I'll ask you to turn to Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2 tonight as we begin considering the doctrine of, the topic of holiness. Holiness. In Titus chapter 2 we're going to be looking at a very familiar text to start out with tonight. but one that I trust will be a blessing as we really try to engage our hearts and minds, not only with the truth of God's Word as a whole, but in particular this topic, this doctrine relating of holiness, relating to holiness. And before we look at Titus chapter 2 beginning in verse 11 tonight, let's ask the Lord to bless the teaching of his word and the focus of our minds on his word tonight. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for the privilege that it is to be together here in your house tonight. I thank you for the opportunity to fellowship with like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ, maybe across the country, Lord. And yet at the same time, what a blessing it is to know we have the same Lord, the same Word, the same truth. And I pray that we will focus on that tonight and throughout the conference, throughout these next few days. Help us to focus on what you would have us to learn and apply to our hearts, apply to our lives. May we be people who grow and change. May we be different tonight when we leave than we even are right now as a result of being confronted by the truth of your word. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Titus chapter 2, and I begin reading at verse 11 tonight, where the Apostle Paul writes through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us, the grace of God teaching us something, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Let's add verse 15. These things, Titus, speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority. Why? Because of what we talked about this morning. This is God's Word to us, and it is our authority. There are so many different ways we can approach the subject of holiness, and yet because I only have a limited amount of time, except for tonight. Except for tonight. We're going to approach this subject by considering some primary principles tonight relating to the doctrine of holiness. And then in the next few nights, some specific application to the discipline of holiness or holy living. And let me add, today's Sunday school lesson here in the sanctuary was an incredibly encouraging and helpful introduction to what it is we're going to be looking at during the next several nights. I want to begin by asking you a question that I want you to answer in your own mind, not out loud. Now, I know you're down south here, and I'm from out west, so the style might be a little different, but in your own mind, in your own heart, I want to ask you a question, and I want you to answer it. Are you holy? In God's eyes, this is who you are. a saint, sanctified, holy, positionally speaking. We're going to talk about that later. The very words holy, the very words sanctified that we have in scripture mean to be set apart. to be set apart from something and to be set apart unto something else. And again, we're going to get to this in a moment, but if you are saved tonight, if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, and if you have a personal relationship with Him through faith alone in what He's already done for you on Calvary's cross, you are holy as far as your standing or your position before God. You are holy. Now, I want to ask you another question, though. Just answer this yourself, in your own heart, in your own mind. Are you living a holy life? Are you living a holy life? Now, you can only answer that question as you understand what it means to be holy. You can only answer that question if you understand, biblically, what it means to be holy. And we're going to talk about that. The fact is this, if you are a Christian, and you are positionally holy, this is how God sees you, this is your standing, this is how He describes you, something is different in you, And then something is therefore demanded of you if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior. You will have, you should have, let me put it this way, a conviction in your heart and mind that sets you apart from the unbelieving world. That sets you apart, there it is again, holiness sanctified from the unbelieving world. Now before we look at some principles that pertain to holiness tonight, let me point out that holiness and God's grace are not opposites. Our brother mentioned this morning the book written many, many years ago now called The Grace Awakening, which was really pitting holiness against grace and vice versa. Understand this. Holiness and God's grace are not opposites. They are not mutually exclusive Our God is a God of grace I'm thankful to stand before you here tonight and tell you God does not accept you or reject you based upon your behavior He accepts or rejects you based upon what you have done with Jesus Christ God the Son who came to sacrifice His life on my behalf and your behalf. What have you done with Jesus Christ? Now, yet, if you are truly a Christian that is believe in Jesus Christ, your life should reflect that in your choices. This is where holiness comes in. God is a God of grace, and yet God is a holy God. Holiness and grace are inseparable. Back in our text here in Titus chapter 2, verses 11, 12, 13, and 14, we see the role that grace plays in the holiness of the believer. As we're going to see, holiness is not about conforming to a legalistic list. And I'm careful when I say that, but bear with me here. Holiness is not about conforming to a legalistic list. The Pharisees did that. They already tried that. They already did that. They tried to set themselves apart by doing and being and conforming to a list and a standard and rules that they had. And yet, they were totally empty on the inside. Holiness, as we are going to see, is something that we become as we discipline ourselves to live according to the knowledge of God's grace and make choices in our lives, day by day, that reflect our Savior. What was described this morning in our Sunday school class as positional, not positional, progressive sanctification. You see, grace teaches us to live holy lives. You see verse 11, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us. Pronouns are very important, and the word us there means believers. It teaches us. It teaches us something. It teaches us to live holy lives. And I ask, and I've thought and wrestled and studied through this, how does grace, the grace of God, teach us to live holy lives? To be set apart, to be different, to be distinct, to be sanctified. Well, when we better know God through his word, this is where the word comes in, which is why I'm thankful we are integrating a study of the word of God with a study of holiness. When we better know God through his word, the grace that he has bestowed upon us should stir us, should motivate us to make decisions in life that set us apart from the world and unto our God. So it goes like this. God is gracious. We learn about His grace through His Word. We learn about who He is, and what He has done for us, and what He is doing in us, and what He desires of us, and what He expects of us. And then our learning of God and His grace through His Word should motivate and stir us with the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to live a godly life, a holy life, a life of righteousness. So the question is this, are you living a holy life right now? Have you allowed God's grace to teach you to be motivated and to desire to live a life that reflects Him, that reflects His love and reflects His grace? Or might we be guilty of, well, I've done this and I haven't done that, so I must be holy. all on the external, all the things out here that we do or don't do, or we feel that we should do or shouldn't do and follow through with that, that is not holiness. And we're going to talk about that in our lessons upcoming. But tonight I want us to consider four principles that relate to the biblical doctrine of holiness as it pertains to our lives as Christians, and then make some practical application. Number one, if you know Jesus Christ as your savior, Number one, you are positionally holy. I mentioned this before briefly. You are holy. You are positionally sanctified. Look over in Hebrews chapter 10. Over in Hebrews chapter 10, this incredible chapter, this incredible text. contrast the Old Testament sacrifices, the Old Testament sacrifices with the once for all perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That's what this chapter is doing. And in Hebrews chapter 10, in verse 10, we read this. By the witch will, we are sanctified, set apart wholly, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Over in verse 14, we read, for by one offering, that is the death, the shed blood of Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. There's the word again, sanctified, holy, set apart. These verses make it very clear to us that we are sanctified through the body of, we are sanctified through the offering of Jesus Christ. By the one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Now, if we were to go over to Acts 26, in verse 18, if you want to flip over to Acts 26, in verse 18, we find the Apostle Paul giving his conversion testimony. And in Acts 26, in verse 18, Paul's giving his conversion testimony, and he recites Jesus' words to him. where Jesus declared that forgiveness of sins and sanctification, that is holiness, set-apartness, comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 26 and verse 18, Paul says that Jesus declared to him that he sent them to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, notice that, from one thing to another, set apart from one to another, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Wonderful truth. Throughout the New Testament, believers are referred to as holy or as saints or as sanctified positionally. Nothing can change this fact concerning how God views you. If you know Jesus Christ as Savior, I am pleased on the basis of the authoritative Word of God to declare tonight from His Word that if you know Jesus Christ, you are sanctified, you are positionally holy, set apart. unto him. I trust everyone here tonight knows that. I trust everyone here tonight knows that. They can't do anything to save their, you can't do anything to save yourself. You can't do any works to save yourself. Jesus Christ paid it all. And when we place our faith, it was put so perfectly this morning, using the hand to receive God's gift by faith, the fact that Jesus Christ did it all for us and paid that price for us, we received by faith alone that wonderful free gift. You're holy. You're sanctified. You're set apart. And God makes that very clear. That's just the principle number one. Principle number two, though, comes after that. God has therefore called you to be holy, that is sanctified, and your heart and mind which will lead toward a behavior that shows you are set apart from the world and set apart unto Jesus Christ. This is really where we're going in our study in this conference. In other words, because of who you are now, okay? We've established who we are in Christ's eyes, in God's eyes. Because of who you are now, your thinking should be different which will lead to a behavior that is different. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 7, I went through the book of 1 Thessalonians a while back, back in California, and this verse just jumped out at me. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 7, Paul writes, For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. I have an illustration that I want to share with you, and I'm a little afraid to share it tonight, but we're down here in a red state, and I'm from a blue state, but I'll do it anyway. The President of the United States. You may not agree with his policies, you may not agree with his politics, or you may, I don't know. But bear with me. The moment of induction. The president is positionally set apart from every other person in the world as the leader of our nation. And let me just add, God is the one who has allowed him to be there. The leader of the free world. With that position now, this is who he is positionally, with that position comes a way of thinking that translates into a way of behavior. For example, President Obama cannot just show up at a luncheon with the leaders of Japan two hours late with shorts and a tank top on. Because of who he is. Because of his position. Nor can he just declare, you know what, everyone in America is free to do as they please without any personal consequence. See, he is allowed to do things others do not have the ability to do, and yet he is also wise to sometimes refrain from doing these things, here it is, because of who he is, his position. Because of who he is positionally, he must think in a way internally that leads to a behavior that leads to an outcome that is different than other people, than everybody else. Holiness then, or holy living, is not just, as I mentioned before, conforming to a list of do's and don'ts on the outside. To be holy in the biblical sense, or to live a life of holiness, this is what I need to get myself and I need to relay, involves a new way of thinking based on your new position in Jesus Christ. That's holiness. It starts on the inside. And this is what we want to talk about this week. I want you to consider, and I mentioned them briefly again, the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6, what a chapter. They were more holy, those Pharisees in the New Testament, first century, they were more holy, they were more set apart, and I put those words in quotes, than any of the common people, because they conformed very well to their stringent list of rules and regulations on the outside. They did very well at that. Yet Jesus rebuked them as legalistic unbelievers. This is what Jesus says, woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites. What did Jesus tell his disciples in Matthew chapter six? He says, don't pray and give and do good works and do your alms like the Pharisees do. Now, that didn't mean Jesus said, hey, don't pray and give and do your works and do your alms. No, he said, don't do it like the Pharisees do. but pray and give and do good works from a heart that is right. From the inside, here we are again, the inside. Holiness, unlike what was going on with the Pharisees, and sad to say, many of us sometimes, Holiness is a radical transformation of heart and mind, starting on the inside that stems from our position as holy, our position as holy in Jesus Christ. And it leads us to a new focus, a new outlook on life, which the Bible puts as something like this, coincides with God's thoughts, God's view, which we have in God's word. I hope that we can understand and embrace the reality of biblical holiness stemming and starting from the inside because of who we are. Because we are holy, which leads us to the third principle tonight, we are called to be holy. This is the third principle. What you believe, that is your heart and mind, we're talking about the inside, what you believe will determine your behavior. Now, 1 Peter 1, we can't have a series on holiness without looking at 1 Peter 1, and our brother mentioned this this morning in 1 Peter 1 and verse 13, but I'm going to read from my own translation. No, don't worry, you'll like this. 1 Peter 1 and verse 13. Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end." That word hope in the New Testament means earnestly expect. You know, I don't think that means, well, I hope in the end. The earnest expectation and hope, earnestly expect to the end the grace that is to be brought into you with the revelation of Jesus Christ. as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as He which hath called you is holy, so act ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, Act holy, for I am holy." Now, where was the mistranslation in there? See that? No, no. God's Word doesn't tell us just to live holy. It doesn't tell us just to act holy. It tells us to be holy. You see this? There's a big difference. our being is who we are that starts on the inside and yet so often I think we have a tendency sometimes I know I have I have in the past and I'm trying to work on this to use this as a proof text and a springboard for act this way and do this and don't do this because be holy for I am holy no yeah exactly be ye holy be Take notice here that a holy lifestyle begins with the mind and heart. Verse 13. This is where it starts. Wherefore, and again, we heard it this morning, so I'm not going to elaborate, gird up the loins of your mind. There it is. Be sober, your mind, how you think, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. A holy lifestyle begins with the mind and heart and is motivated by something, namely here, the return of Jesus Christ. When Pastor Bloom called me, I hope I'm not giving away any secrets here, but around three years ago, and asked if I might be able to speak at the conference, I was thrilled. But in the back of my mind, I thought, I don't even think we're going to be here then. So I'm not really going to worry about it until we get a little bit closer. You know, the Lord could come back at any moment to the way the world is going. You think, you know, it is going to be any moment. I'm anticipating that. And yet the Lord has chosen not to come back in that three year space. So thus we are here tonight. And yet. Our motivation for holiness, one of the motivating factors for us being holy, not just acting holy and living holy, being holy is the fact He can return at any moment. What a blessing. Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, change the way you think because of who you are, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Then, then, as your thinking is right, Who you are on the inside is who you need to be. Your obedience to Christ, verse 14, will be reflected in your actions. You will be holy as Jesus Christ is holy. as obedient children. Here's a description, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy. This is who God is. God doesn't just, can I just say this, God doesn't just act holy. He is holy. In the very same way he is holy, set apart, So be ye holy. It doesn't say, so just act holy. Just go through the motions, obey the lists, the rules. We know God, you know, God gives us rules in his word. There are things he forbids and things, I mean, the rules. So be ye holy in all manner. You see this unfolding here? As I was studying and preparing this, it just blew open. In all manner of conversation. Not just the things you say, your lifestyle, your walk. on this earth. Because we make choices every day. We make choices all the time. And if we are who we need to be on the inside, thinking properly, putting on the mind of Christ because of who we are positionally in Christ, We can be holy as He is holy. Thus, the emphasis of the entire New Testament teaching centers around indoctrination of the mind for the purpose of engaging in conduct that brings good to the believer, that serves as a testimony to the unbeliever, and that ultimately glorifies God. So understand this. The first principle is very clear here. You are positionally holy or sanctified if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior. Which leads to number two, because you are positionally holy, God has called you to be holy in your heart and mind, which will lead toward a behavior that shows you are set apart from the world and unto Jesus Christ. Which leads to number three, what you believe in your heart and mind will determine your behavior, as we've seen in 1 Peter 1. Then we come to the fourth principle. That's all there is is four tonight. Four principles. Number four, holiness then or sanctification is therefore a beautiful thing that serves to conform you into the image of Jesus Christ for the glory of God and the good of his creation. It is very difficult to continue to hear people think of holiness or separation or set-apartness from the things of the world. The former lesson in our ignorance is the Bible says, unto God as something bad. Oh, we don't like that, you know, separation. It's all grace. God's all grace. Rejecting the truth of Titus chapter 2 that the grace of God teaches us something To live not just live to be holy to be holy which leads to a life of Holy living look at 2nd Timothy 2 turn to 2nd Timothy 2 2nd Timothy chapter 2 I know I'm repeating myself a lot tonight, but there is a reason I want us to grasp in this first study of the series, the importance of understanding biblical holiness, what it is to be holy rather than just to live or act holy. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 19. The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure. Now keep in mind in the context here, the Apostle Paul is telling Timothy to stay away from those who have embraced false teaching and false doctrine. Stay away from them. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there were not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth and some to honor and some to dishonor. Now, some of you have the fine china in your homes and maybe even have a special cabinet to put it in. I've been in homes that have beautiful china, you know, what might be considered these great vessels of gold and silver and these precious things. And some of you maybe have Tupperware, you know, When I was growing up, everything was Tupperware. I don't even know if it's around anymore, but you know, we can compare these wonderful things versus the ones that are not so wonderful. And the Bible tells us in verse 21, if a man therefore purge himself from these, these dishonorable vessels, then he shall be a vessel unto honor sanctified. See the word there it is again, set apart and meet for the master's use and prepared unto every good work. Don't tell me that separation is not a beautiful and a good thing. Because I want to be prepared to be used by God. But He will only use me as I am separated, sanctified, set apart, being holy. And I want Him... I hope every single person here tonight will say, I do want God to use me. I can't imagine if you truly know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you would say, no, I don't want Him to use me. I'm sure you will say, yes, I want Him to use me. And yet the prerequisite for that is not just salvation. There are plenty of people out there who say they know Jesus Christ as Savior, and maybe they do, but they are who we learned about this morning as babes in Christ. Babies, just babies. They haven't grown. They haven't grown up. God wants us to grow, to be sanctified, to be holy, to be set apart so that He can use us. That's a beautiful thing. God not only wants us to be set apart from anything in our lives that is sinful, the word iniquity there in verse 19, but That we are only prepared to be used, we are only prepared to be used by Him and for Him when we are holy in heart and behavior. Back in the Old Testament, I'm not going to take the time to turn there. Back in the Old Testament, the psalmist delights in something called the beauty of holiness. The beauty of holiness. The psalmist writes in Psalm 29.2, Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. Worship the Lord in the beauty, the beauty of holiness. Psalms 96.9, oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, fear before him all the earth. So it's very clear that holiness is something good and beautiful to God, and it is a necessary part of worship or attributing worth to him. The Apostle Paul deals with this in 2 Corinthians 6. I'm not going to look at that tonight. We'll take another night and look at 1 Corinthians 6, another portion of Scripture that you can't talk about holiness without 2 Corinthians 6, beginning in verse 14, all the way down to chapter 7, verse 1. But we find in that text that separation is a prerequisite of, and I quote, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing. I will receive you. Cleanse yourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, God says, and I will receive you, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." It starts on the inside. Now, I want to add, though, that God doesn't leave us alone on our but he doesn't leave us on our own. To live sanctified holy lives, to be sanctified, in his great grace he's given us help. We have all the tools necessary to live holy lives, to be holy people. First we have God's word. God's word is truth. Remember what Jesus prayed to God the Father concerning his disciples and even those who would come after them? Sanctify, set them apart. Now he's talking about believers, not unbelievers here. Sanctify them, the believers, through thy truth, thy word is truth. We have the Bible. We have prayer and fellowship and worship with brothers and sisters in Christ. Hebrews chapter 10, verses 24 and 25 talk about this, considering one another and provoking one another unto love and to good works. Certainly that will include holiness in life. We have the discipline of God sometimes. We find ourselves wandering away. I don't like that one as much as I like God's word and the prayer and fellowship and worship of God's people. Discipline, remember in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 10, Whom God loveth, he chasteneth. And we have the Holy Spirit in concert with our own will. The Holy Spirit. So, My time does go very quickly up here. With those principles in mind, I want to briefly, and I will do this briefly, move on to some quick practical application pertaining to God's will for our lives in relation to holiness. I'll ask you to turn to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 and beginning in verse 1. Familiar texts. I know we're looking at a lot of very familiar texts of scripture tonight, but my point is this. We know these texts, but sometimes we don't really dig deep enough to get to the root of what they are telling us. Romans chapter 12, the Apostle Paul writes to us and to the believers in Rome years ago, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, set apart. acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world. Don't take this world as your model for life and ministry, but be transformed, here it is, by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I so appreciate this text. because it's telling me this is my, we'll get here, my reasonable service to God is to live a holy life. But it also tells me it doesn't just mean that I go through the rituals of the do's and don'ts in the list, it means I change the way I think, and here's the thesis, as I change the way I think, my behavior will conform to holiness, which is a beautiful thing that is pleasing in the eyes of God. I mentioned before, at the end of Paul's first letter to the Thessalonian believers, he emphasized the importance of surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord. He concluded his letter by exhorting believers to quench not the spirit and live holy lives in order to be blameless at the coming, there it is again, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Thessalonians 5.23. And friends, 2000 years later, this is God's will for you and for me today. to be in a close relationship with God as we surrender our life, our will, our beliefs, our actions, everything to Him. I don't want anybody to walk away from our time here tonight without a foundational knowledge of the importance of knowing and doing the will of God and what part holiness plays in all of this. Romans 12, 1 and 2. These verses explain that holy living is an integral part of God's will for our lives right now. Right now. To know God's will requires three acts of our will that can be summed up in one word, and that is commitment. Commitment. To commit to something. Come to a place in life where we realize our need, and we take action, and then we discipline ourselves to fulfill what needs to be done. You see, we commit to things every day. Some big, some small. Yet nothing is more important than committing and knowing God's will. Why should we want to know and do the very will of God? Well, the first part of verse 1 tells us. Because God authoritatively urges us to do so. God wants you to know this. Beseech. I beseech you therefore, brethren. That word beseech denotes coming alongside. Not a, I command you to do this. But not a, well, think this over and kind of do what you want either. Beseech. More like, I highly encourage you, brethren. You know, kind of the raised brow. I beseech you as I'm coming along. Beseech. The semantic range of the word beseech lies somewhere between request and command. Like, you need to do it because you know it's the right thing to do. I beseech you, therefore, brethren. We must know and do God's will because God urges us authoritatively to do so, and also because of what God has done for us. A response to His mercies because of what He has done. Notice the word therefore, because of what I've been saying. Chapters 1 through 11, the great mercies of God. because of who He is and what He's done for us, then we have this grand doxology in Romans 11, verses 33, 34, 35, and 36, leading into today's text. The greater our understanding of what God has done for us, the greater our commitment should be to Him. Isaac Watts wrote, we're the whole realm of nature mine, that we're a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine demands my soul, my life, my all. Because of Romans chapters 1 through 11, Romans 12, 1 and 2 is there. According to God's word, we can know what God's will is for our lives right now and by doing these three things that involve our utmost commitment. Number one, by giving ourselves to him, that is yieldedness. presents your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And we could go into, we could elaborate upon, and we won't take the time tonight, because we are running out of time, but the word present means really, that word means to place beside. It carries with it the connotation of the Old Testament sacrifices, where remember the offering was tied up beside the altar prior to the time of sacrifice, presents your bodies. And then we have these characteristics of the sacrifice. living or alive. We've already been crucified with Christ. That's salvation. Now we live. So our sacrifice to God is our life on this earth. You know, the sad thing is, and you've probably heard this a lot, but it's true, we're often more willing to die for Christ than to live for Him. We're more apt to say, I'd die for Christ right now if someone put a gun to my head. It's happening in other countries right now. And they come in and said, if you believe and receive Jesus Christ, do you accept Him? If you denounce Him, you can live. If you receive Him, you will die. And we say, you know, I'd do that. I might do that. And we say that, and yet we are not even being holy, which is our reasonable service, because of who He is and because of who we are in Him. Alive, holy, set apart, clean, no blemish to be used for sacrifice. Acceptable, well-pleasing. These are all the characteristics of the sacrifice. Acceptable, well-pleasing. Robert Haldane, one great man of God of the past, said, God approves of nothing but obedience to his own commands. The extent of the sacrifice is the whole body. The body is the encasement of the whole man. Every member of the body, the material part, the immaterial part, and this commitment is total and reasonable. It's logical. There's no such thing as halfway commitment. There's no such thing as a halfway sacrifice. We're gods. Jesus provided for you a full, complete sacrifice and salvation. Why do we want to give Him any less in return? I'll give you some things, Lord. I'll be kind of holy. I'll be kind of set apart. It's nonsensical. And that's what the Apostle Paul is telling us through inspiration of the Holy Spirit here. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice. It's living, it's holy, it's acceptable, and it's our reasonable service. And then verse two comes along and elaborates a little bit. Don't be conformed to the world. Be not conformed to this world. Don't fashion yourselves according to the spirit of the age. I think we've lost it today. We'll talk about this a little bit in the next couple days. We've lost it in the professing church today. Because we don't even grasp biblical holiness. So, we just kind of do what we want. We just go along and do what we feel. fashioning our lives and our conversation, our lifestyle, according to the former lust. Lust, in that sense, I don't even think it means anything inherently perverse. It just means according to what we want to do. Don't take the world as your model for life or ministry. We must be committed to being outwardly different. Outwardly different. We must be committed to serving only one master, because we can't serve more than one. You're either going to love one and hate the other. I mean, Jesus makes it very clear in Matthew chapter 6. James makes it very clear in James 4, 4. Friendship of the world is enmity with God. We want to have our cake and eat it too, and God says it's not possible. It's not possible. Who are we trying to fool? I'm not angry, I'm just, I get worked up when I think about what we've lost in the professing church today in relation to holiness. And so I say thank you for taking the time to think about and emphasize what it is to be holy. Be not conformed to this world, but, but, here's the answer, be ye transformed by just outwardly doing all the right things and avoiding all the wrong things. No. By the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. We need to be transformed by renewed thinking, putting on the mind of Christ. You see, transformation is a change of the inner man. Not just something on the outside. It's the inner man. The inner man. The word transformed is the same use of the transfiguration of Jesus Christ. Remember when His interior glory and deity was revealed outwardly? This is the point, friends. What is on the inside is what matters. And if it's what it needs to be by a renewed thinking because of who we are in Jesus Christ, God will be glorified. We will be different. Transformation is a change of the inner man. It means a new thought process, a new mind. You see, we often don't realize how much sin, again, as mentioned this morning, thank the Lord for this, this melding together of the truth of his word. We don't realize how much sin offends a holy God and how far our minds truly are from the mind of Christ. We don't, we don't realize that. Renewed thinking is not renovated thinking. It's new again. Renewed thinking. And in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 23, the Apostle Paul makes it very clear to us, be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And of course, in that context, it's putting off the old man and putting on the new. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. That's how it's done. The only way in which we can present our bodies to Jesus Christ and be not conformed through this world is through a total change in our view of the world. A view of life that is set apart from that of the unsaved. But we've lost it. We think just like the world thinks our priorities are the priorities of the world. Our philosophies of life are the philosophies of life of the world. And so we look around and we wonder why we are in the state we're in today, in not just America, but the professing church. We lost holiness. Transformation, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That is a change of the inner man through a new thought process, a new mind. And let me just say one more thing here that I have not said too much about yet. This is a work of the Holy Spirit. It's a work of the Holy Spirit. Transformation. It's a passive imperative in the Greek in chapter 12 and verse 2. Be ye transformed. That is, it must be accomplished by someone or something else, and that is the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians chapter 3, 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 18, the apostle Paul, It says, we all with open face, beholdings in the glass, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit. You see, here's what happens. The Spirit of the living Christ takes the living Word of God as we are yielded, Romans 12, 1 and 2, as we are open, yielded to Him, and He appropriates the Word of God to the life to actually change the way that we think. It only comes through yieldedness. It only comes through yieldedness. Romans, chapter 12, yieldedness. Don't be conformed to this world. Be transformed. Allow yourself to be used and transformed and conformed by the Holy Spirit of God that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. One author, again, of the past has said, the basis of holy living is revelation, that is the word of God. The method of holy living is consecration, and the result or the outcome of holy living is transformation. Do you see the progression? Revelation, revelation, consecration, myself, yieldedness, and then transformation in my thinking, which leads to what? Holy living. set apart behavior from the world and unto God. The outgrowth of being yielded, separated, transformed is that we remove our will from the equation. And it's only at that point that we remove our will from the equation, we're gonna talk about this in the next couple of days, that we can know and live the will of God. That's what it means to prove, means to ascertain and discern. When the Apostle Paul writes to prove what is that good, acceptable, perfect will of God, the idea is there to ascertain and discern that perfect, acceptable, good will of God. Right now, in a familiar phrase, right now is the beginning of the rest of our lives, regardless of whether we're four or ninety-four. What are we going to do with it? If you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, It's time for some transformation. Transformation of the heart and mind to lead to holiness of life. Today, have you yielded yourself to God to the point that you've conscientiously refused to be fashioned to the spirit of the age? And have you willingly put on the mind of Jesus Christ? This is God's will and this is God's desire for you right now. Again, it doesn't matter how young. It doesn't matter how old. It doesn't matter if you failed in the past. I'm so thankful our God is a forgiving God, a God of grace. He's holy, he's holy, but he's also gracious and forgiving. Our heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity that we've had tonight just briefly to focus on what your word has to say about being holy. Principles that your word declares to us. concerning who we are in your son, Jesus Christ. And I pray for everyone here tonight, Lord. I pray for everyone who knows you as their personal savior. I pray they will understand who they are, that they are sanctified, set apart wholly positionally unto you. And I pray that that standing, I pray that that position will help convict us to yield our minds and hearts to you so that we will allow your Holy Spirit to do a work in us that shows fruit on the outside. Holiness, holy living. Our Heavenly Father, it's a blessing to be able to be here and think about these things tonight, but maybe not just think about these things. I pray, Lord, that we will truly be serious and wanting to change and wanting to grow and wanting to be more like you. We pray these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen.