So with 1 Peter 2 open in front of us, let's pray and let's ask that God would be with us this evening as we turn to his inspired word.
Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for the reminder already this evening that you are the great God in heaven and we are on earth.
And so, Father, we would want to make our words few and to stand in awe of not who we are, but to stand in awe this evening of who you are.
And it's our prayer now, dear Heavenly Father, that you would help us this evening as we think about what it means to be your distinct people living our lives in this world,
that you would help us to fathom something more of your greatness.
And Father, that you would help us appreciate and to savor and to love something more of the call that you have made in each one of our lives through your son, Jesus Christ.
I pray, Father, that this evening he would become great in every one of our sights.
So, Father, thank you that you hear us because we pray confidently in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
So, when was the last time you saw a walking billboard?
You ever seen a walking billboard before?
So, I had the experience.
If you don't know what a walking billboard is, let me just give you an example from something I experienced recently.
I was walking last September down to Toll Cross from the church.
And I got to Toll Cross and on the street corner was this chap and he was dressed.
See, I'm getting this one.
There it is.
He was dressed as a giant Domino's pizza box.
And he's standing on the street corner and on his box, you'll see it there.
This is not Edinburgh.
This is what I found on the internet, but it's exactly the same box.
On the front of his chest is a box that simply said, any pizza, any size, $6.99.
And there was a little arrow for Domino's pizza that way.
It's the kind of deal.
I don't know if you've ever done that deal before, but it's the kind of deal that I look at and I think,
who is phoning that up ordering a small?
I don't know about you.
Think about it.
But this guy was standing at Toll Cross and his job, his one job, was to make Domino's pizza visible to the world.
And his job was to be a walking billboard.
Well, Gary kind of alluded to it earlier.
We're going to think of ourselves this evening as walking billboards.
Walking billboards.
Now, I want you to think of your life at the minute, as it is at present.
The things that you do with your life.
The way you conduct yourself at work.
The way that you are around family and friends.
The way that you raise your children.
The things that inspire you.
The things that drive you in life.
The things, the hobbies that you do in your free time.
Here's the question this evening.
What are you making visible to the outside world?
What are we making visible to the outside world?
What image do people see as they look at you and I in action in our everyday lives?
What do they see when they look at us?
Because that's what we're going to be challenged to think about tonight as we continue this little series that we've called the distinct disciples.
Thinking about what it means to live as God's distinct holy people as we live our lives here on earth.
And tonight we're going to be thinking about this great trait that should characterize our lives as God's people called holiness.
Holiness.
Now at its most basic level holiness is a spatial term if you want to think about it like that.
It means to be set apart.
To be distinct.
To be separate.
That's what holy means.
And let me just hit you with a little bit of Bible trivia here at the outset.
If you're up for Bible trivia.
You all look like you're up for Bible trivia on a Sunday night.
Holy is a word that occurs more than 600 times in the Bible.
Get your head around that.
More than 600 times in the Bible we get the word holy.
And if you incorporate kind of sister words such as holiness and kind of sanctify, that number rises to be well over 700 times.
So God wants us to know about holiness.
And why?
Why does he want us to know about holiness?
Because that's what he is.
He is holy in that he is in his radiant and majestic purity.
As Gary has already said, he is so far above the things of this world.
Our God is holy, holy, holy.
Isn't that what the angels praise him for being in Isaiah chapter 6?
Holy, holy, holy.
And so it would naturally flow, wouldn't it, that this God, this holy God, he calls his people to live in such a way that, however imperfectly, reflect, advertise, display, share, and enjoy that holiness.
Now, J.C. Ryle, former Bishop of Liverpool back in the day, in his wonderful little book called Holiness.
If you're up for reading something tonight, I'm going to recommend a book later on this evening, but there's one for you at the moment, right?
J.C. Ryle has written a brilliant book called Holiness.
He defines holiness like this.
Holiness is the habit of being one mind with God, according as we find his mind described in Scripture.
It is the habit of agreeing with God's judgment, hating what he hates, loving what he loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of his word.
That's J.C. Ryle, my second favorite J.C.
Okay, J.C. Ryle.
So, this is what God calls his people to be, to be holy, to be distinct, to be radically different from the world around us, to be attractively distinct.
Now, I don't know about you, how you came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but I know for me, one of the things that convinced me of the truth of Christianity
was seeing the holy lives of God's people in action round about me as they lived their lives out in front of me.
I just saw something compellingly different about their lives.
I mean, the way that they dealt with hardship, the way that they conducted themselves in the workplace and at home, they weren't different.
They were the same.
But how they gave themselves to good things as they lived their lives out in front of me, I could see that not only was the relationship with the Lord real rather than fake,
but they were taking the relationship with the Lord seriously and pursuing his holiness.
It's compellingly attractive, friends.
I don't know if you found that in your own life, but that was one of the big things that drew me to Christ.
Be holy as I am holy, says the Lord.
This is what God calls us to be as his people.
He calls us to be walking billboards that image his holiness to the outside world.
And so before we get into some really practical stuff tonight, as we think about what that holiness is going to look like as we live our lives in this world,
it's so important that we get our head around the order of holiness.
The order of holiness.
Because when it comes to the relationship between God and his people, the order is never, it is never,
you are holy in that you have reached some kind of moral standard.
Therefore, I will rescue you and you will be my people because you're already holy.
You're already good enough.
That's why I'm choosing you.
It's never that way around in scripture.
It's never that way around with this God.
It is, I have rescued you.
Not because you are good.
Not because there was anything morally good about you.
I rescued you because I am gracious, declares the Lord.
And I have called you to myself.
And here's how I want you to live as my chosen and treasured people.
That's the order of holiness.
So what we see, isn't it, as we, Jonathan read just there, what we see happening at the Exodus,
that God rescued the Israelites from Egypt.
Why did he rescue them?
Not because they were good, but because he was gracious to them.
He rescued them.
He brought them to the other side of the Red Sea and he brought them to Mount Sinai
where he gave them the law, which was how he wanted them to live as his ransomed and redeemed people.
Let me just take you back to those verses that Corey read to us.
Sorry, Jonathan read to us from Exodus 19.
The Lord is speaking to Moses.
This is where the people are.
They've come out of the Red Sea.
They've journeyed to Sinai.
Here they are.
God speaking to them.
You yourselves have seen what I did in Egypt and how I carried you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself.
Now, if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations, you will be my treasured possession.
Although the whole earth is mine.
Do you hear that?
God saying, I could have picked anybody.
Although the whole earth is mine.
You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
This is the order of holiness.
And this is the way that exalts the glory and the grace of God in salvation.
I have loved you, says God.
Taking some of the imagery there.
I have carried you on eagle's wings.
I've saved you.
And so now I want you with your whole being, your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength to love me and to find your fullness in me.
And so now I want you to live and to image, manifest my holiness to a watching world.
So that they will look in and say, isn't Israel's God great?
Isn't he great?
And they will come to know me as well.
Because as you are satisfied in me, as you find your joy in me, as you find your identity and your all in all in me, the world will come in to say, we want to know this God of Israel.
We want to know Israel's God as well.
Do you see the glorious and gracious order that that is?
Do you see how this order gives all the glory to God?
What a gracious and what a wonderful calling upon that nation.
But of course, Israel failed to be that holy people that the Lord called them to be.
They couldn't do it.
And so will there ever be one who truly images God's holiness?
Well, as we turn to the New Testament, along comes the Lord Jesus, the complete and the perfect Savior.
And we find him in the gospel saying, and I love this, to his perplexed disciples.
Remember that conversation that he has with the rich young ruler in Luke 10?
The man who, by all intents and purposes, was squeaky clean, who claimed to have followed the law to a T, but who Jesus exposed because he was unwilling to sell all that he had and follow.
Jesus exposed that money was a bigger God in his heart than God.
But Jesus says to his perplexed disciples who think to themselves, well, if this guy can't make it in, if this guy can't make it in, what hope do we have?
And Jesus says those words that what is impossible with man is possible with God.
Now, how is that true?
You ever thought about that when he says that, when you read that in Luke?
How is that true?
Well, not only did Jesus die the death that his people deserve to die for their unholiness and crediting to them his righteousness.
Not only that, but God has now sent his spirit to live in the hearts of his people, breaking the power of sin in their lives and enabling them to live the holy life that God has called them to live.
What was impossible with man is possible with God.
Do you see the order?
Do you see the glory of this?
That we were made in God's image, friends.
We were made in his image.
And Jesus has redeemed us so that we can bear that image again to the world.
And be that city on a hill that he spoke about.
You know, I love that image, the city on the hill.
I love driving over on a Sunday night.
Drive from the new town over to this side of town.
Drive past the castle.
You cannot miss the castle, can you?
You cannot miss the castle at night.
Tell you what, see when you're out in Livingston, you can see the castle.
How many miles away that is.
That city on a hill cannot be hidden.
This is what Jesus is calling his disciples to be.
To be as the redeemed new covenant people of God.
The people who live by faith in Jesus Christ.
That attractive community of salt and light.
I love it.
Our friends down at Charlotte Chapel, they have as their mission statement.
This is what they want to be about.
They want to be conspicuous for Christ.
Love that.
Conspicuous for Christ.
I had to look up that word conspicuous.
It means to be different.
Attractive.
Pursuing others.
Conspicuous for Christ.
And we find the apostles, don't we, picking that up.
And we find them constantly urging as we read those letters in the New Testament.
Urging the early Christians to be that holy community.
That by the Spirit's help images the holiness and the glory of God.
And this is where we're going to tap into our verses tonight in 1 Peter.
This is what Peter is saying.
To the people that he's writing to.
Peter, remember the guy, Peter, who knows all about what it means to fail.
Writing to Christians who are feeling the heat for standing for Jesus.
Now if you remember in the context, he's writing at a time when Emperor Nero,
his widespread persecution of Christians has either just kicked off,
or is literally just about to kick off.
So as we eavesdrop in these words tonight, let's not think that they are empty platitudes.
No one's reading these words thinking, let's put these in a coffee cup, let's post them on Instagram.
These are real and raw words to suffering Christians.
And what does Peter want them to know?
Their identity.
So important, isn't it, in times of testing and trial that we know whose we are.
Look what he writes, verse 9.
But you are a chosen people.
A royal priesthood.
A holy nation.
God's special possession.
Do you recognize that language?
You're a holy nation.
This is who you are.
You aren't just the same as everyone else in the world,
except that you do some religious stuff on the weekends.
You're radically different.
Radically different.
Because Christ has made you his own.
And so then, because of who they are, how does he want them to live?
Well, I guess there's three options for them at this point.
Three ways Peter could have gone here.
Three options for them, just as there's three options for us this evening.
Option number one, back off.
Come out of the world.
Back away.
Come away from everything and everyone in society.
And let's just retreat to a holy huddle.
An option.
Back off.
He doesn't say back off, does he?
Option number two, blend in.
Keep their heads down.
Just become like everyone else.
Chase the same dreams.
Use the same words.
Think the same thoughts.
Treasure the same things.
Just blend in.
Does he say blend in?
No, he doesn't say blend in, does he?
Doesn't say back off.
Doesn't say blend in.
What does he say?
That you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness.
You see, this is all God's work.
Out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Later at verse 12.
Live such good lives.
Where?
Among the pagans.
So what does he say?
Back off.
No.
Blend in.
No.
What does he say?
Stand out.
Be a declaring people.
Be a speaking people.
Be a praising people.
And what is that going to look like?
Well, folks, in the time that we have left, I want to ask us three questions from these verses.
And I want to pick out three words from these verses that Peter uses as he writes to these Christians and says,
this is what holiness is going to look like in your everyday lives.
You ready for these?
Three things?
Okay, I know it's a Sunday night, but we're still awake.
Okay?
Yeah?
Three things.
Here's the first one.
Firstly, verses 11 to 12, he goes personal.
Look at it there.
Here is what holiness will look like in a body that fights you.
What will it look like?
It will look like abstaining.
Do you see the word there?
Abstain.
This is what he's urging them to do.
Because he's saying to them, there's a battle raging deep inside every one of your souls.
There's a war going on in each of your hearts between the old you and the new you.
Do you know that war in your own life?
The battle with sin?
I know it all too well, friends.
It is a battle that is raging inside of each of us.
Do you know that love that God in his grace has given that to us in his word?
As if to say, this is what you should expect.
It's great, isn't it?
And so as God's chosen people, their lives need to be marked by a dogged determination to say no to sin and to say no to the sinful desires that wage war on them.
The practices that used to dominate their lives.
The thoughts that used to occupy their minds.
The words that used to just flow from their lips.
He says, put sin to death.
Abstain.
Say no.
So what the English Puritan John Owen used to call the mortification of the flesh.
Killing sin.
Taking a razor blade to the throat of sin and killing it.
Just putting it to death.
I love it.
Do you know every Christmas what do we get from the health board?
Get your flu jab.
How can you kill the flu?
Catch it.
Kill it.
Bin it.
Catch it.
Kill it.
Bin it.
Friends, if the war on flu is worth fighting, then the war on sin, God says, is well more worth fighting.
Catch it.
Kill it.
Bin it.
Same for your sins, says Peter.
Kill it.
Abstain from it.
And don't just be known for what you don't do.
Be known for what you do do.
Be known for your good life.
Be known for your good deeds.
Pursue a life worthy of your calling in Christ.
Be known as people who don't do.
And be known as people who do do good works.
Just before we came out, we took the girls for a hot chocolate.
And then we took them around the National Portrait Museum on Queen Street.
I don't know if you've ever been there.
But as you go in, and this is a portrait gallery full of faces of famous Scots who've made contributions to our society down the years.
And do you know who's there?
Thomas Guthrie.
I don't know if you've ever heard of Thomas Guthrie.
He's got a statue at the west end of Princess Street just before you enter the Princess Street Gardens.
You'll be sure and look next time you go there.
Thomas Guthrie.
Free church minister from 1850.
And there he is in the National Portrait Gallery.
Do you know why?
Because his Christian faith resulted in a full load of charitable deeds among the poor.
Be known for his good deeds.
This is what Peter was writing.
Be known for your good deeds.
Be known for being a community of individuals who are marked by a compelling Christ-like consistency.
Right?
You're the same in the bedroom as you are in the boardroom.
Remarkable Christ-like consistency.
I remember at university my flatmates and I, we became friends with a group of three Mormon missionaries.
And I remember one of my flatmates, we used to have debates with him all the time.
We used to play football with him.
Great relationship with him.
And I remember one of my flatmates coming back from Tesco one day.
There are other supermarkets available, but I didn't mean to say that.
And he told me that he'd met one of those Mormon missionaries outside the shop.
And he was dressed in his casual gear.
And he had a cigarette in one hand and he had a bottle of beer in the other hand.
And my friend said to him, unless I've missed something, what's going on there?
And it turned out that this guy was an undercover reporter looking to get to the heart of the Mormon movement.
And trying to find out what really was going on and trying to really understand whether this was real or fake.
Friends, I wonder if someone was to do an expose on us.
And I hope none of you are here tonight because of that, right?
But if somebody was to do an expose on us, if someone was to get the heart of us corporately and individually,
friend, would they find real or fake?
Would they find a compelling Christ-like consistency to our lives?
These guys know that they are not perfect.
These guys know that they are failures.
These guys know that they are messy.
These guys know that they are deeply dependent on God's grace.
And they are honest about their struggles and their failures.
But boy, are they serious about pursuing their all-sufficient savior.
Is that what they would find?
So in our world that says you only live once,
in our world that says it's fine as long as it's not hurting anybody,
in our world that says it's my body, I will do what I want with it,
in our world that says what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
You used to get that all the time when I played football.
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Peter says abstain.
Peter says your body is Christ's.
Peter says your body is holy.
So let me ask you friends, in your battle with sin, are you abstaining?
Are you in the fight?
Are you wrestling with the Spirit's help as God's chosen people to say no to sin and yes to Christ?
Friends, if that fight is going on in your life right now, that is not a sign of failure.
That is a sign of faith.
In your heart, when you see sin raise its ugly head in your life, does it break you?
And do you cry out to the Lord with that desire to change?
If that's you this evening, then can I offer you two S's by way of encouragement?
I love to alliterate two S's by way of encouragement.
Firstly, you have a Savior.
For those of us here who are feeling beaten up by our failures, let's remember those wonderful words of Romans 8, chapter 1.
That there is now, therefore, no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus.
That he paid it all.
That we are saved by grace, not merit.
We are saved by mercy, not me.
And recall the words of that wonderful old hymn, no condemnation now I dread.
Jesus and all in him is mine.
Alive in him my living head and clothed in righteousness divine.
Bold I approach the eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ my own.
First S, remember your Savior.
Second S, remember you have the Spirit living inside of you.
The helper that Jesus Christ promised when he would go and he would send.
Coming from the Father and the Son.
Living inside of you.
Pushing you in the direction of Christ's likeness.
Helping you and I to say no to sin.
And yes to Christ.
See Peter is saying here as he goes personal straight off the bat.
That the battle for holiness starts in the heart.
What will holiness look like in a body that fights you?
It will look like abstaining.
Secondly, and these other two will be really quick.
Okay, secondly verses 13 to 27.
He goes social.
Here is what holiness will look like in a world that oppresses you.
What will it look like?
It will look like doing.
Again, see it in the text, the word doing.
It's amazing how often the word good deeds comes up in this little section of this letter.
Peter says,
Although you are aliens and strangers in the world.
Rubbing shoulders with people, doing your daily business.
Glorify God by being a distinct blessing.
Rather than a disrespecting nuisance to society.
Submit to, respect, honour, love both the powers that be and the people around about you.
So that any accusations that people would say that society would be better off if you Christians weren't here will have zero foundation to them.
So far as you're not being asked to do something that contravenes God's word.
Do you see how Peter's pleading with them to do good and to do good for the glory of God and the renown of the Lord?
Do you see what a countercultural attitude that is to have?
So friends, are we doing?
Are we being a blessing?
I don't know about you, but I want to be the kind of church that if we ever moved from Brunsfield,
say we sold up here and we bought something down, a warehouse down out at Dalkeith or something like that, right?
We started meeting out there.
I want to be the kind of church that this community would mourn over the fact that we're not here anymore.
Do you remember those guys?
Do you remember how they used to invite us to stuff?
Do you remember how they used to tell us they were praying for us?
Do you remember how they practically cared for the poor in this neighborhood?
Boy, we miss them and wish they'd come back.
Do you want to be that kind of church that people would mourn if we ever moved from here?
Do you want to be that kind of neighbor?
I want to be that kind of neighbor who would be sadly missed if we were to ever move from our stairwell on our street.
Do you remember them?
Do you remember how they used to take the recycling out?
Do you remember how their door was always open?
Do you remember how we used to be able to nip down and get a screwdriver from them?
Do you remember how they used to always know our names?
Do you remember how they always used to ask how we were doing and they actually meant it?
Do you remember how we used to love having them and their contributions on the parent-teacher council?
Do you remember how they used to be able to do and they used to be able to do and they used to be able to do?
And as a person authority, right now, we have a massive opportunity to be radically different.
You know, I hear some of the ways that our politicians are spoken about at the minute as I watch TV,
programs that have a good news for you and mock the week,
and as I listen to radio and I hear how our politicians in power are spoken about,
and it really saddens me.
I was thinking this week, how counter-cultural would it be that next time somebody in our presence criticizes Theresa May,
slanders Nicola Sturgeon, that instead of joining in,
what we say is that, yes, they're not perfect,
but what a hard job that is.
And as a Christian, I believe God has put them there,
and our God calls us to pray for them,
that he would be so gracious to them and show them grace and wisdom
that they would know how to best lead our country at this time,
and ultimately they would turn to him and ask him for wisdom.
And I will contribute my voice and my hands in any way I can to do that,
and that's exactly what I'm going to do.
Try that one on for size this week and see how that goes, okay?
But do you know a sense that we have a wonderful opportunity at the minute
as we hear how our politicians are being slated at the minute
to be radically different, to be praying for them?
Peter says to this generation,
be a compelling Christ-like community.
What is holiness going to look like in a world that oppresses you?
It will look like doing.
And thirdly, verses 18 to 25,
right, he's gone personal, he's gone social, he goes vocational.
Here is what holiness will look like in a job that demands you.
Answer, what will it look like?
It will look like entrusting.
And the people that Peter has in mind here are slaves.
You'll see that in the language there, slaves.
This is who he's got in mind.
Now, that would have looked very different in this day
to what we might immediately picture when we hear that word slaves.
These would have been household servants who would have been working for and living with a master.
And Peter pleads with them, do you see it, because of their faith in Christ,
to serve Christ by serving their master.
That's what he's saying.
Serve Christ by serving your master.
Be the best worker that you can be.
Be known for your integrity.
Have a reputation for your good deeds.
And do your job for the glory of the Lord.
And do it for his pleasure, not your master's.
That's what he's saying.
Be the best employee you can be.
Sounds fine.
Sounds good.
Well, I want you to do that even if your master is bad.
Do you see that in the language?
And if you suffer for doing bad, that's not commendable.
But if you suffer for doing good, that is glorious in God's sight.
Now, it's not a direct match for our work situations,
but I think there are principles that are exactly the same.
So you think about your job.
You think about what you do.
In our world that thinks nothing of having an extra five minutes on a lunch break,
of slagging off a colleague or client behind their back,
of surfing the internet when the boss isn't in the room watching,
dishonestly overcharging,
Peter says, work for the Lord.
It's his smile you should be about.
Work for the Lord.
Again, friends, are you the kind of employee
that if you ever moved from your workplace,
people would be deeply saddened that you've moved on?
Would they be deeply saddened?
Or actually, would they be glad to see the back of you?
Gossiping Glenda, bitter Barry,
apathetic Amy.
It's really hard to think of names who people aren't in here.
But are we those kind of people?
And I love Peter's pastor's heart in all of this.
Where does he point them?
To themselves?
No.
Where does he point them?
To Jesus.
It's where we finish every sermon here, isn't it?
Look into him.
Peter says, look to Christ.
If you're feeling the heat for being a Christian,
know that Jesus not only cares,
he not only knows,
but he sits beside you in your story.
This Christ knew insult.
Your king knew ridicule.
Jesus knew suffering.
And what did he do?
He entrusted himself to God.
So Peter's call here is that whatever comes at you in your work life,
keep your sights set in the Lord.
And live for his pleasure.
And trust him.
Friends, I just say as a side,
when it comes to holiness in the workplace,
I'm not speaking like this is easy.
Remember doing it for four years?
It's really difficult.
But let's trust and know that God honors those who honor him.
And that in Jesus Christ,
we have a friend who is closer than a brother.
And that in Christ,
we have a king who knows what it is to be rejected and humiliated.
And one who sets us,
as Peter says here,
do you see the word?
An example.
It's the word there for a stencil.
That's the word.
If you remember doing that as a child,
my girls are into it at the minute.
They get a bit of tracing paper
and they just stick it on top of something
and they just trace the outline.
That's what he's saying.
Christ has left us a stencil,
an example.
What will holiness look like in a job that demands you?
It will look like entrusting.
Abstaining,
doing,
and entrusting.
Peter says God's people,
his chosen people,
are to have holiness at heart.
And as we bring this to a close this evening,
let me just mention one thing
as we work towards a close.
We thought about it at the outset,
how when we come to think about holiness,
it's important to think about the right order.
Do you remember that?
The right order there.
This is all about God's grace.
So important to remember the order.
Equally important that we remember the goal of holiness.
Now,
let me just give you an example
of how I've learned this the hard way in parenting.
Okay?
A lot of girls are both going through
what my father-in-law likes to label
the terrible twos at the minute.
Or as I like to just call it,
original sin making its first public appearance.
But the terrible twos,
this is where they are.
They're playing like the best of friends one minute
and in the next minute you turn their back
and they're hitting each other.
They're pulling their hair
and they're screaming.
And one episode happened the other day.
Chloe was playing with this toy frog
that she'd got in a party bag.
And my little girl, Grace,
she wanted that toy frog.
And so she went over
and she starts hitting Chloe.
She starts pulling her hair
and I have to get in there and separate them.
And I take Grace
and I put her on the naughty step
and my words to her are,
don't do it,
just play nice.
That's what I say to her.
Don't do it,
just play nice.
So,
she says,
sorry,
Chloe says,
I forgive you.
And it's all harmony for a minute.
And then after a few minutes,
Grace is back over there again.
Right?
And she's in her face.
She's poking her eyes.
She's trying to wrestle the toy frog from her.
And I broke it up
and I put Grace back in the naughty step.
And I said,
Grace,
don't do it,
play nice.
Same thing happened again.
And so the third time of the naughty step,
I'm thinking to myself,
this is not working.
This is not working.
Do you know what worked?
It wasn't telling her to stop doing things
and to start doing things.
What worked
was to get her excited
about another toy.
Right?
Parenting tip there,
if you want to take it there.
That's what you do.
You get her excited about something else.
And once she was taken by something better,
she didn't even look at the frog again.
Friends,
if all we think about
tonight,
if all we come away with from tonight
is do's and don'ts,
I think we've completely missed it.
Pursuing holiness
is,
as Kevin DeYoung,
whose book I'll plug to you in a minute,
says,
it's not so much about
pursuing performance.
It's about pursuing a person.
He said,
the goal
is not holiness per se.
The goal
is the holy one.
Holiness
is about being captivated
by Christ,
by being
grasped and taken
by something far better.
Do you not know that to be true
in your own heart?
If this was just do's and don'ts,
we might do okay for five minutes,
but we'd be back over there
doing the same things.
We need to be captivated
by something
greater.
Be captivated by Christ,
by abiding in Him,
and by allowing God,
by His Spirit,
as we
fall more in love
with the Lord Jesus,
His Spirit will change us
from the inside out.
This is what holiness is about,
being conformed more
into the likeness
of Jesus Christ.
It's not moralism.
It's pursuing our Savior.
So as we close, friends,
what are you making visible
to the outside world?
What image do people see
as they look at you
and I?
Do you see the call
from this holy God
to His ransomed people
is to be walking billboards
that image His holiness?
for Jesus Christ?
That means
what is coming from that
to a long story?
To us
and to enjoy
this Krank
with a long story?
To us
that means
we may not
God