crannies of your life. 652 00:33:42,824 --> 00:33:45,074 Maybe you're fighting the big ticket items in your life, but then all of 653 00:33:45,074 --> 00:33:47,804 a sudden when someone drives like they're the only person on the face 654 00:33:47,804 --> 00:33:52,425 of the earth, in the new HEB parking lot, you realize, oh man, my pride 655 00:33:52,425 --> 00:33:53,834 just reared its ugly head, didn't it? 656 00:33:55,965 --> 00:33:59,534 Or when the rangers lose another game and your sinful idolatry shows up, 657 00:34:01,860 --> 00:34:05,684 or when I have plans for how I want my Saturday morning to go only to 658 00:34:05,684 --> 00:34:08,775 realize that, man, my kids have soccer games and basketball games, 659 00:34:08,775 --> 00:34:11,385 and there all of a sudden is my sinful selfishness coming out. 660 00:34:14,250 --> 00:34:18,120 Or when something at work doesn't go my way and then there's my impatience. 661 00:34:20,699 --> 00:34:21,360 That's life. 662 00:34:21,389 --> 00:34:24,540 As a follower of Jesus, if you've been there, if you see 663 00:34:24,540 --> 00:34:26,310 that, that's a grace of God. 664 00:34:26,310 --> 00:34:29,550 Even as Pastor Rod we, we were singing that song earlier about the mercy of God. 665 00:34:29,550 --> 00:34:32,850 That's there such a good thing to have the mercy of God available to us. 666 00:34:32,850 --> 00:34:36,030 That we can come, we can confess our sins and we can receive that forgiveness from. 667 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:43,650 In each of those re scenarios I mentioned the right response is repentance, and 668 00:34:43,650 --> 00:34:46,770 that's why Riel says part of growing and holiness is repenting more. 669 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:49,139 Okay. 670 00:34:49,139 --> 00:34:52,739 So maybe it's not impossible, but it definitely seems hard and it is. 671 00:34:55,199 --> 00:34:57,480 But just because it's hard and just because it reveals more and more sin 672 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:01,080 in our lives doesn't mean it's not good for us, but it's good for us. 673 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:03,030 Maybe not for the reasons that you might be assuming. 674 00:35:03,330 --> 00:35:06,030 We've talked about the the means, we've talked about the method. 675 00:35:06,705 --> 00:35:08,565 What's left here is the motivation for us. 676 00:35:09,825 --> 00:35:14,720 Why should I want to pursue this holiness after all, I I. 677 00:35:14,720 --> 00:35:18,465 If I'm in Christ, truly, if I've been adopted, if it's done, if it's signed, 678 00:35:18,465 --> 00:35:20,955 sealed, and delivered, sins are forgiven. 679 00:35:20,955 --> 00:35:22,035 Past, present, future. 680 00:35:22,275 --> 00:35:25,635 What's my motivation to pursue this holiness? 681 00:35:27,075 --> 00:35:27,825 Look at verse 16. 682 00:35:29,235 --> 00:35:32,685 Peter says, since it's written, you shall be holy for I'm holy. 683 00:35:33,570 --> 00:35:34,890 You shall be holy for I'm holy. 684 00:35:35,580 --> 00:35:40,410 This is a quote from Leviticus chapter 11, verses 44 and 45. 685 00:35:40,410 --> 00:35:43,200 It says, for I am the Lord your God. 686 00:35:43,500 --> 00:35:46,290 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy. 687 00:35:46,290 --> 00:35:47,250 For I am holy. 688 00:35:47,910 --> 00:35:51,405 You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. 689 00:35:51,405 --> 00:35:55,770 For I am the Lord who brought you up outta the land of Egypt to be your 690 00:35:55,770 --> 00:35:58,410 God, you shall therefore be holy. 691 00:35:58,470 --> 00:36:00,600 For I am holy. 692 00:36:02,070 --> 00:36:07,740 Peter is not saying that our motivation is because the Bible says so, but honestly 693 00:36:07,740 --> 00:36:09,390 y'all, I've read it that way for so long. 694 00:36:11,250 --> 00:36:14,820 I've read it like, well, I'm supposed to be holy since it's written. 695 00:36:14,820 --> 00:36:15,900 You shall be holy for I'm holy. 696 00:36:15,900 --> 00:36:20,040 The Bible says, be holy, so go be holy, and that that is such a 697 00:36:20,040 --> 00:36:21,660 soul crushing message to deliver. 698 00:36:24,660 --> 00:36:26,160 Yes, the Bible says, be holy. 699 00:36:26,610 --> 00:36:29,910 Yes, we should be obedient to what the word of God calls us to. 700 00:36:30,540 --> 00:36:33,540 We have to understand why the Bible says be holy in the first place. 701 00:36:33,930 --> 00:36:37,560 What God is saying here, for I am the Lord your God, I am Yahweh. 702 00:36:37,740 --> 00:36:39,270 That's his covenant name, y'all. 703 00:36:39,420 --> 00:36:42,780 That's his name of relationship, that that's the name that 704 00:36:42,780 --> 00:36:44,310 he revealed to Israel. 705 00:36:44,310 --> 00:36:48,060 When, when Moses said, who should I say is sending me to them? 706 00:36:48,330 --> 00:36:52,260 God said, tell them Yahweh I am is sending them. 707 00:36:54,030 --> 00:36:54,840 This is his name. 708 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:56,880 That said, I want a relationship with you. 709 00:36:58,065 --> 00:37:01,305 And so in the Old Testament when, when God shows up, and this is the first time 710 00:37:01,305 --> 00:37:04,905 in the Old Testament, first time in the Bible, that God says, you shall be holy. 711 00:37:05,295 --> 00:37:07,425 The precedent was established in the garden. 712 00:37:07,425 --> 00:37:10,515 He told Adam and Eve, Eve be holy by not eating these trees. 713 00:37:10,515 --> 00:37:14,205 Even though he didn't say Be holy with Exodus 20, he said, be holy by 714 00:37:14,205 --> 00:37:16,635 keeping all of these commandments, even though he didn't say be holy. 715 00:37:17,175 --> 00:37:19,695 But this is the first time that he said be holy. 716 00:37:19,695 --> 00:37:21,795 And he says it in the context of relationship. 717 00:37:22,995 --> 00:37:24,345 He said, I am the Lord your God. 718 00:37:24,345 --> 00:37:27,015 I brought you out of Egypt to be my people. 719 00:37:27,165 --> 00:37:28,305 I wanna be your God. 720 00:37:28,365 --> 00:37:33,315 And here's the thing, if God was gonna be able to be their God, they had to be holy. 721 00:37:33,405 --> 00:37:36,735 And so the holiness of God and the holiness that God wants from 722 00:37:36,735 --> 00:37:40,380 us is all about the fact that he wants a relationship with us. 723 00:37:40,380 --> 00:37:43,965 And the key to a relationship with God is holiness. 724 00:37:45,135 --> 00:37:50,115 And so our motivation is not do this because the Bible says so. 725 00:37:51,345 --> 00:37:55,605 Our motivation is not do this just to be different from the world. 726 00:37:56,145 --> 00:38:01,395 Our motivation is because God wants a relationship with us, and the bread 727 00:38:01,395 --> 00:38:05,205 and butter of that relationship, the key to that relationship is holiness. 728 00:38:05,205 --> 00:38:07,815 I'll unpack that in more in just a second, but third point is this, 729 00:38:08,085 --> 00:38:14,835 desire holiness because you desire God, desire holiness because you desire God. 730 00:38:16,635 --> 00:38:21,405 What you do with your sin reveals a lot about how much you desire God. 731 00:38:23,265 --> 00:38:24,675 Maybe this is making you uncomfortable. 732 00:38:24,675 --> 00:38:26,985 You say, well, the bread and butter of my relationship with God is, is 733 00:38:26,985 --> 00:38:28,875 holiness, but it's Jesus's holiness. 734 00:38:29,085 --> 00:38:29,865 Yes. 735 00:38:30,585 --> 00:38:31,185 Yes. 736 00:38:31,185 --> 00:38:34,815 From a a, the point of view of your justification, your righteousness 737 00:38:34,875 --> 00:38:36,765 is Christ's righteousness. 738 00:38:36,945 --> 00:38:40,725 This is not desire holiness because you desire to be saved by God. 739 00:38:40,905 --> 00:38:41,205 Okay. 740 00:38:41,850 --> 00:38:45,090 This is if you've been saved by God, if, if that relationship is 741 00:38:45,090 --> 00:38:46,620 intact, remember that's the means. 742 00:38:47,035 --> 00:38:49,350 And, and, and then you're, you're looking at the method going, 743 00:38:49,350 --> 00:38:50,430 why should I pursue the method? 744 00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:53,430 Because you want to, to be with him. 745 00:38:53,610 --> 00:38:54,750 You desire more of him. 746 00:38:54,930 --> 00:38:56,970 You don't want to be closer to him. 747 00:38:58,770 --> 00:39:02,430 Your holiness when it comes to your standing eternally 748 00:39:02,820 --> 00:39:04,650 is, is Christ's righteousness. 749 00:39:04,650 --> 00:39:05,460 That's settled. 750 00:39:06,060 --> 00:39:09,360 Your holiness when it comes to your daily relationship with God. 751 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:10,920 That's what can be in flux. 752 00:39:12,180 --> 00:39:13,620 That's what we need to focus on. 753 00:39:14,100 --> 00:39:17,130 You want closer, a, a closer walk with Christ. 754 00:39:17,340 --> 00:39:20,100 You need more holiness in your life and less sin in your life. 755 00:39:22,715 --> 00:39:25,410 In the Old Testament, God gave them the law in order to say, 756 00:39:25,410 --> 00:39:26,790 this is what holiness looks like. 757 00:39:27,570 --> 00:39:27,810 Why? 758 00:39:27,810 --> 00:39:29,790 Because he wanted a closeness with his people. 759 00:39:31,140 --> 00:39:36,210 Well, that didn't last very long, did it before the grumbling and the complaining 760 00:39:36,210 --> 00:39:37,470 and the rebellion and the disobedience. 761 00:39:37,470 --> 00:39:38,580 So what did God also provided? 762 00:39:38,580 --> 00:39:40,140 He provided sacrifices, didn't he? 763 00:39:41,670 --> 00:39:45,180 And those sacrifices were meant to show the people that the penalty 764 00:39:45,180 --> 00:39:48,870 of their sin is death, and that there needed to be a life given in 765 00:39:48,870 --> 00:39:51,840 order to atone for their sins, in order to have their sins forgiven. 766 00:39:53,430 --> 00:39:56,070 Well, the writer of Hebrews in the New Testament picks up on this theme and 767 00:39:56,070 --> 00:40:00,420 says, look, the, the law, he says in Hebrews chapter 10, verse one, the law 768 00:40:00,420 --> 00:40:04,170 was just a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form. 769 00:40:05,355 --> 00:40:05,745 It. 770 00:40:05,745 --> 00:40:08,925 The law can never by the same sacrifices that are continually 771 00:40:08,955 --> 00:40:10,485 offered every year make perfect. 772 00:40:10,485 --> 00:40:14,384 Those who draw near, otherwise they would've ceased to be offered. 773 00:40:15,165 --> 00:40:18,915 But in these sacrifices, he says there's a reminder of sins every year 774 00:40:19,095 --> 00:40:21,975 for it's impossible for the blood of bulls and ghosts to take away sins. 775 00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:28,785 So God was indicating that there was a greater sacrifice to come that 776 00:40:28,785 --> 00:40:30,134 was gonna be necessary for what? 777 00:40:30,134 --> 00:40:32,205 For them to have a relationship with him. 778 00:40:33,240 --> 00:40:35,340 And so that greater sacrifice was gonna be realized through 779 00:40:35,340 --> 00:40:36,630 the death of Jesus Christ. 780 00:40:36,870 --> 00:40:38,460 Verse 11 of Hebrews chapter 10. 781 00:40:38,460 --> 00:40:43,200 He goes on, he says, every priest stands daily at a service offering repeatedly 782 00:40:43,290 --> 00:40:47,010 the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins, what we just talked about. 783 00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:51,960 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat 784 00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:54,120 down at the right hand of God waiting. 785 00:40:54,255 --> 00:40:57,705 From that time until his enemy should be made a footstool for his 786 00:40:57,705 --> 00:41:01,755 feet, for by a single offering, he is perfected for all time. 787 00:41:01,875 --> 00:41:05,235 Those who are, notice this language being sanctified. 788 00:41:05,385 --> 00:41:09,855 That last sentence is what we're talking about both at the same time. 789 00:41:09,915 --> 00:41:13,965 Christ has at the, the same time, perfected for all time, once for all. 790 00:41:14,085 --> 00:41:16,275 You are made perfect in Jesus. 791 00:41:16,305 --> 00:41:16,635 Okay? 792 00:41:17,145 --> 00:41:20,925 Those who are being sanctified, you are in the process of being 793 00:41:20,925 --> 00:41:23,325 made more like him all the while. 794 00:41:24,660 --> 00:41:26,340 That process of being made more like him. 795 00:41:26,340 --> 00:41:29,130 Y'all, here's all I'm trying to get you to understand and get us to wrap our 796 00:41:29,130 --> 00:41:32,520 minds around, is this, your motivation is not just because the pastor said 797 00:41:32,520 --> 00:41:34,380 so or because the Bible says so. 798 00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:36,780 Your motivation in pursuing holiness tomorrow morning is because 799 00:41:36,780 --> 00:41:38,220 you want to be closer to God. 800 00:41:39,570 --> 00:41:41,370 You want to feel a greater intimacy with him. 801 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:45,780 You want to know him more deeply than you do right now. 802 00:41:46,770 --> 00:41:49,470 I'm sure if you have a pulse and you are in Christ, that you've 803 00:41:49,470 --> 00:41:52,740 gone through a season where you have felt like God is distant. 804 00:41:54,210 --> 00:41:55,740 You've gone through a season where you feel like, man, my 805 00:41:55,740 --> 00:41:57,690 faith feels sterile, it feels dry. 806 00:41:57,690 --> 00:41:59,430 I feel like I'm just going through the motions right now. 807 00:41:59,610 --> 00:41:59,790 Yeah. 808 00:41:59,790 --> 00:42:02,940 I'm showing up at church, but I, I just, I'm not, I'm not 809 00:42:02,940 --> 00:42:04,470 leaving with the warm fuzzies. 810 00:42:06,540 --> 00:42:09,450 So often those season are, are caused because we've got 811 00:42:09,450 --> 00:42:11,100 sins somewhere in our life. 812 00:42:11,820 --> 00:42:13,590 We've got a pocket of our conduct. 813 00:42:13,590 --> 00:42:17,550 If I can go back to verse 15, that we are not seeking God's holiness in. 814 00:42:18,075 --> 00:42:21,315 We've got something that we're holding back from God saying, God, you can have 815 00:42:21,315 --> 00:42:25,725 me in all of these areas, but you can't have this because I, I love it too much. 816 00:42:28,095 --> 00:42:31,215 And what we'll find is when we bring those things to the light into confession, 817 00:42:31,215 --> 00:42:34,665 when we repent from those things, when we yield those things, when we let 818 00:42:34,665 --> 00:42:38,265 go, when we surrender that area of our life, we will find that that intimacy 819 00:42:38,265 --> 00:42:41,655 that we've been missing with the Lord, that's what comes flooding back to us. 820 00:42:43,470 --> 00:42:46,890 Holiness breeds intimacy with God. 821 00:42:47,250 --> 00:42:53,760 Holiness breeds relationship, fellowship, closeness with him. 822 00:42:56,010 --> 00:42:57,660 And so if you desire that 823 00:43:00,450 --> 00:43:03,000 as he's holy, so you be holy in all your conduct. 824 00:43:03,930 --> 00:43:06,750 That's why that's the motivation. 825 00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:10,350 The motivation is not because the Bible tells me so. 826 00:43:11,445 --> 00:43:12,135 It does. 827 00:43:12,255 --> 00:43:14,925 And yes, we need to believe and we need to obey the word of God. 828 00:43:17,295 --> 00:43:19,395 But if your motivation stops that, because the Bible tells 829 00:43:19,395 --> 00:43:20,625 me so you're gonna crash out, 830 00:43:23,385 --> 00:43:25,725 it has to be connected to that relationship that we started to 831 00:43:25,725 --> 00:43:26,895 talk about in point number one. 832 00:43:28,065 --> 00:43:30,375 It has to be because you want to be closer to your heavenly Father. 833 00:43:32,025 --> 00:43:33,105 You want to feel that closeness. 834 00:43:33,105 --> 00:43:34,155 You want to know that closeness. 835 00:43:34,155 --> 00:43:35,475 You want to experience that closeness. 836 00:43:37,125 --> 00:43:39,195 That's the motivation. 837 00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:42,090 Desire holiness because you desire God. 838 00:43:42,510 --> 00:43:45,030 God desires your holiness because he desires you. 839 00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:51,510 If the father hadn't first adopted us, 840 00:43:53,580 --> 00:43:55,440 none of the rest of this matters this morning. 841 00:43:56,315 --> 00:44:00,330 And, and lemme just tell you bluntly, if you're not a Christian this morning, 842 00:44:01,740 --> 00:44:04,350 this message in many ways wasn't for you 843 00:44:06,690 --> 00:44:08,085 because you can't be holy. 844 00:44:09,195 --> 00:44:10,005 In your current state, 845 00:44:12,195 --> 00:44:15,555 you need first God to adopt you, to make you his son or daughter. 846 00:44:15,555 --> 00:44:17,955 And the good news is this morning, he is willing to do that 847 00:44:20,265 --> 00:44:24,885 if you'll repent from your sins, which means to turn from them to be done with 848 00:44:24,885 --> 00:44:29,215 that and to say, Lord I, I wanna surrender my life in complete faith to you. 849 00:44:30,075 --> 00:44:33,195 You will say, I wanna repent from my sins and I wanna trust that Jesus Christ 850 00:44:33,195 --> 00:44:36,375 died on the cross for my sins so that I can be forgiven and rose against 851 00:44:36,375 --> 00:44:37,485 so that I can live with him forever. 852 00:44:37,695 --> 00:44:40,155 That's the transaction that takes place, that takes you from being a 853 00:44:40,155 --> 00:44:41,415 child of wrath to a child of God. 854 00:44:44,175 --> 00:44:48,105 Now, this message was really for those that are sons and daughters of God here. 855 00:44:50,700 --> 00:44:56,025 'cause that's the means that makes the method possible that's under good. 856 00:44:56,025 --> 00:44:58,305 Or by her motivation to say, I want to be closer to him. 857 00:45:01,365 --> 00:45:04,965 The father made it possible, brought us in, made us sons and daughters 858 00:45:05,535 --> 00:45:07,725 at such an immense cost to himself. 859 00:45:08,685 --> 00:45:10,935 Think about that so much. 860 00:45:10,935 --> 00:45:15,195 Did God want a desire, want a relationship with you that he 861 00:45:15,405 --> 00:45:18,495 sent his son to die in your place? 862 00:45:19,905 --> 00:45:20,565 That's how much. 863 00:45:21,015 --> 00:45:21,825 That's how much he loves you. 864 00:45:21,825 --> 00:45:22,785 That's much. 865 00:45:22,785 --> 00:45:23,565 He cares about you. 866 00:45:24,495 --> 00:45:26,385 It's much he wants you to be holy. 867 00:45:28,305 --> 00:45:32,235 He provided the very foundation of that relationship through sending Jesus to die 868 00:45:32,235 --> 00:45:34,455 on the cross for you and for your sins. 869 00:45:34,455 --> 00:45:37,095 And, and that's what we turn to remember right now. 870 00:45:37,095 --> 00:45:40,815 Together we're about to take communion together as these elements are gonna 871 00:45:40,815 --> 00:45:45,645 be passed here, it, it's good for you to remember this sacrifice, to 872 00:45:45,645 --> 00:45:50,865 reflect on this sacrifice and to think about how much this means in light 873 00:45:50,865 --> 00:45:52,935 of your relationship with the father. 874 00:45:54,915 --> 00:45:57,615 Again, we're not holy because we want to be adopted. 875 00:45:58,305 --> 00:45:59,175 God has adopted us. 876 00:45:59,175 --> 00:46:00,105 He's paid the penalty. 877 00:46:00,255 --> 00:46:03,435 He's made the, the everything done through the cross that 878 00:46:03,435 --> 00:46:04,665 we're about to remember together. 879 00:46:05,145 --> 00:46:08,265 Now it's about how do we respond to that And so hold these elements, 880 00:46:08,265 --> 00:46:09,405 reflect on these elements. 881 00:46:09,735 --> 00:46:12,825 Think about the cost that God paid to make you his son or daughter, 882 00:46:13,845 --> 00:46:17,205 and what that means for our life as we live in response to him and draw 883 00:46:17,205 --> 00:46:18,945 closer to him with our very lives. 884 00:46:19,275 --> 00:46:20,235 The elements will pass. 885 00:46:20,235 --> 00:46:20,865 I'll come back up. 886 00:46:20,865 --> 00:46:22,515 We'll take them together in just a moment.