END-TIME STUDY: PREPARING FOR RAPTURE, PART 10, (HOLINESS)

TEXTs:   HEBREW 12: 14, MATHEW 5:8

Hebrew 5:8                                                                                     

14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Mathew 5:8                                                                                                   

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

INTRODUCTION

Today, to see for instance, the president of a country, there are protocols and processes that must be followed. Even on arrival at the state house, you might be checked for security compliance. This will ensure that your visit does not present any security threat to the President. Even in a greater way, there is a protocol or condition for seeing God. And that condition(s) are stated in our texts above- Holiness and Purity of heart.

Many believers often think and even many preachers preach that once you confess the Lord, Jesus Christ, as your Lord and Saviour, there is no any conscious effort needed to be made towards living a holy life. That thought is erroneous. A born-again believer must still make an effort to live a holy life after receiving the Lord into his life.

Many other Christians that believe that conscious efforts need to be made to live a holy life often believe that holiness is somewhat an unrealistic and unattainable standard set by God for man. This, also, is rather not so. Holiness is attainable.

If the two assertions above are right, then nobody will see the Lord at rapture and nobody will make heaven. But many believers have made heaven and many more will still make it.

For the purpose of showing what Holiness means and how to live a holy life for the purpose of seeing the Lord at rapture and to prepare ready for his return in holiness is this teaching.

Let it be stressed again that ‘For without holiness, no man shall see The Lord.

TWO CONTRASTING NATURES

Though, man is made in the image of God, the nature of man becomes different from that of God since man fell in the Garden of Eden. In fact, the new adopted nature of man which is wickedness is the direct opposite to the very nature of God which is holiness. Let us look at these two natures.

1.  Holiness, the Nature of God. (2 Timothy 2:19a)

The scripture in 2 Timothy 2:19a talks about the foundation of God which stands sure. This means that the foundation of God cannot be altered. By this foundation is meant the absolute nature of God. And this nature which stands sure and cannot be altered is holiness (Psalm 87:1).

Let us establish from the scripture that everything about God is hinged on holiness.

1.   God is holy.      (Ps 22:3, Ps 99:5,9)

Psalm 22:3

3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

2.   God’s name is holy (Ps 99:3, luke 1:49, 1 Chro 16:10a)

Luke 1:49

49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

Psalm 111:9

9 …………………… holy and reverend is his name.

1 Chronicle 16:10a

10 Glory ye in his holy name…………

3. Son of God is holy. (Luke 1: 35b, Mark 1:24, Acts 4:27)

Mark 1:24

24……………….thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

Luke 1:35

35 …………….therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Acts 4:27

27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus………..

4.  Spirit of God is holy.  (Psalm 51:11)

Psalm 51:11

11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

5. Word of God is Holy. (2 Tim 3:15)

2 Tim 3:15

15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures………

         

6. Heaven is Holy. (Psalm 20:6, Exo 15:13, Psalm 93:5, Psalm 24:3)

Psalm 20:6

6 he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand

7. Angels of God are holy. (Mathew 25:31, Revelation 14:10)

Mathew 25:31

31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

8. Few other holy natures of God that we can point at from the bible include The Covenant of God (Luke 1:72), The Calling of God (2 Timothy 1:9), The Prophets of God (Acts 3:21) and many more.

It is not possible to list everything that is holy about God. Everything about Him is Holy. And how can we list everything about Him. It is not just possible. All we need to know is that anything that is not holy is not about God and not from God.

2. Sinfulness the nature of man.

As opposed to holiness which is the nature of God, sinfulness or simply wickedness is the nature of man. Everything about man centers on wickedness. We are going to look at some of the wicked or sinful natures of man.

1.   Man is conceived in wickedness. (Psalm 51:5)

Psalm 51:5

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

2.   Man’s heart is terribly wicked. (Jeremiah 17:9)

Jeremiah 17:9

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

3.   Earth, the habitation of man is defiled. (Isaiah 24:6)

Isaiah 24:6

5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof;

We have seen from view cases mentioned above that the natures of God and that of man are opposed to one another.

CAN TWO WALK TOGETHER?

Since man fell to sin in the Garden of Eden, and his walk with God has been broken, God, The Almighty, has always wished and desired so passionately that man walks with Him again.

He told Abraham to walk with Him in Genesis 17:1.

Genesis 17:1

1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

         

However, for God and man to walk together again, both must ‘agree mutually’ that they want to walk together. Amos 3:3 confirms this assertion.

3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Since God is holy and man is wicked, it follows that the two of them cannot walk together unless one adopts the nature of the other. But we have seen from 2 Timothy 2:19a above that the foundation of God which is holiness stands sure – it cannot be altered. That means God cannot drop His holiness and become wicked for the purpose of walking with a wicked man. Thus, if this walk with God must be implemented, then man must drop his wickedness and adopt holiness, the nature of God. It is only then that ‘the two can walk together’.

CAN A BAD TREE PRODUCE A GOOD FRUIT?

The answer to this question was given by the Lord, Jesus Christ, in Mathew 7:17-18.

          Mathew 17:17-18

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

The essence of this question and answer is to point out that even if man desires to accept the call of God to walk with Him, man may find it difficult to drop wickedness and adopt holiness, the nature of God, because on its own, the heart of man, which is wicked by default, cannot live a holy life like a bad or corrupt tree, cannot also produce a good fruit on its own.

What then can be done to transform this wicked heart of man to make it live a holy life? The answer is what we shall be discussing under sanctification, below.

SANCTIFICATION (TURNING A WICKED HEART INTO A GODLY ONE)

Our discussion under ‘Can Bad Tree Produce A Good Fruit’ underscores the role of the source on the output- a wicked heart being the source of all man’s ungodliness and a corrupt tree being the source of bad fruit. Both examples grossly emphasize the significance of the nature of the source on the outcome.

What we shall be looking at in this section is how to make this wicked heart of man to be able to live a holy life so that man can, now, walk with a holy God. But first, let us look at how to make a bad fruit produce a good fruit.

          Mathew 12:33

33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit (will be) good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

The answer given to us by the Master, Himself is to make the tree to be good and then its fruit, also, will be good. It seems then that we cannot alter the fruit without first altering the nature of the tree that produced it. This means the issue of getting it right with the source cannot be overlooked.

Again, let us look at the wicked heart of man as being the source of all his ungodliness. Mathew 15:18-20a

Mathew 15:18-20a                                                                                      

18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile (make unholy) the man.

19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

20 These are the things which defile a man (which make man unholy):

Here again, as before, The Lord, Jesus Christ relates the heart as the source of all wicked and evil behaviours of man which defile him and make him unholy.

Most behaviours of man are premeditated. This means they were well thought out in the heart before being carried out. All the lies, robbery, fornications, theft, lusts, false witnessing, unholy dressing, witchcraft, homosexuality and all other sinful behaviours of man are first conceived inside the wicked heart of man before it is carried out. Thus, the heart is the source of all ungodliness which defiles a man and makes it impossible for him to walk with God.

What about impromptu actions? You may say. In the real sense of it, whatever you claim to do by prompt is still a manifestation of the abundance of your heart.

Thus, to get a man to live godly, his wicked heart, which is the source of all his sinful behaviours must first be made godly.

Sanctification is the turning of this wicked heart of a man into a godly heart or a clean heart or a pure heart inside of a man for the purpose of walking with God. A sanctified heart is a purified heart. This heart can no longer produce wickedness by default any more but live godly according to God’s dictate. 

Summary of the definition of Sanctification can be found in Psalm 51:10

          Psalm 51:10

          10 Create in me a clean heart, O God………………..

Sanctification is the creation of a clean heart from an heart that was once wicked.

Sanctification was the prayer of David after his wicked heart made him fall to adultery.

Sanctification is the first step towards holiness. Sanctification is not a one-time event. It is a process which is achieved gradually. We will be looking at the process of Sanctification in the next stage.

PROCESSES OF SANCTIFICATION

When a man accepts the Lord, Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, all his past sins are wiped away but the heart of the man still has the tendencies to continue with his sinful nature unless it is totally sanctified. For instance, if a lustful man accepts Christ, though his past sins have been forgiven, yet his heart may still continue to be lustful until the heart is sanctified. That is why you see a man that has given his life to Jesus may still be struggling with sin at the early stage. He may still be falling into sin until he is finally sanctified.

In other words, forgiveness of sin is different from sanctification. By accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior, we are granted forgiveness from our sin. However, by the creation of a new heart in us, we are sanctified. Forgiveness is an instant event while sanctification is a gradual process. The following ways are the ways by which we can earn sanctification.

1. Blood of Jesus (Hebrew 13:12).

                            

Hebrew 13:12

          12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with

his own blood, suffered without the gate.

By constantly pleading the blood of Jesus Christ to wash our heart, the wickedness of our heart will become purged gradually.

2. Word of God (John 17:17, Hebrew 4:12)

                  

John 17:17

          17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

          Hebrew 4:12

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The word of God is another agent of sanctification. It searches our heart and discerns our thoughts and intents and if there be any wickedness still remaining in our heart, the word of God will be knocking them out of heart. A believer that hears the word of God, reads the scripture and obeys the word is on a clear path to sanctification. Very soon, his wicked heart will be transformed into a godly one.

Once a believer is far from the word of God, his power to resist sin will be reducing. This means that his heart will begin to return back to wickedness gradually because it is the Word of God that sanctifies the heart of man.

3. The Power of The Holy Ghost (Ezekiel 36:26)

Ezekiel 36:26                                                                                                         

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

The scripture above is talking about the power of the Holy Ghost to regenerate our heart and the consequence will be the removal of a stony heart- a heart that is stubborn and wicked, and the implantation of the fleshly heart– a heart that is obedient and godly. This is sanctification- a transformation of a wicked heart into a godly one. It is achieved by always praying that the fire of the Holy Ghost should refine and create a new heart in us- the way David prayed for his own sanctification (Psalm 51:10).

The three processes above are the biblical way of achieving sanctification. Sanctification is a gradual process like we said. It cannot be achieved suddenly. Also, sanctification is a continuous process. It should not be stopped once it is achieved. Otherwise, the godly heart will slowly go back to its former wicked status.

Once sanctification is achieved, a heart can no longer produce evil thoughts,

murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies and

other fruits of the devil produced by a wicked heart mentioned in Mathew 15:18-20. Instead of these evil fruits, a sanctified will begin to produce the fruits of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, obedience and many more fruits of Holy Ghost mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23.

EFFECTS OF SANCTIFICATION

1. New Spirit (Psalm 51:10)

         

          Psalm 51:10

          10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit

within me.

2. Acceptable Meditation (Psalm 19:14)

         

Psalm 19:14

14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart,

be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

3. Ability to seek God (Psalm 119:10)

          Psalm 119:10

          10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from

thy commandments.

4. Retention of The Word of God (Psalm 119:10)

Psalm 119:10

11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin

against thee.

HOLINESS

The Lord, Jesus Christ taught us in Mathew 15:18-20 that all sins a man commit are first conceived inside his wicked heart before he then go ahead and commit the sin. For instance, an armed robber would have thought how he would carry out the operation in his heart before he now steps out to actually do the robbery. In other words physical manifestations of evil deeds begin with an evil thought inside of wicked heart.

In the same manner, physical manifestation of godly characters like joy, love, temperance, modesty, gentleness, forgiveness, endurance, obedience and so on begin with conception in a sanctified heart. No one can display a godly character unless his heart has been sanctified, first.

Thus, Holiness can be defined as an outward or physical display of godly characters as a result of an heart that has been sanctified. Thus holiness is a step higher than sanctification. Sanctification is the first step towards holiness. The two are so interwoven that they can be used so interchangeably.

A sanctified person will definitely live a holy life and a holy living person has definitely been sanctified. One then wonders a little, that from our texts above, both sanctification (purity of heart) and holiness are both conditions for seeing God (Mathew 5:8, Hebrew 12:14).

SOME AREAS WE ARE EXPECTED TO BE HOLY

1. Holiness In The Body (1 Corinthians 7:34, Romans 12:1)

          1 Corinthians 7:34

          34 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried

woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

Romans 12:1

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

From the two scriptures above, we can see that we are expected to be in our bodies. By this I mean in our outward appearance, the clothes we wear and what we do to our bodies.

Many believers have argued that how we dress does not matter to God. They say God is only concerned about the condition of our hearts. This is a half-truth and half-false statement. The complete truth, however, is that God is interested in both our heart and our body.

Let me give us a logical explanation that substantiates this. Let us assume that a woman who claims to be a believer dresses like an hotel prostitute and yet claims that God is not interested in how she dresses but the condition of her heart. Many men might have even lusted after her because of her attire of harlot.

The picture painted by the attire of harlot of this woman adorns herself with is the prostitute nature of her heart. She has thought in her heart to dress in an ungodly way in her heart. Thus her heart in ungodly because it is from the abundance of the evil dressing that she has always nurtured in her heart that she eventually dresses. Her dressing begins in her heart and since she dresses in her ungodly way, then her heart is not sanctified.

2.  Holiness in the spirit   (1 Corinthians 7:34)

          1 Corinthians 7:34

          34 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried

woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

The first point we mentioned above is holiness in the body. Another area of holiness required is holiness in the spirit (Purity of heart).

3. Holiness in Conversation (1 Peter 1:15, Psalm 19:14)

          1 Peter 1:15

15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

Psalm 19:14

14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

From above scriptures, we can see that we are expected to be holy in what we say with the word of our mouths. The words of our mouth must glorify God. The words we say to people must be seasoned and full of grace.

4. Holiness in Thought (Psalm 19:14)

        Psalm 19:14

14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

CONCLUSION

Finally, the role of sanctification and holiness cannot be stressed enough as we prepare for the coming of the Lord, Jesus Christ. In fact, the centrality of our walk with God is holiness since we cannot walk with Him unless we are holy. If we say we are believers in Christ and we are not living a holy life, we are just wasting our time. The criteria has not changed. For without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.

SUMMARY

It begins from the heart of man- whether wickedness or godliness. Everything begins from the heart. Since the heart is evil by default, it cannot produce a good fruit. Sanctification will convert that wicked heart of man into a sanctified heart- purged and purified, which can now live a holy life.

PRAYERS

1. Lord Jesus Christ, purify my heart by the fire of the Holy Ghost.

2. Holy Spirit of God, create a new heart in me and renew a right spirit within me.

3. Lord Jesus Christ, wash my heart with your blood and purge me thoroughly.

4. Lord, uproot and destroy all the seed of wickedness from my heart.

5. Lord, sanctify me by Your Word.

ACTIONS

Are you an elect of Christ? Are you truly saved? Are you on the narrow road? Do you want to make the rapture/heaven? If your answers are yes, then,                                                                        


• Make all efforts to heed the warnings of Jesus Christ.


• Be watchful. Pay attention to what is happening around the World and see whether they match what the scriptures say.                                                                                   
• Be filled with the Holy Spirit and be in the Spirit all the time.


• Fast, consecrate yourself, run away from sin and worldliness.

If your answers are NO, then you can repent today. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Kindly sincerely and faithfully pray the prayer of repentance below and make a determination never to commit sin again.

PRAYER OF REPENTANCE

Lord, Jesus Christ, I am sorry for all my sins. I confess them with my mouth and I ask for mercy. Please forgive me and wash me in your blood. I accept you as my personal Lord and Saviour. Write my name in the book of life. Give me power over sins and fill me with your Spirit and Joy of Salvation. When rapture trumpet sounds, let me make it. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, I pray.

Begin to read bible. Begin with the book of John. Pray always. Fast regularly (you can begin with once in a week). Look for a bible believing church where they teach repentance, holiness, salvation and fellowship with them. Pray before you go. Always run away from SINS.

NEED MORE INFORMATION?

For more information, question or contribution, please send email to us at raptureglorious@gmail.com or jesuscoming@yahoo.com or visit us at www.jesuscoming1.blogspot.com   and please tell others to join us. We teach people deep word of God about holiness, righteousness and how to prepare for rapture. You can send email to us to receive the teachings, free. We also send breaking news of end-time events that happen around the world to people with bible verses that match them. You can send email to us to receive them, free.

We will like to get as many people as possible ready for rapture. We wish nobody goes through the great tribulation. What are happening now are child’s play.                                                                                     

Shalom. 

TO MAKE RAPTURE:

Confess your sins to JESUS CHRIST and ask Him to save you.

Repent of your sins constantly on daily basis and run away from sins.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit
Live in Holiness and Righteousness
Do all Restitutions

Cut off all worldliness.

Forgive all people.

Pray and fast.

Consecrate and study the bible.

Watch.    

JESUScoming.