HOLY OR UNHOLY

HOLY OR UNHOLY?

When God chose the children of Jacob (Israel) as a special people to be an example to the ungodly tribes that inhabited the world of that day, He gave them some clear instructions.Many of these instructions are found in the writings of Moses. I would like to direct you to one such passage in the book of Leviticus, It is chapter 10, verse 10 "that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean". To put it in context you need to read the whole chapter, especially verses 8-11. God is giving very explicit instructions to Aaron the high priest about keeping clear of some things that would defile him, or make him unclean for service to the Lord.

In (1 Peter 2:4-10), we understand that God considers all born again believers to be part of His "chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation" (vs 9) since Jesus said he did not come to destroy the law, but only to fulfill it then we know that the principles laid down in the OT apply to us in the NT age. This principle of holiness and living a separated life from the world system is certainly one of these.

There has been a lot of confusion in the church as to the real meaning of holiness. Most people associate it with a list of do's and don'ts, or in other words a very legalistic attitude towards outward actions. True holiness must begin on the inside with a change of heart by a real "born again" experience. Outward observance to a certain code of conduct enforced by some religious system will never accomplish holy living as outlined in God's word. We are told in (Lev 11:45) "For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall be holy for I am holy." The world system is for us what the land of Egypt was for them. Salvation literally means separation "from" the world and separation "to" the Lord. Paul tells us in (Col 1:13) that "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love". Let us consider Paul's exhortation in (Phil 2:15) "that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world". That is certainly good advice, and would be my prayer for each of you today and everyday, as you follow Jesus!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

A KINGDOM MANIFESTO by Howard Snyder

A KINGDOM MANIFESTO by Howard Snyder----sub-title calling the Church to live under God's reign

A quote from the preface to the book will serve to present the main purpose for it being written. "I'm afraid evangelicalism is infected by the most subtle form of worldliness. It's the worldliness of Hollywood and Madison Ave----we operate as if the only thing worth doing in the world is what we can measure by numbers and dollars. We are not Kingdom of God people." Then a paragraph later "Many people who have been converted to Jesus seemingly have never been converted to the Kingdom He proclaimed" In the preface on page 12 the author states "the theme of this book: The kingdom of God in Scripture and it's meaning for us today." He then goes on to quote E. Stanley Jones on page 13 "The kingdom of God is the master-conception, the master-plan, the master-purpose, the master-will that gathers everything up into itself and gives it redemption, coherence, purpose and goal."

The book is divided into two sections, ----Part 1 The Biblical Promise,--- seven chapters that give us God's promises pertaining to His Kingdom. They are 1/ The Peaceable Order, 2/ The Promised Land, 3/ The House of God, 4/ The City of The King, 5/ Justice for the Poor, 6/ The Age of Sabbath, 7/ The Age of Jubilee.---Part 2 The Present Challenge---four chapters that show us how to live in the Kingdom in our present age. They are 1/ The People of the Kingdom, 2/ The Possibility of the Kingdom, 3/ The Project of the Kingdom, 4/ The Principles of the Kingdom.

He finishes with a Select Bibliography, and several pages of Notes referring back to each chapter. I consider this book to be a Scholarly work, but written for the ordinary person in an easy to follow format. It is difficult to pick out any one chapter of this book that I found most challenging, but probably if I had to pick one it would be chapter 8. In this chapter on pages 81-84 he describes "The Kingdom Community" as what the Church that Jesus told us He would build, should look like.

In another book by this same author called "Community of the King" he describes the church as an "Agent of the Kingdom". Showing clearly that the church is not the Kingdom, but has a very important role to play in helping the world to understand what the Kingdom of God is all about!

Sincerely submitted

Dave Jamer

Some quotes from Derek Prince on holiness

SOME QUOTES FROM DEREK PRINCE ON HOLINESS

Quotes taken from an article in "New Wine Magazine" back in March 1975.

"John Wesley defined holiness as perfect love. However I prefer to define holiness as a combination of God's righteousness and God's love".

"First we are to pursue holiness—we are to make it an objective. Second,
in order to achieve holiness, we must pursue peace with all people".
(Heb 12:14)

"Christ redeems us by His blood, then He sanctifies and cleanses us by the washing of water by the Word" (1 Peter 1:2), and (Eph 5:25-26).

"Sanctification proceeds from the inside, outward; not from the outside, inward".

"The process of sanctification will only be as effective as our faith allows it to be".

"It is the new nature that each believer receives through rebirth that cannot sin". (1 John 5:18)

"The nature of the seed determines the nature of the life that comes from the seed---The incorruptible seed of God's Word produces a nature that is, like the seed, incorruptible." (1 Peter 1:23)

"This new nature is incorruptible and undefeatable. It does not sin and it cannot sin.---If I am defeated, it is because  I am not meeting my problem with the new nature.". ( 1 John 3 :9)

"Satan can only touch the old man,---the carnal nature is the legitimate prey of Satan, but he cannot touch the new nature." (Gen 3:14) NKJV

I trust these quotes from Derek will help shed some light on any discussions on holiness! They did for me!

Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer

HIDE & SEEK

HIDE AND SEEK

 

I'm sure you all remember when we were kids we could spend hours playing "hide & seek". We would all take turns trying to find the perfect hiding place where no one could find us! Of course we never found the perfect place, and were always found. But the idea of finding some place, where we could remain hidden from the searchers, and yet see them, would keep us playing this game for hours!

 

The scriptures mention in several places about a secret hiding place, where we can remain hidden from our spiritual enemies. This is important for those of us who are followers of Jesus, who are often being hounded by Satan and the spirits of his kingdom of darkness. In (Psa 91:1) we read "He, who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty". This verse plus many other similar ones, give a clear message that our God has provided a safe place for us to hide from our enemies. This safe hiding place is found only in an intimate relationship with our Creator God, which He has made possible because of what His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, did for us on the cross of Calvary!

 

This is the very core of the gospel of the Kingdom, that Jesus came to declare, and was then passed on to his disciples. After His death and resurrection he sent the Holy Spirit to take His place on earth. These disciples were baptized with this Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4), and became known as the first apostles (sent ones), who went about spreading the good news of the Kingdom. This same Holy Spirit who came to earth that day is still here, and is still baptizing and filling people with Himself as they yield themselves completely to Him. Paul declared in (Eph 2:19-22) that we have become a temple or "dwelling where God lives by His Spirit" NLT. So now as followers of Jesus, we can be filled with the Spirit of God, and have Him living in our hearts by faith! Could this be the NT way of expressing the truth of these OT scriptures about being safe under His Wings etc? How could we be any more protected by our God, than by having Him living within us? It would seem to me that if we make Satan aware of this fact, "by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of our testimony" (Rev 12:11), that he would have to back off, and leave us alone, which is the testimony of many followers of Jesus!

 

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer