Holiness

HOLINESS

2Co:7:1: Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Our God and Father through His Spirit and the words of the scriptures, calls those of us who will follow after Jesus and His righteousness, to Holiness. The preaching of Holiness is missing from the pulpits. Today's spiritual "revivals" are nothing more than refresher courses in convenient Vanity and self-adulation.

God's true people are separate from this World and in order to perfect the inner man and spirit, the World and it's traps, diversions, distractions and temptations must be forsaken by the true believer, purged from them by the Holy Light of the Spirit and the Truth received with a meek and humble spirit. Holiness is a right relationship with God, if that is what some indeed attain to in this brief earthly interlude we call life. There can be no substitution for Holiness, no omission of the same.

M't:15:8: This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Our pulpits are silent regarding this matter of Holiness and fear the disclosure of the Truth to the "paying" customers. Even many who have come out of the churches and profess a solidarity with God as one of His elect, yet show few signs of total regeneration in the Spirit and a willingness to discard the trappings of the World in their hearts and in their lives.

Ro:6:22: But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
It is the preaching of Holiness that causes the hearer to break and fall before the Lord, begging for Salvation. The many revivals of the 20th Century up to and including the recent Toronto "show" were simply aberrations. True conviction comes of TRUE preaching. The Holy Spirit is waiting for an opened mouth from which to speak. Sadly, there are none to be found as well as opened ears to hear. We have become entrenched in a talk-the-church-talk and possess the World quagmire. Don't tell me that this kind of preaching of the truth about Holiness will fill auditoriums and stadiums or even the local assembly halls. The "truth" being preached today panders to the self-willed and the weak "groupies", who wouldn't dream of selling out to Jesus Christ because of the true cost (Lu:14:28). They never read their Bibles anyway.

How can I say this? Because of the SILENCE! Because of the silence when it comes to hearing testimonies of what one has lost and given up to follow Jesus. I hear talk of all kinds but still my eyes see the "talking" so-called elect, dragging their inner hold outs and earthly goods and trappings behind them like the long heavy chains of Marley's ghost of the Christmas Carol. Their crosses are nowhere to be found! We cannot lie to God. We cannot lie to God's Elect.

Ro:11:16: For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy,
so are the branches.
Is your "root" truly in Jesus Christ, the Vine?
What are the manifestations of true regeneration in Christ in your lives?
Are we humble, meek, penitent (contrite), in control of our passions and tongues?
Are we at peace and rest, desiring, waiting on and serving ever the Lord God?
Looking for 'friendship' instead of real fellowship with the true sufferers with Christ?
Do we yet hoard small treasures of this life and stash them behind our backs and expect God to answer prayer and lead us fully as sacred vessels to His service?
Are you a whited sepulcher (M't:23:27) "holy" on the outside?

The answers to these questions will come only when we have to courage to ask them in humility and meekness before the all discerning Spirit of God, while we work out our salvation (Ph'p:2:12) and examine ourselves (2Co:13:5). Unfortunately, WE are the very one's ourselves barring the way to the gates of the Kingdom (M't:23:13) at times aren't we?! Are we disqualified (reprobate), or are we true? God knows what we truly are. It is the sad and hard truth that WE may not and will not face these questions. Facing these questions could lead to our ultimate freedom! So what's the hold up?

A good solid testimony to one's re-birth in Christ includes what one has lost or laid aside and counts as dung to win Christ (Ph'p:3:8). Just because you "came out of her" (Re:18:4) do not think you have somehow been sanctified and sealed while you yet carry dark inner lusts, slanted to the world There are those who never saw the inside of the whore houses we call churches and yet they too have fallen to deception and ruin because they refuse to totally open their spiritual hands and hearts and come empty and broken before the Throne of God. They haven't "heard" the preaching! Nobody in the Tare Barns are preaching it!

Accept no substitutes Saints. Try the spirits (1Jo:4:1). Do not blend your precious light with "professors" of Christ. Seek the signs of repentance and Holiness in the lives of those who come into your circles of fellowship and be not afraid to cast out the Posers from your midst. Better to flee compromise or to cast out the Wolves now, than to be cast out of fellowship with the God of your Salvation.

1Pe:1:16: Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

1Pe:2:9: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
The more we experience the Light, the more we loathe the darkness. Being holy is not a signet, a trapping, a catch phrase. It is a way of life. It is living separate and apart as a Priest of God serving HIM and no other master. 2Co:6:17: Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. Too many of us speak of our separateness and yet serve another master, ourselves (M't:6:24). We are liars, fools. Mammon is not just money! It is all things that we hold 'dear' to ourselves including the "image" we work so hard to project among those we seek to become a part of. This is miles away from exhibiting the desire to be a part of Jesus Christ or having the abiding of God in us.
Jesus' true followers are not only set apart, they are often times separated physically from the World. A good test of this is experiencing the "cut off" feeling we sometimes encounter. Jesus was cut off and so are His true brethren in the World. If we are truly separated to God, He is our life. Amen? We are alone on this narrow way no matter how you cut it. Our service and fellowship are dictated by God, not ourselves. He is a jealous God. I rejoice over that kind of possessiveness! Fellowship with true believers is a byproduct of our separation but we must be fully separated to God FIRST!

1Pe:2:5: Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Can we offer up spiritually acceptable sacrifices when agonizing over a mortgage we foolishly yoked ourselves to, believing not in the provision of God? Or by harboring fleshly passions or ill will? Is our sacrifice acceptable when we partake in vain amusements? Are we holy when we lose sleep over our bank accounts or the fact that it is more important to us to be in control of our earthly lives? This is not Holiness, this is deceived folly. Bottom line question: have we given up ALL to follow Jesus Christ? We must understand what we are called out of and in to!

Being a student of history, I marvel at the accounts of true revival as in the days of John Wesley and recoil at the "evidence" today's spectacles of Christianity produce. "Church" repentance is only a one way street to acceptance by others these days. Brokenness is to be avoided at all cost. The foundation is never laid. We sink in the sand. The fruits rot in the light of day.

Col:3:5: Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

Did your pastor say DEATH TO SELF is an arbitrary exclusion? One's predilection to Vanity proves this!

Men are become spineless second citizens in their families in the deluded guise of "humility". I call it FEAR, plain and simple! Men no longer lead spiritually, they follow the "skirts" to promote peace and harmony and their own "pleasure". Men have become Godless empty shells of hypocrisy. Their hearts are in their "beds" and at their dinner tables not carrying their cross! Don't deny this! Men, if you have not truly been broken to the dust you came from, born again in the full power of the Holy Spirit and regenerated in the same Spirit which resurrected Jesus Christ, you are deceived pawns, double minded reeds blowing in the wind. What true woman of God can look upon you without pity and shame? What effect can you have if you are not ready to forsake all (Matt19:29) including your own family to follow Jesus down the narrow way? Simple answer: NONE! Ga:5:4: Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. If the law of the flesh but rules one inch of your lives, you are dead to the Truth and Grace is not an issue with you, your flesh is. You are a Poser, a vessel fit for destruction (Ro:9:22). Let's get with it, boys. God has "endured" but the sand is running fast from the hourglass.

The spirit of Jezebel reigns in the hearts of too many "Godly" women and I, for one, will not fail to make this clear. The main thrust of this evil, ancient spirit is deception and CONTROL to utter ruin and damnation. I could vomit when I look upon a woman painted, powered and dressed to "kill", spouting out portions of God's truths from a pulpit, a pew, on the radio or TV. Get away from them! Get thee behind me! Women today know little of the meaning of submission because they have not submitted to God in the first place. The fruits of this are painfully evident. Too many "Christ-professing" women hold the reigns of power over their spouses, houses and places of worship. THEY have become the powers behind many a throne, including whole congregations, not the Spirit of God. Ladies, if you still own a pair of cute designer jeans, you have not forsaken all to follow Christ. Your hands yet grasp the filth of this World. Your vanity is still showing. It has NO PLACE before God or in His assemblies. If make up is still important to you, Jesus is not. You still straddle the fence and have no right to speak of righteousness or Holiness to anyone including the family dog! Get real with yourselves or go to Hell. Sorry, gals, I don't care if you're "cute", I care if you're truly saved.

After the facades are firmly pasted together and painted up, these Mr. and Mrs. "pillars" of Faith bring these putrid attributes to the assemblies and fellowships and expect the blessings of God and acceptance as "Holy"! Wrong! ...at least in my circle of service. I don't care if you don't like me, I LOVE you because Jesus did first! You are a victim of unbelief! What was it that Jesus wept over at the tomb of Lazarus? It wasn't the loss of His friend. It was over the UNBELIEF of those who claimed to know Jesus as Lord and Savior!!! Think about that one.

It is getting down to the wire here Saints and sinners. Like it or not, it is Holiness or Hell. Blessing or Wrath. It is time to take stock of yourselves and see that you are ready for the fiery trial that approaches. Yes, that which is now rounding the corner. Your compromise and unwillingness to surrender fully to God in meekness and humility has bound you to the tracks and God's train of Judgment is rumbling toward you. And it is because of the missing link. Thank your pastors and Sunday school teachers as you pass them on the way to Hell. In the congregations I have been loath to visit, I have yet to hear one word like Holiness or endurance or Godly repentance for sins. Yes, we have had many a revival since Wesley's day in this land however the only thing being revived is the spirit of Delusion. We're in trouble here and the Elect know it.

It is not the words of the FEW whom God has sent my way that cause me what strength I may draw from their sweet fellowship. It is their HOLY FRUITS that have caused me to ever renew my own quest for Holiness before God DAILY. Good fruits!
If we are around true Saints of God, we can not possibly mistake the rotten fruits of falseness nor the stench of sin from those who claim to be one of God's elect and are still wallowing in the muck of self-deception. Their stench precedes them and lingers afterward. Are we trying the spirits? Asking the hard questions?

John:6:44: No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Said a prayer of "salvation" in church once because of a sales pitch? Because the way seemed right to you (Proverb:14:12)? Walked down the aisle with watery eyes and left believing yourself set free from your sins and the penalty of them all the while still being encouraged to commit them? You bought infernal security, you did. No man can save anyone. Pull from the flames, yes but save, impossible. If it has not been the Spirit of the Living God, through the preaching of HOLINESS before Him and the Spirit's conviction of the wretchedness of your being that has called you forth to true repentance, the root you have been grafted to is the root of a lie, of blindness and death, of Satan. A church, a friend, a husband, a wife, a tear jerking testimony on TBN cannot draw anyone to Jesus Christ. Only the Father and architect of Salvation. If you haven't heard His call and His alone, it's no wonder you hear the Thunder. That thunder is hope folks. If you can hear it, you still have a chance to truly repent and come to Jesus Christ the right way, by God's calling, and follow Jesus the right way, down His narrow way, striving for LIFE, set apart (sanctified), and HOLY before God.

Our actions are determined by who and what rules in our hearts. Is Jesus cursing your neighbor, coveting pleasure, lying, cheating, hiding behind a self generated "Faith" of convenience? Of course not. But if you are, you are headed for certain destruction if you refuse to hear the voice of the Spirit and fall down before a Righteous God and ADMIT to your wretched condition. And don't dare call this judging. This is knowing them by their fruits (M't:7:20). The Judge has already spoken of the fate of those who refuse the true gift of Grace. We have chosen mastery over servanthood, pride over humility, convenience over crucifixion, self over Godliness, Hell over Holiness, COMPROMISE OVER CONFRONTATION! It is time to just plain GIVE UP to God or perish.

M't:7:14: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and FEW there be that find it. Without Holiness, which is an attribute of God and a sealing sign of true regeneration, Life can never be found in the here and now nor in eternity. Think about that please.

1Co:3:17: If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

May the grace and peace of the Lord God and Father of Jesus Christ be upon you. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Keep to the Road Saints of God. Get on the narrow way with Jesus, or walk away. Amen
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