It is a privilege and a joy to be back here in Moby Sanctuary, is that what we called it? And to reflect back on what God did in so many of our hearts during these days. I've been so thrilled to have many of you just since I arrived here this week share the continuing story of how God has been moving in your hearts as He has in mine since those very special days together. And I want to thank those of you who've shared with me and others that I know as well who've been praying specifically that God would meet with us in a fresh and gracious way during these days together. One night several months ago, I found myself awake through much of the night with a heavy burden on my heart in relation to the matter of holiness. I'd been asking the Lord whether or not I should accept Dr. Bright's invitation to speak at this conference. And that night, there was an unmistakable sense in my heart that I was to come and that I was to address this subject. Although I have to tell you, I come in much fear and trembling because I feel I understand so little and I've experienced even less of what it means to be holy. However, since that time, I've been searching the Scriptures and asking God to show me something of His ways and of His heart in relation to holiness, a word that Andrew Murray said is the most profound word in the Bible. I've come to see during these months in a fresh way that the holiness of God is one of the most magnificent and breathtaking themes in all of the scripture. And that the holiness of God's people is one of the greatest needs in the church and in our world today. Unlike earlier eras of the church, you don't hear a lot of talk about holiness today. Although in heaven, they never stop talking about it. But I don't know of any subject that is more desperately needed in our generation. And there may be no more crucial subject for those of us in this room today at the start of this conference. Do you have a desire to meet with the Lord in a fresh way this week? Do you want to see His face and hear His voice? The Lord wants to meet with us. He wants to reveal Himself to us. But the Scripture says that first we must pursue holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. The Psalms tells us that righteousness goes before Him and prepares the way for His coming, and that the upright shall see His face. Listen, we can hold conferences, we can sing, we can listen to speakers forever. But if we want to see His face, if we want to experience His presence, not just good emotions, but the reality of His presence. We've got to be willing to be purified so that we can approach Him with clean hands and pure hearts. I want to begin this morning by drawing a scriptural framework for the whole subject of holiness. And then I'd like to share several scriptural reasons why we should be holy. I'd like to close with some practical thoughts on what does it mean for us to be holy? Throughout the scripture, God set apart certain things and places and people for himself. They were consecrated for his use. They were not to be used for common, ordinary, everyday purposes. They were holy. And so God said to Moses, the ground on which you're standing is holy ground. And God set apart one day out of the week and he said, this is to be a holy Sabbath. He told the Israelites that they were to set apart the first portion of their income and it was to be a holy tithe. God said that there was a room where he would meet with his people and he called it the holy place. The priests who ministered in that place had to be holy priests. They were set apart for this particular service of God. The garments they wore had to be holy garments. They could not be used for any other purpose. And they used holy ointment and holy anointing oil. The word holy comes from a root that means to cut, to separate. It means to be set apart, to be distinct, to be different. It means sacred, uncommon, clean, morally pure. From Genesis to Revelation, God makes a distinction between the holy and the unholy, the sacred and the profane, the clean and the unclean. Hebrews tells us that the Lord Jesus was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. So to be holy is to be like Jesus. It's to be separated from sin and from the world and set apart for God and for righteousness. Now, throughout history, God has chosen to fulfill His eternal purposes through people, men and women, who are holy, who are set apart. In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was set apart by God. They were called out, separated out from other nations to belong to God, to be a holy people, a holy nation. We read in Leviticus 20 verse 26, I have severed you from other people, God says, so that you should be mine. And then in the New Testament, God called out a new body, the church. The scripture teaches that we have been called out of this world, set apart to belong to God, to be His holy temple, His dwelling place, and to be used for His holy purposes. And so God says, I will be their God and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be ye separate. You cannot read the Scripture carefully without being gripped by the sense that holiness matters to God, that God takes holiness seriously. In the book of Leviticus alone, 386 times, if I counted correctly, we read words such as holy, clean, unclean, defiled, purified, sanctified. In that book, God gave his people detailed instructions regarding cleansing and ceremonial purity. You say, why did God go out to all the trouble to give those minute instructions? Well, God intended that those regulations were to be an object lesson to his people. He wanted his children to understand that he is holy and that holiness is not an option for those who belong to him. He wanted them to understand that he was concerned that they be holy in every detail and dimension of their lives. And he wanted them to understand the blessings of holiness and the deadly consequences of unholiness. When we come to the New Testament, we find no less emphasis on holiness. Over and over again, Jesus and the New Testament authors call us to a life of purity. Be ye perfect, Jesus said, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. And then we read the words of Paul to Timothy. Keep yourself pure. And to the Thessalonians, this is the will of God, even your sanctification. And to the Corinthians, awake to righteousness and sin not. Let everyone that nameth the name of the Lord, everyone that nameth the name of the Lord, depart from iniquity. Abhor that which is evil, he said to the Romans, and cleave to that which is good. In both the Old and New Testaments, we're reminded that holiness is first and foremost a matter of the heart. It's the fruit of a relationship, a vital, vibrant, intimate, passionate love relationship between God and His people. Forty-four times in the book of Leviticus, God says, I am the Lord. You are God. Therefore, you are to be holy. Holiness is the overflow of a heart that is deeply grateful to have been called out, redeemed by God from sin and from this world. Now why should we be holy? There are many reasons given in scripture. I want to highlight eight of them that will only dwell on the first and the last. But we are to be holy first because God is holy. 1 Peter 1 says, Be holy in all that you do, just as He who called you is holy. As He is holy, be holy. Holiness is the most fundamental attribute of God. Every one of His attributes is holy. So His justice is a holy justice. His love is a holy love. His wisdom is a holy wisdom. All that He is, is holy. All that He does is holy. His name is holy. His word is holy. His spirit is holy. His dwelling place is holy. Holiness is His splendor, and His splendor is His holiness. His holiness means that He is majestic. that He is transcendent above all His creation. Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness? There is none holy as the Lord. Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His holy hill, for the Lord our God is holy. Holy and awesome is His name. Today we have so little awe in the presence of God. How often do we casually stroll into His presence with less respect than we would show to a roommate or to a boss or to a guest in our home? We've lost our sense of wonder at His holiness. We've forgotten who He is. And that when we stand before Him, we are in the presence of holiness. His holiness means that He is absolute, moral perfection. The Lord is upright, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. And in Job 15, we read that even the heavens are not clean in His sight. And His holiness means that He cannot look upon sin without deep grief and hatred. If we could only get a picture of what sin does to our holy God. When Adam and Eve committed a single act of disobedience, one act of disobedience, God cast them out of the garden and posted their cherubim and a flaming sword to keep them from coming back into the garden again. Why? Because God is holy. Scripture doesn't tell us, but I think those angels posted at the entrance there were saying, holy, holy, holy. When one of the earliest civilizations became morally impure, the scripture says that God in heaven was grieved. It says that his heart was filled with pain. And then this grieving, heartbroken, holy God sent a great flood to destroy virtually the entire civilization. Why? Because God is holy. And when Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark of the covenant, to keep it from falling, God became angry and struck him dead on the spot for daring to touch that holy place where God's glory dwelt. Why? Because God is holy. And it's as if God would have rather let his glory fall in the dirt on the ground than to be touched by unclean, unholy human hands. God set aside a sacred place in the tabernacle for His glory to dwell. That holiest place could not be seen or entered by any sinful human being. Just once a year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest was permitted to enter to offer a sacrifice for the sin of the people. and then he wore bells on the hem of his robe and a rope tied around his ankle so that if he were to sin in the presence of holiness and he were to die, the people could hear him fall and they could drag his body out of that holy place. Why'd they have to go to all that trouble? Because God is holy. Nowhere is the holiness of God more evident than at the cross. If you want to know how God feels about sin, take a trip to Calvary. Why did God give up his holy beloved son to be put to death by wicked men? Why did God stand silently by while his son cried out in anguish, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Psalm 22 tells us the answer. For God is holy. On that day, the darkest day in the history of the universe, Jesus, the blameless, sinless, undefiled Son of God became sin. He took upon Himself every sin that every man, woman, or child that had ever walked or would ever walk on this planet had ever committed. Habakkuk tells us that God is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and He cannot look on iniquity. At that moment, all the fury of hell was unleashed on His only Son, and God turned His face away. Why? Because God is holy. Our generation has developed a warped view of God that emphasizes only His love and His grace, but has lost sight of His holiness. Yes, God is infinitely loving and merciful and gracious, but His love and His grace are stripped of their meaning if they're not seen in the light of His holiness. The God that Isaiah saw was seated on a throne in his holy temple, high and lifted up. His majesty, his radiance were so dazzling and blinding that the seraphim who attended him had to cover their faces and their bodies. And what were they crying out to one another? Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. Notice they didn't cry out, mercy, mercy, mercy, or love, love, love, but holy, holy, holy. And 600 years later, the Apostle John saw that same Lord seated on the same throne, and the angels were still singing the same song. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. And one day, a moment or two from now, when you and I stand in His presence, they'll be still singing that same song. And through all of eternity, day and night, that same never-ending anthem will resound throughout the streets of heaven. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. All thy works shall praise thy name. In earth and sky and sea. Holy, holy. merciful and mighty. And we stand, we stand, We stand, we stand in awe of Holy God. Holy God, to whom all praise is due, we stand in awe of you. Holy God, to whom all praise is due, We stand in awe of you. We are to be holy because God is holy. And because God is holy, we can be holy. The Holy God lives in us. Not only is He the standard for our holiness, but He is the source of all true holiness. He is our righteousness. Number two, we are to be holy because we have been called to be holy. That is our ultimate end. 1 Thessalonians 4 tells us that God has not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. And Ephesians 1 says that He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world in order that we should be holy and without blame before Him. And then we have that wonderful promise in 1 John chapter 3. We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. So what's our response to that certainty? Everyone that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. You see, we are to be purifying ourselves now in anticipation of that glorious day when we will be finally in practice, holy as he is holy. Number three, we are to be holy because Jesus Christ gave his life to save us from our sins. Galatians 1 tells us Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world. And then Titus 2, he gave himself for us that he might redeem us and might purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. And then Ephesians chapter 5 tells us that Christ loved the church and gave himself for it so that he might sanctify it and cleanse it. In his classic book on holiness, which I'm sure many of you have read, J.C. Ryle says, surely that man must be in an unhealthy state of soul who can think of all that Jesus suffered. and yet cling to those sins for which that suffering was undergone. It was sin that wove the crown of thorns. It was sin that pierced our Lord's hands and feet and side. It was sin that brought Him to Gethsemane and Calvary, to the cross and to the grave. Cold must our hearts be if we do not hate sin and labor to get rid of it, that we may have to cut off the right hand and pluck out the right eye in doing it. Jesus didn't shed his blood so that you and I could go on living with our lust, and anger, and jealousy, and competitive spirits, and pride, and selfishness. He died to set us free from sin. And when he died, we died with him. So Paul says in Romans 6, he that is dead is freed from sin. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body. Jesus died to make us holy, to deliver us from sin. Number four, we are to be holy because we are saints. In other words, because we are saints, we ought to live as saints. According to the New Testament, we have been called to be saints, holy ones, set-apart ones. And that's what makes fleshly sinful behavior so unthinkable. As saints, we've been set apart for God's use, to be holy, consecrated to Him. Our lives are no longer our own. We belong to Him. And as Peter reminds us, we've been made partakers of the divine nature. God has actually placed His very life and nature within us and has caused us to escape from the corruption that is in this world. As Paul reminds the Ephesians, we used to be children of darkness, but now we're children of light. We were the enemies of God, and now we are His dearly beloved children. We were the slaves of sin, but now we've been set free from sin so that we can be servants of righteousness. We've put off the old man and its deceitful lusts, and we've put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Therefore, Paul says, the things that are part of that old, corrupt way of life should not even be hinted at among us. And he names what some of those things are, things like sexual immorality, greed, obscenity, foolish talk, and coarse jesting. Paul says those things are not becoming of saints. According to God's word, those who are children of God have a new heart. They have a new nature, new desires, new values. They're new creatures. Old things have passed away. They want to be like Jesus. They want to be holy. They want to be separated from this world. Those who want to be like the world, those who have no deep inner desire to be holy, have good reason to question whether or not they truly are children of God. That's the message of 1 John. The way we live, John says, reveals our true nature, because we do what it's our nature to do. If we live righteously, it's evidence that we've been born of God, who is righteous. But if we continue to commit sin, we prove that we have never been born of God. If we're truly children of God, there will be a family resemblance. We will look like Him. We will live like Him. We are to be holy because we are saints. Number five, we are to be holy because our intimacy with God depends upon it. Unholy people cannot fellowship with a holy God. Psalm 24 asks the question, who shall ascend into his holy hill? Or who shall dwell in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. Blessed are the pure in heart, Jesus said, for they shall see God. Sin breaks our fellowship with God. We cannot have fellowship with sin and with God at the same time. Moses said to Israel in Deuteronomy, The Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp. Therefore shall thy camp be holy, lest he see some unclean thing in thee and turn away from thee. And then 2 Corinthians chapter 6, for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? Or what communion has light with darkness? Wherefore God says, come out from among them and be separate and touch not the unclean thing. And I will be a father to you and you will be my sons and daughters. Number six, we are to be holy because we are citizens of a holy city. This world is not our home. We don't belong here. We're in route to a city, Peter said, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Yes, heaven is a place of indescribable joy and beauty, a place where there will be no more sickness or pain or sorrow, but that's because heaven is a holy place. That's because God lives there. And where God lives must be holy. In fact, Revelation 21 tells us that nothing impure will ever enter into it. And so Peter says, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him without spot and blameless. Charles Spurgeon said, do you think to enter heaven with your unholiness? God smote an angel down from heaven for sin, and will he let man in with sin in his right hand? God would sooner extinguish heaven than see sin despoil it. And once again, J.C. Ryle said this, without holiness on earth, we shall never be prepared to enjoy heaven. Heaven is a holy place. The Lord of heaven is a holy being. The angels are holy creatures. Holiness is written on everything in heaven. How shall we ever be at home and happy in heaven if we die unholy? Number seven, we are to be holy because the spiritual well-being of others depends upon it. The spiritual well-being of others depends on it. Robert Murray McShane, that great Scottish preacher said, the greatest need of those around me is my personal holiness. Think of it. The greatest need of our maids, our children, our fellow workers, those we're trying to disciple, those we're trying to win to Christ, their greatest need is not our gifts, our abilities. It's not the tools, the resources we can offer them, the programs we can provide for them. Their greatest need is to see in us the reflection of what God is like. Jesus said, and I think this is an astounding verse there in the Lord's high priestly prayer in John 17. He said, Oh God, for their sakes, I sanctify myself so that they also may be sanctified. Whether we realize it or not, our holiness or unholiness has profound impact on the lives of those around us. J.C. Ryle said, I believe there's far more harm done by unholy and inconsistent Christians than we are all aware of. Such men are among Satan's best allies. They pull down by their lives what ministers build with their lips. They cause the chariot wheels of the gospel to drive heavily. They supply the children of this world with a never-ending excuse for remaining as they are. Campus Crusade for Christ is known for its commitment to the evangelization of every nation in this world. Do you want to see that purpose fulfilled? Do you want to see your nation reached with the gospel? God said in Ezekiel chapter 36, the nations will know that I am the Lord when I show myself wholly through you before their eyes. The well-being, spiritual well-being of others depends upon our willingness to sanctify ourselves. And then finally, number eight, we are to be holy because we have been set apart to serve God as priests. We've been set apart as priests to serve him. Now, in a general sense, I know this is true of all believers. But I believe that those of us who've been set apart for a lifetime of full-time ministry have an even greater obligation to model lives that are holy. The Old Testament priests didn't have to be especially talented or intelligent. They didn't have to have great personalities, but they had to be holy. Before they could ever begin their ministry, they had to be consecrated and cleansed and anointed. Then every single day before they went into that holy place to serve or approach the altar, they had to first wash their hands and their feet at the bronze laver. The high priest wore a turban with a gold plate across his forehead, and on that plate were engraved the words, holiness to the Lord. There's one phrase that summarizes the burden that God has placed on my heart for this morning. It would be found in Isaiah 52, verse 11. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord." As God's servants, our lives must be blameless and beyond reproach. And it's not enough to measure ourselves by the standard of others around us. We must be committed to the standard of God's absolute purity. E.M. Bowne said, it's not great talents or great learning or great preachers that God needs. It's men great in holiness. I know of a church that decided to renovate their auditorium. And when they began to tear up the platform area, they discovered underneath the pulpit a trap door. And under that door they found a compartment which was filled with pornographic literature. They finally traced it back to the previous pastor who admitted that he'd been addicted to pornography and that he had stashed that pornography underneath the pulpit, thinking that no one would ever find it there. Week after week, that pastor had stood in that pulpit to proclaim the Word of God while covering a lifestyle of unholiness. Let me ask you this. When we stand up to minister, when we share the four spiritual laws, when we lead a discipleship group or teach a Sunday school class, what foundation are we standing on? Is it a foundation of holiness and purity? A life that is blameless and above reproach? Or is it a foundation of uncleanness? No one else may know what's under my pulpit. No one else may know what's under your pulpit. It may be well hidden, but I'll tell you this one day for sure, the truth will be exposed for all to see. In the evangelical world today, we've redefined sin. We've come to view it as normal, acceptable behavior. We've sunk to such lows that many of us can not only sin thoughtlessly, but we can even laugh at sin and be entertained by it. I've heard virtually every conceivable sin rationalized and defended by professing Christians, many of them in full-time Christian service. You've probably seen the current issue of Worldwide Challenge, which features Josh and the Right from Wrong campaign. I tell you, I'm convinced that the reason the world doesn't know right from wrong is that the church doesn't know right from wrong. And not only has tolerance become the supreme virtue in the secular world, it's become the supreme virtue in the house of God. Vance Havner had it right when he said, the world and the professing church first flirted with each other, then fell in love, and now the wedding is upon us. The problem, according to Andrew Murray, is that we want only as much holiness as is needed to make our personal safety, comfort, and happiness secure. Scripture says, you who love the Lord hate evil. We are the men and women today who love God so passionately that they hate sin in every form. We ought to flee from sin as we'd run from a deadly snake. We ought to dread becoming the least bit tainted by it. Listen, some of us are more afraid of contacting germs than we are of becoming defiled by sin. We ought to take more extreme precautions to protect ourselves from sin than we would to avoid contracting a deadly disease during an epidemic. And we ought to be ashamed and grieved and heartbroken when we or others fall into sin. According to your holiness, said McShane, so shall be your success. A holy man is an awesome weapon in the hand of a holy God. Ours is a high and holy calling, and it demands that we embrace the highest possible standard of personal and corporate holiness. Now before we close this morning, I want to share some practical thoughts. What does it mean for us to be holy? Peter said, be holy in all you do. That means that holiness is to characterize every area of our lives. As Spurgeon said, our lives must be such that observers may peep within doors and may see nothing for which to blame us. That includes those parts of our lives that can be seen by others. It also includes those innermost parts of our hearts that only God can see. A commitment to pursue holiness will affect my motives. Why do I do what I do? It will affect my thoughts, my values. Are my affections set on things above or am I attached to the comforts and pleasures and possessions of this world? It will affect my attitudes, my responses. A commitment to holiness means a commitment to evaluate every area, every detail of my life according to the Word of God. My speech, what I say, the way I say it, the spirit in which I say it, our relationships, the way we relate to our families, the way we relate to our fellow workers, the way we relate to those with whom we disagree, the way we relate to members of the opposite sex. We are called to be chaste, discreet, and pure. Holiness, it means evaluating even the way that we dress according to the Word of God. And could I be so bold as to say women, if we're committed to the standard of God's Word, that means a commitment to modesty and to femininity. Everything, what we eat, what we drink, the way we handle our finances, the way we spend our money, the way we spend our free time, what we do for entertainment, the music we listen to, the books and magazines we read, the TV programs and movies and videos that we watch, everything must be evaluated according to the standard of God's Word and His holiness. A missionary A missionary who was greatly used of God in revival in Africa said, there must be nothing, absolutely nothing in my daily conduct that copied by another could lead that one into unholiness. Some time ago, someone gave me a video of a movie that I'd heard was a very touching story. However, I'd also heard that it had a lot of profanity in it. So I'd never felt the freedom to watch it. However, a couple months ago, shortly after I began preparing this message, I got home from work one day. I was exhausted from a full day at the office, and all I wanted to do was crash. I was home alone. I forgot the Lord was there. And I pulled that video out of the shelf. I held it in my hand for a minute or two, arguing with my conscience. I knew that it did not, without even watching it, that it didn't meet the standard of Philippians 4, 8. Whatsoever things are pure, lovely, of good report. I knew that if I put that profane language into my mind, that my spirit would be defiled, my conscience would be desensitized toward God. I'd have less of a hunger and an appetite for God's holiness and more of an appetite for this world. I knew all those things, but at that moment, I wanted what I wanted to do more than I wanted to please the Lord. So I ignored the promptings of the Spirit and popped that video in the machine. About 20 minutes into that video, the phone rang. And it was Dennis Rainey. He doesn't know this. He was returning a call I'd placed earlier that day, and I felt as if God had walked into that room. The fact is, God was in that room, and He had been all along. I felt like God had sent that interruption to rescue me. But I'll tell you, I was under such conviction of the Holy Spirit, I could hardly carry on that conversation. When we hung up, I pulled the video out of the machine. I started to put it back on the shelf. That's dumb. I had second thoughts, put there by the Holy Spirit, I'm sure, and turned and threw it in the trash can. But I'll just tell you honestly, I felt like such a hypocrite. Here I was, preparing to challenge you to embrace the highest possible standard of personal purity and holiness, while in the privacy of my own home, I was indulging my flesh with unholy entertainment. Most of all, I was grieved, because I knew I had grieved the Holy Spirit. I got down before the Lord, I confessed to Him what I had done. I asked Him to forgive me, to cleanse my heart from that impurity, and to fill me once again with His Holy Spirit. and how thankful I am, not only at that moment, but day after day after day for the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses me from all unrighteousness. Over the past few months, as I've meditated on this subject of holiness, God has brought a fresh sensitivity to my heart and a deeper longing to be holy in every area of my life. I found myself asking over and over again, is this holy? Would this please the Lord? Now I know that there are those today who react against emphasizing holiness in the area of our external behavior. Holiness is a matter of the heart, they say. And they're right, holiness is a matter of the heart. But one of the things God has shown me is that it's possible to have blameless behavior without having a holy heart. but it's not possible to have a holy heart without having blameless behavior. And reacting against those who reduced Christianity to a list of do's and don'ts, we have somehow forgotten that the call to follow Christ is a call to be holy, a call to be set apart from sin and from the world, to put off the old man and to put off the new man, the holy and dwelling righteous life of Jesus. I've had two experiences in the past couple of weeks that illustrated to me the way that so many people today fail to make a connection between what they profess and their lifestyles. A couple of days ago, I was talking with a woman at the hotel where I'm staying, and she was sharing with me something of her story and her life. She has lived for many years in open immorality, though she didn't see it as that. And then I asked her at one point in the conversation, I said, Are you interested in spiritual things? She said, oh yes. I guess I would just say I'm a Christian. Then a couple of weeks ago I was sitting at Comiskey Park watching the Chicago White Sox get beat. And I saw a man coming up the aisle toward the row where I was sitting. He was wearing around his neck a large cross while hawking beer. And I said to myself, something's wrong with this picture. And then I was reminded that that man is really just a picture of a whole lot of professing Christians in our world today, who on the one hand claim to be followers of Christ and soldiers of the cross, while at the same time are practicing and promoting worldly, fleshly, sinful habits. Something is wrong with that picture. We're so afraid today of appearing to be different, extreme, or too spiritual. The emphasis in so many ministries today is on how relevant we can be, how user-friendly we can make the gospel. And in the process, we have accommodated to the world rather than calling the world to accommodate to Christ. I think one of the things that must most grieve the heart of God is to see His children living unholy lives and using unholy methods to try and draw this world to a holy Christ. When will we realize that the world is not impressed with the religious version of itself? Our greatest effectiveness, our greatest weapon is not to be found in being like the world, it's to be found in being different from the world, in being like Jesus. Several weeks ago I was discussing this matter with one of the leaders in this ministry, someone who has a very intense heart for holiness. And this person said to me, lots of people are praying and lots of people are repenting. but so few are changing their lifestyles. I thought to myself, the fact is, if they're not changing their lifestyles, then they're not repenting. Because repentance means to change. And it's a hard attitude that says, Lord, whatever I now know to be sin, and whatever in the future you show me to be sin, I gladly give it all up for Jesus. And if we're not repenting, then our prayers this day are useless. As Tozer said, revival will come when prayer is no longer used as a substitute for obedience. A commitment to holiness requires the willingness to deal thoroughly and decisively with everything that is unholy. In Nehemiah chapters 8 and 9, we read that incredible account of the revival that God sent to the exiles who had returned to Jerusalem. Sometime later, Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem after the revival, only to discover that the Jews had fallen back on a number of specific commitments that they had made to God during the revival. For example, they had married foreign wives who were not of their faith. They had started desecrating the Sabbath. They had failed to keep up the temple. Specific commitments they'd made. He came back, and they were now violating those commitments. But one of the most egregious offenses that Nehemiah found was that Tobiah the Ammonite, the one who had formerly opposed the work of God, was now living in the temple, in direct violation of God's word that said no Ammonite should ever be allowed to set foot in the temple. And here he was living in a room that had been given to him by the high priest. Nehemiah was furious. He threw Tobiah and all his possessions bodily, threw them out of the temple, and then gave orders to purify those rooms. Two years ago, many of us in this room experienced a fresh meeting with God as we were broken before Him. The result was great joy and freedom. And still today I hear reports of that continuing, how I thank the Lord. But is it possible that since then, some of us may have allowed some unholy practices to come back into our lives, into our ministries, our homes? Some of us stand in need today of a fresh encounter with a holy God. And are we willing to take whatever measures are necessary? in order to deal with anything in our lives that we know to be unholy. You know, the devil has deceived some of us into thinking that a holy life is a joyless life. But nothing could be further from the truth. Hebrews chapter 1 tells us that God anointed Jesus with the oil of gladness, the oil of joy, above all of his companions. Why? Because he loved righteousness and hated evil. Jesus had a passionate love for those things that God loves and he had a deep God-like hatred and anger against sin. You want to experience inexpressible joy in your life, in your home, in this ministry? Then learn to love what is righteous and to hate that which is unholy. Spurgeon said, conspicuous holiness ought to be the mark of the church of God. A holy church has God in the midst of her. And a holy ministry will have God in the midst of her. Imagine if you would for just a moment, a royal wedding. The invitations have been sent out. All the preparations have been made. The people have arrived. The music is playing. The flowers are beautiful. The auditorium is decked for a king and a queen. The bridegroom-to-be and his attendants come to the front of the auditorium. And then the wedding march begins to play. And we all rise. And we're sitting toward the front, so it's a little hard for us to see the back, but we get a glimpse of that bride beginning to come down the aisle toward her bridegroom. And we crane our necks, because everyone wants to see the bride. And as she gets closer, it looks like something's wrong. It can't be. But yes, her veil, it's torn, it's ripped, and it's askew on her head. And she gets closer and we see that her dress is wrinkled. It looks like it's been stuffed in a box for weeks. And as she walks by the aisle where we're sitting, we see that it's not even white anymore. It's soiled. It's stained. It's torn. Her hair is in disarray. She has no makeup on. Her face is filthy. She has dirt smudges on her arms. And we say, we've never seen anything like this before. And then our eyes turn. And we see as she approaches that bridegroom, the look of unbelievable sorrow in his eyes, as he realizes his bride didn't care enough to get ready for the wedding. There's a wedding coming. The bridegroom is a holy bridegroom, and a holy bridegroom must have a holy bride. and he will have a holy bride. Because the scripture says that he left the church. He gave himself up for her. He took all those stains and tears and soils on himself so that he might present her to himself, a glorious, radiant church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. but that she should be holy and without blemish before him. Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, my goal in life is not that I would be happy. It's not that my ministry would be a success or that I'd get invited to speak at big conferences. My deepest desire is that I'd be a holy woman of God. And one day I can walk down the aisle toward that bridegroom and face him with joy and clothed in his righteousness. And my goal for Campus Crusade for Christ, my burden for you, is not that you'd be a big ministry. It's not that you'd be known for the effectiveness and the massiveness of your strategies and programs and all the resources you have to offer. My burden is that you would be known on earth and in heaven as holy men and women of God. Having, therefore, these promises... Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, Let us cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit. Would you bow with me in prayer? Where does God find you today? this morning, not two years ago, but right here right now. Do you have clean hands and a pure heart? Do you have a deep inner desire to be holy? Do you love righteousness? Do you hate evil? Have you cleansed yourself of all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit? As we wait before God, let me just ask some specific questions. And ask God to search your heart, as I've been asking him for months now, to search my own. Are your attitudes pure? Have you put away all anger and wrath and bitterness? Have you forgiven all those who have wronged you? Is your speech pure? Do you speak words that are true and pure and good and kind? Or has profanity, unholy talk, coarse jesting, come out of those lips? Are your motives pure? Why do you serve God? Why are you in this ministry? Are you serving God out of a heart of love and gratitude? And would you serve Him as faithfully if no one would ever see or know what you had done? Are your relationships pure? The mate you're sitting next to, are you right with that mate? The children over in child care, do you have a clear conscience with every member of your family? Do you have a clear conscience with every co-worker, past and present? Are you morally pure? Is your thought life pure? Do you guard your heart and your eyes from influences that might tempt you to sin morally? Women, are you chaste and discreet in your relationships with men? And all of us, what about the things we read and watch and listen to in the privacy of our own homes, when it's just us and God? Are they pure? Are they lovely? Are they holy? Is your conduct blameless and above reproach in every area of your life? Not by the world's standards, but by the standard of God's word and his holiness. Is there anything under your pulpit that you would not want to have exposed? What about what you read in the last week? The things you found on the computer, would you mind if we put them up on this screen behind me? Is there any attitude, any habit, any practice that would not stand up to the scrutiny of His light? I've listed a number of specific areas, but the Holy Spirit is dealing with our hearts in far more ways and applications than I could ever make. But I'd like to just ask as we wait before the Lord here for a moment, how many of you would be willing to acknowledge that this morning God has convicted you of some specific area of unholiness? It may be a big thing or a little thing. If it's unholy, it's big. and you're willing to agree with him about it, to confess it, and to repent of it. That's your heart desire. How many just before the Lord would just as a symbol of that willingness, that acknowledgement, would just lift your hand in the air and say, God has convicted me of some area of unholiness. Just up and then down. Before the Lord, as I look around this auditorium, many, many, many hands, yes, up and then down, God's convicted me of a specific area of unholiness. Anyone just has a look across the upper parts of this auditorium, yes, many, many of us have acknowledged that God has dealt with our hearts. by His Holy Spirit in bringing conviction. Conviction is good. It's a warning signal. It's a sign that something's wrong, and it's a drawing to come near to Him to make it right. I'm gonna ask that for the next few minutes, we really make this a sanctuary. That word means a holy place, a set-apart place. And it will be a sanctuary when every one of us who just lifted our hands and those of us who wanted to but couldn't get the courage, when every one of us gets honest before God and says, yes, Lord, I agree. There is something unholy in my heart, in my life. You know, when Isaiah confessed his sin to God, he didn't do it in generalities. He did it in specifics. He said, I am a man of unclean lips. What is the specific area of unholiness that God has convicted you of? I'm going to ask for these next few minutes that this be a quiet place and that you Even in this crowd, make a sanctuary between your heart and the Lord to get alone with Him. If you're physically able and it's physically possible, you may want to kneel in His presence. You may want to find room out in one of the aisles if there's not room where you're seated. But to kneel before the Lord is an expression of humility and agree with God about whatever it is that He has shown to you. Be specific. The scripture says that when Isaiah saw the Lord, even the doorposts of the temple had the good sense to shake in the presence of holiness. How can we dare to treat that about which God has convicted our hearts as a slight thing? How can we deal casually with what God is showing to us? Would you cry out to God and confess to Him honestly, specifically, whatever He has shown to you? And then, if you'll remain quiet as others around are still responding to the Lord, in a few moments we'll give some further direction for this time of reflecting on what God has said to us. Let's get honest before God and confess to Him as specifically as possible what He has shown us is unholy in our hearts. you.