as the authority. The Bible is lifted up as supreme, dear God.
We're not here to hear the wisdom of a man, dear God, or some kind of a
cunningly devised fable from the mind of a man, but here we are
to study the Bible, to learn what you would have us to see from the Bible, dear God.
So Holy Spirit, I pray that you would fall on this service in a mighty way
and that people would leave, including myself, different than when they
came in, dear God, closer to you, more excited about the things of God,
and the more righteous as a result of being here in Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.
Alright, if you look at that verse there in 2 Corinthians 7, 1, that's my text
verse, the Bible says, having therefore these promises, dearly
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all
filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness and the fear of God.
What promises? Well, just before, when God says if you will separate yourself
from ungodliness, if you'll separate yourself from the wrong things
of this world, he says I'll be a father unto you, and you shall be my
sons and daughters, sayeth the Lord Almighty. Now what does holiness
mean? A lot of times these words like holiness, you know, you hear them all the time
they're commonly used in religious circles, and sometimes these are the words
that we understand the least because we take their meaning for granted. And so
let's see what the Bible says holiness means. Now, should we go to a dictionary and just see
what the dictionary says holiness means? You know, the dictionary is written by man. This book
is written by God. And so if I want to know what a word means, I'm going to check the Bible. Let me just
lay a foundation for the message by showing you a few things from the Bible.
Turn to the book of Leviticus chapter 11. It's the third book in the Bible.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus. Look at Leviticus
chapter 11 verse number 44, and I'll show you what this word means,
holiness. That's what we're going to be talking about this morning. Leviticus
11 44 is where we'll begin reading.
The Bible reads, For I am the Lord your God, ye shall
therefore sanctify yourselves. Notice that word sanctify.
And ye shall be holy, for I am holy. Neither shall ye
defy yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your
God. Ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
Now right away God associates this word holiness with another word which
is sanctify. The word sanctify is the exact same word
as the word holy. Now if you look in the New Testament you'll find the word sanctuary.
You ever heard that word before? The word sanctuary in the
Old Testament talking about the exact same place is called the holy place.
And so sanctuary, sanctify, means to make something
holy. A holy place is a sanctuary. To sanctify something
is to make it holy. Now look if you would at Leviticus chapter 20.
Flip forward in your Bible a little bit. I'm just laying the foundation, a little bit of definitions for the
message tonight. Leviticus 20, look at verse number
7. Sanctify therefore,
sanctify yourselves therefore and be ye holy, for I am the Lord
your God. You see what he means? He's defining it for us. He's saying to sanctify
yourself is to be holy. So he says sanctify yourselves therefore and
be ye holy, for I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep my statutes
and do them. I am the Lord which sanctify you. Now flip back one book
to the book of Exodus. One book before Leviticus is the book of Exodus
and I want you to look at chapter 13.
And you'll see how clear God makes words in the Bible and how he explains them to us.
Look at Exodus 13 verse number 2.
The Bible reads, Sanctify unto me all
the firstborn. Whatsoever openeth the womb among the children
of Israel, both of man and of beast it is mine.
Now keep your finger on Exodus 13 2, look at Exodus 13
12 now. And the Bible says that thou shalt set
apart unto the Lord all that openeth the matrix
and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast, the male
shall be the Lord. Now if you compare those two verses, look at verse 2 and verse number
12. Verse 2 says, Sanctify unto me
all that openeth the womb. And in verse number 12 it says
set apart to me everything that openeth the matrix. And so right
here God is defining two words for us. He says to sanctify something, to make
something holy is to set it apart for God. And he says
that womb means matrix. Matrix means womb and you'll see that throughout the Bible. And so
God intended the Bible for you to understand it. And so he makes it very easy for you to
understand by repeating things and putting words side by side and helping you understand.
So I want you to understand that to sanctify something, to make something holy,
holiness is when you are set apart to God.
Number one, the first point that I'd like to make
is that holiness is when you are totally set apart
for God. That's what holiness is. You say, what's holiness?
It's when you have been set apart only for God. Look at Psalms
and I realize we're turning to a lot of scriptures, but I have to lay the foundation
for the message. Look at Psalms. Right in the dead center of your Bible you'll find the book of Psalms.
And look at chapter number 10 and verse number 4.
Psalm 10
4, the Bible reads in Psalm 10 4, the wicked
through the pride of his countenance will not seek
after God. Now notice this next phrase. God
is not in all his thoughts. You see that?
It doesn't say that he never thinks about God. It doesn't say that the wicked man
never mentions God or has a thought about God. It says that God is not in
all his thoughts. Now from that I can see that God wants him
to be in all of our thoughts. He wants our life to be set apart completely
to him. He wants every thought that's in our mind to include God
Almighty, to include Jesus Christ. Now one more passage before we get into the message.
Turn back to Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Bible. Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
Now don't say that you didn't come to church and learn anything because at least you learn where the books of the Bible
are, right? Look at Deuteronomy chapter number 6.
And I'm going to show you this
passage, one of my favorite passages in the Bible, Deuteronomy 6 verse 4.
The Bible reads, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is
one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart
and with all thy soul and with all thy might. And these words
which I command thee this day. We're talking about the Bible, right?
These words, the words that are in my hand right now. And these words which I command
thee this day shall be in thine heart, and thou
shalt teach them diligently. By the way, I was talking about memorizing the Bible. These words shall
be in thine heart, he said, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children
and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house
and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as
frontlets between thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on
my gates. Now let me ask you something. Does that describe your life?
Does that describe your day? Does that describe your lifestyle
where you're laying in bed and you're thinking about God and you're talking about the things of God?
And not just some ethereal, oh, isn't God good?
But you're talking about the words that are in this book, and when you wake up, you start
talking about the words that are in this book, and when you're walking down the street with your family,
you're talking about the words that are in this book, and when you sit down to eat a meal, you're
thinking about Jesus Christ and God, and you're thinking about the words that are
in this book, and these words are in your heart, and you're speaking them to your children. Is that your life?
Because that's holiness, my friend. Holiness is where you
set apart your life and said, my life is 100%
dedicated to God. That's holiness. And God said
that he wants us to live a life of holiness. You say, wait a minute,
this sounds a little bit extreme. It sounds like a little bit off the deep end
if you expect my whole life to revolve around the Bible.
I mean, you expect my whole life to involve myself in the things of God.
Well, look, if you would, actually, you don't have to turn there. You've turned enough.
Let me turn to Romans 12 really quickly and just read this for you. Romans 12, verse number 1 and 2,
the Bible says in Romans 12, 1, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, you see that word? Holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world, but
be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And so God is saying,
I find it very reasonable, given the fact that I created this whole world,
given the fact that I spoke it into existence, given the fact that
I've given you every breath of air that you breathe, given the fact that I've
given you the power to get wealth and to make money in your life, given the fact that I've given
you all the blessings that I've given you, your family, all the nice things that you live in America,
that you live in a beautiful part of America, given these facts, given
the fact that I've died on the cross for you, I sacrificed my life
for you, I shed my blood for you, I went to hell for three days and three nights,
and rose again for you, and said, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. Hey, in light of that, I think it's reasonable that you
spend your short life on earth glorifying me and living for me.
Hey, that's reasonable. You say, pastor, you're crazy, you're unreasonable.
Hey, the Bible says I'm reasonable. You know what I think is crazy? I think it's crazy
that somebody would call themselves a Christian and come to church, you know,
a couple times a week and kind of, you know, mark out, hey, I made it to church,
and then live exactly like the rest of the world the rest of the week. I think that's crazy.
I think it's crazy the way that if you really believe that there's a heaven
and a hell, if you really believe that there's a God and that you wrote this Bible,
if you really believe that every word in this Bible is true, I think it's crazy
that you don't read it every day, because, I mean, if this is the wisdom of the ages,
if this is the answer to every question that's ever been asked, if not one word
in this book is out of place, I think it's crazy that you wouldn't
just be consumed with reading this book and that you wouldn't take the romance
novel and throw it in the stupid garbage can, and that you wouldn't take the People magazine
that tells about all the lives of all these Hollywood stars.
I think it's nuts that you'd even care. I think it's nuts
in light of the fact that our life is but a vapor, the Bible says, and appeareth for a little time
and then vanishes away. I think it's crazy that we wouldn't just be
totally set apart and holy before God. I think that's crazy, and I think
that this is reasonable to love God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind. I was thinking about some of my favorite verses in the Bible.
Joshua 1.8, this book of the law
shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein
day and night. Why?
That thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein.
For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous,
and then thou shalt have good success. See, you want to have
success in your life? Here, look, I'm going to be like a TV preacher.
You want to have success in your life? You want to prosper
financially? No, I'm just kidding. No, hey, look, you want to have God's kind of success?
I'm not talking about that kind of success and prosperity, but do you want to have the right
kind of success where your kids grow up and live for God? I mean, do you want to
have the kind of prosperity where the Bible says,
he says, I wish nothing more in the book of 3 John. He said that you
may prosper and be in health even as your soul prospereth. He said
do you want your soul to prosper? Do you want to win people to Christ
and see people saved and prosper? Do you want to have children that rise
up and call you blessed? Do you want to have children that love God and that aren't out on dope
and that aren't out sagging their pants, showing their underwear on baseline
road here, walking down the road, you know, like they own the place or something?
Hey, do you want to have the kind of prosperity that God can
give you where he's blessing you? Then you must
have a kind of Christianity that's characterized by holiness,
that's characterized by a day and night kind of
Christianity, not the kind of Christianity that's Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.
And don't get me wrong, because I'm a Sunday night, Wednesday night, whatever
kind of a guy, but that doesn't mean that that's the extent of my Christianity.
Because we need to be consumed with God all the time.
Psalm 1, often quoted, and often the first verse
is emphasized, this is what the kids are going to be memorizing this week,
but often the first verse is what you hear preached and emphasized, and I think it's great.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. Hey, great.
Nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat
of the scornful. But sometimes that's where most of the preaching is on that negative,
saying, you know, you shouldn't be around, you know, wicked places
and you shouldn't get your counsel from the ungodly. Hey, don't get your counsel from
Dr. Phil and Oprah on the hellavision. Hey, get your counsel
from God, but look, what's the second verse say?
You've got to have the positive side of the coin also. It's great to be separated from the world.
Hey, it's great to shut off the stupid, garbage daytime
TV shows, but let's get the other side of the coin. Blessed is the man that walketh not
in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and
in his law that he meditate day and night, and he shall
be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters that bringeth forth his fruit
and his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth
shall prosper. The only two times God promises you
success or prosperity in the Bible is when he says meditate on this book day and night.
You'll prosper. Then you'll have success in the Christian life.
That's what it is. See, you have to decide are you going to get in or are you going to get out.
That's the way it is. Now, hey, look, you're welcome to come to this church and be half in
and half out for the rest of your life, but I'm saying before God, if you want to have success,
jump in. Get in. Set apart.
Sanctify yourself, as God said. Be holy, for I am holy, he
said. Be like me! God said if holiness is good enough for me,
it ought to be good enough for my children. It ought to be good enough for saved Christians
to be as holy as I am. Now, look, am I talking about sinless
perfection? No. I sin every day, Craig. I'm not
talking about being above sin. Good night. This is what the Bible says.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
The Bible says there's none righteous, no, not one. See, all of us
sin. All of us do wrong. None of us do right all the time. But holiness
is where we say, the sinful person
that I am, I'm going to try to
purify myself as much as I can, but whatever state I'm in, you know,
as purified as I am or as sinful as I am or
wherever I'm at in my growth, you know, Christianity, whatever
stage I'm at in becoming more like Jesus,
whatever state, I'm going to give it to God. See, that's holiness. It's where I say
maybe I'm not perfect. Of course I'm not perfect. But what I am
I'm going to set apart for God 100%. And you see, we've got
to come to the place where we grow past this Christianity that's shallow.
Where we're just so interested in all the sports
that's going on, we're so interested in all the Hollywood, we're so interested in all the
news, but we just don't really have a whole lot of time for the Bible.
We need to grow past that. If we want to really see the power of God,
we're going to have to get past that. And you see, think about
you read the Bible for 15 to 20 minutes a day and you would complete
the whole Bible in one year. Did you know that? I mean, we've got this chart
right here. And this chart here is broken down into
364 day portions. And if you just read one of these
per day, you will have completed the entire Bible cover to cover
in less than a year. 364 days.
Now, that's nothing. 15 to 20 minutes
of your day? Oh, I don't have time for that. You don't have time for that?
You must be working three jobs. You must have 10 kids and three jobs
and be in school full time. You don't have time for 15 minutes
to pick up God's Word and read it a day and just
check it off that you did it 15, 20 minutes? No, you have time.
But the problem is you're not holy. The problem is you're not set apart.
The problem is you're unreasonable. That's what it is. Because you could just take that time every day
and read. Now look, that's like a minimum, I think. I mean, I think
if you really want to grow in the Lord, 15, 20 minutes a day?
Hey, be consumed with the Word of God. Hours a day.
Me and Brother Dave, and not to confuse everybody in the service
since there's four Daves in the service site. I'm not trying to be confusing, but this
is Brother Dave right here. We were talking before the service and
he was talking about just doing the housework, just putting down the Bible on CD.
See, that's what I'm talking about. I mean, he just has the Bible going in the background.
And his mind is being filled with the Word of God. He's growing and learning the Bible
while he sweeps up the floor. Hey, that's what I'm talking about.
God needs to be in all of our thoughts. Don't go, I remember when I was a teenager
one time, I thought to myself, you know, I haven't even thought about God in like
three days. I remember thinking that. I was thinking, you know, God has not even entered my mind
for the last three days. Because I was just going about life, you know, just doing this, doing that.
I hadn't read the Bible, hadn't talked about God, hadn't thought about God.
I was just fun, living. And I just thought to myself, boy, isn't that ridiculous?
Here's God. He's with me all the time.
He's watching everything I do. He's thinking about me 24 hours a day.
And I don't even give him a thought, you know, for days on end. Boy, that's terrible.
I want to come to the place where God's in all my thoughts. And that's what God
sets as the standard. So number one, we need
a Christianity that consumes us and dominates our life. That's the kind of
Christianity we need. We need a Christianity that exalts the words
of the Bible. And that they're a part of our life 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. And you see,
if we would do that, maybe we'd start obeying this verse right here. Here's a great verse.
John 5, 42. And daily in the temple and
in every house, they cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
Boy, what a great verse. What a hard verse
when you see what the people in the Book of Acts say. Why is it that in the Book of Acts
they have these big crowds? Why is it that in the Book of Acts all kinds of people are getting
saved and baptized? Why is it that in the Book of Acts, when I read the Book of Acts, I see the
mighty power of God? But I look around and I just don't see it today. Why?
Because I'm going to tell you something. In the Book of Acts, they were daily
in the temple and in every house, and they did not cease to teach
and preach Jesus Christ. That's the difference. It wasn't some gifts that they had
that we don't have or something. It wasn't like these dispensational people, these
hyper-dispensational deadhead churches, and they try to teach something.
Oh, you know, God can't do miracles anymore. That was like back then
God did miracles and everything. But today God, he doesn't know miracles.
Hey, look, maybe God doesn't do any miracles. Maybe we don't see the mighty power
of God because we're not daily in the temple and in every house teaching
and preaching Jesus Christ. You see that? Maybe it's because we're not holy like we should be.
Maybe it's because we have a Christianity that's like soul winning
is just something that we do every once in a while. It's not something where we're daily thinking
about soul winning. Daily in the temple and in every house.
And the temple, that's not talking about church. They didn't have church in the temple. It's talking about they just went to the temple
every house. That's why we knock on doors.
You say, why do you knock on doors? You trying to push your religion? Yeah, I'm trying to push
the gospel. If you don't like that, I'm sorry, but Jesus said
go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature. And so that's what I'm going to do. He said from house to house, he said
two by two. That's what we're going to do. And we're going to do it
and we're going to be consumed by it. I want to have a
Christianity that eats, breathes, and sleeps the Bible and soul winning.
Seven days a week. You say, you're nuts. Yeah, that's right. I am nuts.
I'm nuts because I actually am wanting to follow the Bible.
Isn't that crazy? Isn't that radical?
Number two, well before I get to number two, it's like
you think about this. You say, Pastor Anderson, I don't want to live a life
where the Bible is the big thing for me.
I want to live a life that's just dominated by Christianity and soul winning
and reading the Bible. You know, if you realize
the Bible says in Psalm 34.8, oh taste and see
that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man
that trusteth in him. Oh fear the Lord, ye his saints, for
there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack and suffer
hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.
When you sell out for God, he says, you're not going to lack anything. He says, I'm not
going to hold back anything good from you. He said, why don't you just taste
the spirit-filled Christian life? Why don't you just taste the life that's sold out
for God? He said, once you've tasted it, then the sex pool of the world is not just going to
taste as good anymore. Once you've tasted winning somebody to Christ,
once you've tasted having your convert in church with you that you want to the Lord
and them getting baptized. Hey, once you've tasted that, my friend, go into
the movies and watching some dirty video just isn't going to taste as good anymore.
Going out and partying with your friends and, you know, drinking a beer
just isn't going to seem as fun anymore when you taste and see that the Lord
is good. But see, you've got to taste it by faith because God doesn't have a big
shiny billboard. God doesn't have some billboard with a bunch of half-naked people
on there dancing around and having a good time to show you how exciting it is to be
a Christian. He doesn't have a big flashing neon light. He's got a black book with
white pages and black ink and no pictures and he says, taste and see that the Lord is good.
He said, well, wait a minute, God, where's the picture, you know, where's the
catalog so I can see how great it's going to be? Hey, no, he said, no, there's no catalog.
Why don't you just believe me? I'm God is what he's saying. Why don't you just
taste and see? Why don't you just get in and see if it's good
or not? Because I'm not going to entice you with all the frills and
excitement. He said, I just want you to taste and see that the Lord is good. Why don't you just get out
this book and start reading it and see if it's good? Why don't you go out and see if it's good? Why don't you get
in church and see if it's good to live for God?
Taste and see that the Lord is good? Hey, it's not a bummer living for God, sold out
100%. It's great. I'm happier now
in 2006 than I've ever been happy in my whole life. And I'm more set apart now
than I've ever been in my whole life. And the more set apart I get, I just feel like the happier I'm going to be.
The more that I cleanse myself from all the garbage in this world, it'd be like asking
me, you know, it'd be like if I got the big pay rates,
you know, and I started eating at nice restaurants all the time. And then you ask me,
you ask me, Pastor Anderson, do you ever miss
the Burger King where you used to eat? I mean, do you ever miss the Happy Meal?
It's like, no? By the way, I hate fast food.
I don't know, does everybody here probably like fast food? I hate fast food.
The one thing I hate about that drive, you know, from here to Riverside,
is that there's no good food on the way. Like there's one place, Blythe, right?
You stop in Blythe, and it's like Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken,
or McDonald's. It's not in our Arby's, and they're all right there on what, Lufkin Boulevard
or whatever. And it's like, I can never find any good food on that trip.
And I just hate junk food. I hate fast food. But you know what?
Some of you are eating junk food. It's like, why don't you come with me to a nice restaurant?
It's called the Bible. Turn off the junk food of the television. Turn off the junk food
of your rock music. It's junk. It tastes good, like
if that's all you've ever eaten, it tastes good. I grew up on junk food.
I'll tell you that right now. I grew up eating so much fast food, I grew up eating
out of a can and out of a box. Box macaroni and cheese,
raviolis, Campbell's. That was my life.
And when we went out to eat, it was Taco Bell and Burger King.
We went to nice restaurants too, but I was so used to that steady diet of junk food
that I loved it. I mean, I used to love nothing more for breakfast.
You know, Chris Sandwich and hash browns and orange juice. I was like, yeah, this is living.
But I'll tell you something, now it makes me sick to even think about it.
Because I've got my lovely wife here in the front row.
She cooks, she's from Germany, and she cooks all this great food
from scratch. And boy, if you get on that steady diet of eating from scratch,
Burger King does not taste the same anymore. Let's face it.
That was the best thing, was just getting married
and getting on some good food. But I'll tell you something, that's the way it is with
Christianity. You know, the world offers all this junk food.
That they call entertainment. That they call, you know, fun.
That they call life. And it's garbage. But when that's all
you've had, you know, you think it tastes good until you try something that's a little bit better.
Until you try something that maybe at first it doesn't seem as exciting,
but once you bite into it and taste it, you'll see that it tastes a lot better.
And you'll never want to go back to Happy Meal. You won't be back at Arby's.
You won't be back at Five for Five. You won't be back at Two for Tuesdays.
Hey, you'll be eating the homemade, good home cooking
from God's Word. And the Christian life of something that gives you lasting
nutrition. And it won't destroy your life. It's called living for God.
But number two,
not only must we be sanctified in our personal lives, I mean holiness,
I mean set apart to God completely. But not only that, but
the house of God, the church, needs to be sanctified.
Look if you would at Second Chronicles, chapter number 29, the book of Second
Chronicles is the Old Testament. First and Second Samuel,
First and Second Kings, and then First and Second Chronicles. Look at Second Chronicles
29-5.
Second Chronicles 29-5, the Bible
reads, and said unto them, Hear me,
look at verse four actually, I'm sorry. And he brought in the priests and the Levites,
these are the religious people, the preachers in the Old Testament. And he brought in the
priests and the Levites and gathered them together into each street and said unto them, Hear me
ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves,
and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers.
And carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place,
for our fathers have trespassed and done that which was evil in the eyes of the
Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their
faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs.
You see, God is saying here that not only do you need
to sanctify yourself, and set apart yourself to God, but he said also
I want the house of God to be set apart. Now we know in the New Testament from
the book of 2 Timothy, or actually 1 Timothy 3,
where he says,
he says that thou mayest
know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the
church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. So in the New Testament
God says the house of God, not the temple of the Old Testament, but he says in the New Testament
the house of God is the church, the local church. I mean that's this right here. The congregation,
the assembly of people that we're sitting in right now, this local church, and God says
not only do I want you personally to be sanctified, but he says I want my house
to be sanctified. Well how is it going to get sanctified? Well he says right here
sanctify now yourselves and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, verse 5
and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place
for our fathers have trespassed and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God.
See look, just because the previous generation had something in the house of God
doesn't mean I'm going to have it in the house of God. Do you hear me?
You say well, when I was growing up, you know, this is what we
used to sang, you know, and they got all this liberal music. Look, just because
music is old doesn't make it right. Did you know that? We're living in a day where
people have all this rock music in churches and all the worldly garbage. So
they'll go back like 50 years and they'll take the world's music from like
50 years ago and then they'll bring it in the house of God and it sounds so different than
today's rock music, people will think it's holy, they'll think it's right music. Hey, just because something's old
doesn't mean it's wrong. Hey, our fathers have trespassed and I'll tell you something
a lot of the stuff that I was taught as an independent fundamental Baptist is wrong
because it's liberal, it's watered down, it's music that's straight out of the world
you know, these guys will get up and sing and they sound straight like a 50's, you know
barbershop quartet or whatever and they say well
see, this is godly music. No, it's worldly music from 50 years ago
this is godly music singing the hymns of the faith. Congregational singing
the right kind of music straight out of the old hymnal blessed assurance
Jesus is mine, oh what a foretaste of glory divine, that's my music
and I don't care what grandpa and grandma listen to, I want to sing
the right kind of music that God condones that's not from the world but
it's of the father and so holiness is something that needs to permeate
the house of God. What do I mean? Well, when you come into church it should be
totally different than the world. Look if you would at the book of Leviticus
third book of the Bible
look at Leviticus chapter number 10
and I'm going to show you this Leviticus chapter 10, remember this is that boring book that
you know, you don't want to read, it's like you read Genesis and Exodus and it's like
let's skip to 1 Samuel, let's just get back to the action
there's a lot of good stuff in the Bible, everywhere, so look at Leviticus chapter 10
and look at verse number 10, and that you may put a difference, this is where God
explains to us what he means by holiness in the house of God, and that you may put difference
between holy and unholy, and between unclean and
clean, and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes
which the Lord has spoken unto them by the hand of Moses, he says here's how
I define holiness in the house of God, how does he define holiness in our personal lives?
He says it's when you're totally set apart to God, I mean your life is just consumed
by the Bible and the things of God, but he says here's how I define holiness
in the house of God, I define it as putting a difference between
the holy and the unholy, and a difference between the clean and the unclean
look, there ought to be a difference between the music that's in this church and any music that's
sung in the world, you shouldn't walk in and hear this
you know, and people are jamming and jiving for Jesus on the
platform and wiggling and wailing and everything like that, hey, there ought to be
a difference, do you think anybody confused the music this morning with the world's music?
Do you think if somebody was walking by they'd think that we might be having a rock concert
in here, you know when we sing these songs, there's no way, because there's a difference
there ought to be a difference between the way that we dress
and the way that people were dressed at Walmart last night, when I was there
you know, when I saw, literally I saw somebody I could not tell
if it was a man or a woman, and I mean I stared at them for like 45 seconds
trying to figure it out, I still haven't figured it out, I still don't know what it was, hey
there ought to be a difference, why don't you dress, if you're a woman, hey dress like a woman
what in the world would be wrong with wearing a skirt and a dress and looking
feminine and pretty and decent, and not wearing your jeans
you know, and your overalls, and dressing like a man
huh, why don't you make a difference, and why don't you come in here
looking different than the world, hey why don't you live everywhere
looking different than the world, why don't you put a difference between what's holy and unholy
and hey, why don't you put a difference between male and female, wouldn't that be great
and men, hey, I'm glad you guys are dressed like men
I'm glad you're dressed, hey, dress like a man, okay, don't be one of these guys
with all the little tailored shirts, you know, you see these guys that have tailored shirts
like that go in right here, like they have curves like a woman or something
I mean it's disgusting to me, you know these little tight fitting shirts
and they got their like tight fitting shirt, kind of untouched, and they have little tight pants
on, they walk like this, hey that's disgusting, hey if you're not a queer then why don't you
not dress like a queer, huh, and you know what, I don't give these people the benefit of the doubt
if I see a guy dressed like a sodomite, I just assume that he's a sodomite, if I see a guy that's dressed
like a faggot, I'm just going to assume that he's a faggot, I'll say to her, I can't believe you're talking
like that, hey I can't believe that the whole world has accepted something
that everybody in the world thought was filthy and ungodly 50 years ago
that the United States government said was against the law, they said you're insane
you need to be put in a straight jacket if you're a homosexual, that's what
everybody believed 50 years ago, it was against the law, you go to the nut house
you go to jail, now they're going to put me in the nut house for preaching that, huh
yeah, exactly, don't tell me I'm crazy, this world we're living in
is crazy, I drove into Phoenix on I-10 the other day, I saw a filthy billboard
I'm not even going to describe to you what was on this homosexual billboard
on the way into Phoenix on I-10 westbound
hey, we're living in a day where the foundations are being destroyed around us
we're living in a day where filth abounds, and somebody
is going to stand up and say, I'm sick of it, and I'm going to fight it
and I'm going to preach against it, and I'm going to cry on spare not
and you say, you know people aren't going to like it, people are going to think you're crazy, hey God knows
I'm not crazy, God knows I'm telling the truth, and if you read this book you know that
I'm telling the truth, do you know that if I got up and preached and screamed and yelled
I could not even express to you what this book expresses
about that sin of homosexuality, and that's not popular, and it's not being preached
well, I'll tell you why it's not being preached, look back at your scripture there
look at verse number 11, Leviticus 10, 11
you say, man, Sunday morning, that's how you preach, yeah, that's how it becomes, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night
glory to God, look at Leviticus chapter 10
verse number 11, and that you may teach the children of Israel
he's talking to a preacher here, he's talking to me, and that you may teach
the children of Israel all the statutes
which the Lord has spoken unto them by the hand of Moses, now let me ask you
something, is there anything in this book that God has commanded, even a
statute, now a statute is like a minor law, is there anything
that's in this book that God tells me that I shouldn't preach on Sunday morning because it's going to offend
people, no, he said get up and teach the children of Israel
all my statutes, all of it, and I'm going to tell you something
I decided when I started this church, I made the decision that I was
not going to hold anything back, I decided that everything that this Bible
teaches that I've read and seen and believed, because it's just straight out of the Bible
I decided that I will preach all of it, and I don't care if it's against
the law to preach it, I don't care if somebody hates me for preaching it
I don't care if people get up and walk out while I'm preaching it, hey
go ahead, I don't care, because I've decided that
I only care what one person thinks, and that's Jesus Christ
I'm talking about God in the flesh who died on the cross for me and shed his blood for me and wrote a book
and he said, what you hear in the ear, that preached upon the house
tops, he says what I tell you in darkness, that speak in light
he says that thing that you read in the Bible, Pastor Anderson, that you've never heard
preached, because nobody wants to talk about it, because it's not popular, that thing that you heard whispered
in your ear from the Holy Spirit when you were reading the word of God, he says, get up and preach
it from the house tops my friend, and I'll tell you something, if the churches
in America, and I'm not even talking about churches that don't agree with me
I'm talking about churches that agree with what I just preached, if every church in America
that agrees with what I just preached, that homosexuality is a sin, abomination
it's sick, it's out of hell, if only those churches
were to get up and preach against it, they'd be in the closet friend
I'm telling you that, I'm just talking about the people that believe like I believe
if they would not be so scared, and such a pansy, and so controlled
by money of the people in the congregation, if they would just get up and say
I'm going to preach the word of God, unadulterated, unfiltered
uncensored, then I'll tell you something, this nation would be a whole lot
different than it is, I had a pastor call me up and say
hey I'm so glad you started a church, here things are going
great, hearing about some of the results and everything, and praise the Lord, he said
you're doing better than I was when I started my church, and this is a very successful guy, so I encouraged me
I said hey great, maybe I can have success like you've had, and he's telling me
hey can I give you a little advice? Sure, he said
you know this fire that you handed out here, he said
you might want to tone that down, you might want to trim that down a little bit
he said you're going to offend people, he's like you've got to tone
this doctrinal statement down, he's like you can't do that, he's like I mean it's great
that you believe that, he said I believe it, he said you can't go around telling people you believe that
he said people aren't going to come to your church, and I'm thinking to myself
well you know what, maybe you're right
maybe because 99% of independent fundamental baptismists are afraid
to say what they believe, even though they believe the same things I do
just like you do, maybe because 99% of them are afraid to believe it
and so I look like I'm some kind of fanatic, because I say I believe it
because everybody else is afraid to say they believe it
maybe if everybody was just open and said this is what I believe
this is what the bible says, this is the way it is
then maybe it wouldn't seem so weird because there would be one in every town in America
I guarantee you there's a church in every town in America that believes what I'm preaching this morning
but they're just not saying it, they're just not telling anybody, they're just quiet
and scared, and so the queers man, they're marching down the street
dressed in drag, filthy as all get out
and they're crying aloud while a bunch of pansy, sissified
liberal, independent fundamental baptist preachers won't stand up
and call a spade a spade, that's what's wrong, that's what's wrong in our churches
and then what happens? The godly, righteous preacher who
loves the bible and believes what I'm preaching right now, but he wouldn't say it on a sunny morning, didn't want to offend people
well one day he's going to pass on to be with the lord
and what's going to happen? All his people that weren't taught, right, that didn't have it
just clearly explained to them, they're going to grow up, they're going to call some sissy
preacher in there, and then the whole church is going to go liberal, and that's what's happening
that's what's going on in America, that's why we're losing the battle my friend
that's why every day in the news there's just some way that we're losing the battle in this country
for morality, we're losing the battle for the family, we're losing the battle for righteousness
because, hey you know what, I'll tell you one thing
it's not my fault, I'll tell you that right now, it's not my fault
because I'm preaching it, and if I'm the only one that's preaching it
hey, it's not my fault that it's going to hell, and I'll tell you something
let's say people read this and they don't come, well first of all they'll keep all the perverts
and the weirdos out, praise god, because I don't want them around my kids
I want to keep them out, but not only that, but think about it, even if somebody doesn't come from this
I've handed out 15,000 of these things
well then, everybody who got this on their door, they got something
I'll tell you, you know what I mean, even if they never came to church, they got a whole sermon right here
and maybe they can stop and realize that
not everybody has bowed down to the golden calf, not everybody has sold out
not everybody has given in to the pressures of the world
not everybody has been brainwashed by a television that's forcing homosexuality on them
every day, every day, every day, in your face, in your face
look at it, look at it, look at it, hey, not everybody's bowed down, and maybe they'll be emboldened
to stand up and say, I will also fight for what is right
I will also fight for what is good, and you say, that's wrong, that's hate
hey, it's not hate, it's not hate to fight the sodomites
because the sodomites are the ones that, there was one in Tempe in this town who just got arrested
this week for molesting little boys, just this week, I saw it on the news
in this town, and Tempe's not that big, just got arrested this week for molesting
little boys at the public school, hey look, the hate is what
lets that guy run rampant, when he was accused of it in 1999, they had all the evidence
in 1999, slap on the wrist, didn't put him in jail
was not filed criminal charges, this is, I don't know, did you see this in the news, or no
they didn't file criminal charges against this guy, they did not
all they did was they moved him around, you know, like he couldn't be the principal anymore
they put a mic over here, some counselor, somewhere, you know, they moved him
around, no punishment, no jail time, when they knew
that the evidence was there, all these different people are saying he's having
filthy conversations with these little boys, and they just, oh you know
whatever, and then here he is, molesting little boys
ruining their lives, damaging them psychologically
forever, screwing up their minds forever, and now
he's in jail, and you know what the guy said, the piece of trash
whoever the government official, I wish I knew his name so I could drag it in the mud, you know what he said
I'm so surprised, I'm shocked
it's like dude I can look at the guy's picture and tell he's a pervert, he's accused
of it, I'll tell me you're shocked, but we live in this society
where tolerance has been exalted above
protecting young people
it happens all the time friend, and if you don't believe that, you're just lying to yourself
these sodomites are not reproducers, they're recruiters, and they want your kids
they want to recruit them and turn them into a pervert, they tried to recruit me when I was in school
they tried to recruit my friends, I watched them recruit people in school
and I'm going to tell you something, that's what they're about, and that's what the Bible says they're about
you say I don't like that kind of preaching, then go find a church that doesn't preach that way
you can find one anywhere, I can blindfold myself
and just point any direction I want, and there it is, there's the church who doesn't preach against
homosexuality, there's the church where the pastor is afraid to preach on sin
there's the church where the pastor will not get up and yell about what's right and what's wrong
find it wherever you want, and so what I mean by the
church being sanctified and holy is that it's a church where there's a difference between
what's right and wrong, and it's a church where there's a difference
between what's right and wrong because the pastor is not afraid to preach on every statute
that God has commanded, that's what he said, he said teach them
every little statute that you find in this Bible
controversial? Doesn't matter, just teach it if it's in the Bible
and so I've got to teach the whole Bible, and so number two
the house of God must be sanctified and holy, but number three
holiness is necessary if we really want to see God's
miraculous power, look if you would at the book of Joshua, verse number three
it's the sixth book in the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers
Deuteronomy, and then Joshua
Joshua chapter number three, you see there's more to life my friend
than just seeing how many people I can pack into this church, now I want this
church to grow as big as we can, hey praise God, I want this place to be jam packed, get a big building
pack that thing out, but there's more to life than just packing
out a building, it's called getting people saved, it's called getting people baptized
and it's called being right with God and preaching on holiness
and you know we're not doing ourselves a favor by dipping our sails so that we can get a bigger crowd
hey the crowd will come, hey you just got to wait a little while
but I'm going to tell you something, if we dip our sails then my kids are going to know that
I'm a hypocrite who doesn't preach what he believes in the home, because look
do you think my kids know what I believe? They live with me, they know what I believe
and if I got up and preached something that's lighter duty than what these kids know
that I believe in my personal home, they're going to know that daddy's a hypocrite, and a phony
and a compromiser, and so these three kids are going to turn out right
because I'm going to make sure that I'm real in the pulpit
and real at home, and if that means that some
Jackson Christian leaves, hey don't let the door hit you on the way out
but let's turn to Joshua 3, look at verse number 5
and the Bible reads, and Joshua said unto the people, sanctify yourselves
for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you, wonders means miracles
an old word for that, sanctify yourselves
for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you, and Joshua spake unto the priest
saying, take up the ark of the covenant and pass over before the people
they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people, and the Lord said unto Joshua
this day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that
as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee
and thou shall command the priest to bear the ark of the covenant, saying, when ye are come
to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan
and Joshua said unto the children of Israel, come hither and hear the words of the Lord your God
and Joshua said, hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you
and that he will, without fail, drive out from before you
the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Gerasites, and the Amorites
and the Jebusites, behold the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth
passeth over before you into Jordan, and so what God
is saying here is, I want to do something great among you
and of course this is right before they cross the Jordan River, they're going to put their feet in the water of the Jordan River
and the Jordan River is going to park before them, and they're going to walk across into the promised land
and he says, I'm about to do something big, that's what God is saying
I'm about to do these wonders among you, and he says, I want you to know that I'm with you
he says, I want you to know that I'm going to be with you
but, I need you to sanctify yourself
so that I can do what I want to do, he said, I'm not going to be able to do
as miraculous of a work here, I'm not going to be able to show you that I'm with you
I'm not going to be able to show you the mighty power of God until you've sanctified yourself
until you've sanctified yourself, and then you've set yourself apart
this is what we were talking about earlier in the sermon, is why we don't see sometimes the power of God
look, I've seen the power of God, my friend
I can tell you about it, I can tell you about the times where God has showed his mighty power
I'm not talking about some experience where there's a light filled the room and I fell on the ground
I'm talking about where God did the impossible
and God changed somebody's life that was just too far gone
and now they're living for God, I can tell you about the hard cases that God saved
I can tell you about just the great things that I've seen in my life
but, the way that we're going to see that on mass
is when we've sanctified ourselves, that's why it's so vital
that we've set apart ourselves, look at 2 Timothy 3
it's toward the end of your New Testament
and I know we're turning to a lot of Bible, but you know the Bible's powerful, it's more powerful than anything that I could say
but I want to show you what God says, 2 Timothy 3
this is talking about the day that we live in, the Bible says in 2 Timothy 3
this know also that in the last days perilous times shall come
he's talking about dangerous times that we're living in
for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, that means they want everybody else's stuff
boasters, proud, blasphemers
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy
you see the last thing in the list there, in that list, he's emphasizing
unholy is what they are, and he says without natural affection
truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent fears, despisers
of those that are good, traitors, heavy, high minded
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of
godliness, but denying the power thereof from such turnaways
see that's what I'm talking about, when you live an unholy life
you don't live a life that's fully set apart to God 100%
where you say I'm going to give it all to God, God's going to be in all my thoughts
and then I'm going to make a difference between what's clean and unclean, he says
you don't have the power of God, and so instead of admitting
hey I don't have the power of God because I'm unholy, because I'm liberal
he says no, this is what they say, they have a form of godliness that they deny the power thereof
from such turnaways, he says this is what they'll say, well the power of God is not available
it was just back then that God did big things, it was just back then that multitudes got saved
it was just back then that multitudes got baptized, it was only back then
that God could really work and do a miracle and part the Jordan River
hey, the reason that they say that, the reason that they deny the power of God is because they're unholy
that's why they're not seeing the power, because he said if you want me to do wonders
among you tomorrow Joshua, then I want you to sanctify yourself today
and I'll do the wonders tomorrow, you see that? You must sanctify yourself
in order to see the great power of God, hey this church, I want it to be different
I want us to be different, I know you want to be different, don't you?
than just everybody else in the world, you know we talk about music and clothing, but what about
is your love different than the world's kind of love?
I mean is your love a kind of shallow love like the world has
where you're friends with somebody and then as soon as you need something
they turn their back on you, you know what I'm talking about? Have you ever had friends like that?
When I think about the friends that I've had in the world, they were my best friends
and just as soon as it wasn't advantageous for them to be my friend anymore, they're God
Hey, is your love different than the world's love?
Do you have a sanctified kind of love that says, hey look, I love my brother
I love my sister in Christ, no matter what
no matter what happens, I'm going to stay loving God's people
What about your friendship? Do you have this kind of friendship that the world has
where it's just, whoever is fun to be around
that's my friend. Whoever has something to offer me, that's my friend
Hey, why don't you be a friend to somebody because you can help them? Because you can express
and show them the love of Christ by being their friend. Hey, the world doesn't know anything about that
Let's face it, the world knows nothing about that
But is your friendship a kind of sanctified friendship? A holy kind of friendship that's different
than the friends that the world has, but you're a real friend
You're closer than a brother, like the Bible says you ought to be
Just thinking about just the spirit that's in this church
And when I say spirit, I'm not talking about the holy spirit, I'm talking about just the attitude
the spirit that's in this church. You know, when you walk in this door, do you have an arrogant
prideful attitude? Or do you have an attitude of humility saying
I'm not better than everybody else here. I mean, we're all just brothers and sisters
in Christ. We all love God. Maybe, you know, we're all at different stages
of growth, maybe, you know, so, hey, there were times when all of us were
very far from God. I mean, there have always been times when we were
when we were not living right. When we were involved in all this sin
I mean, there was a time when I ate, breathed, and sleep rock music
It wasn't the Bible. It was all the rock bands that I listened to
And that was after I was saved. That was after I'd been saved for years
And so, don't have this spirit and this attitude
that lifts you up above other people. Hey, look, come to church with a spirit
of meekness and humility. Come to church with love for other people
where you want to put other people before you, where you want to do what it takes to make them
succeed, even if you have to fail. And you say, other people
are more important than I am. I'm not better than anybody else. We're all going
the same direction. Some of us are at different points along that way, but we all love God
we all love each other, and we're all going the same direction. Hey, you're not going to find that in the world
You won't find it. You'll find that attitude maybe superficially
but it's not real. You ought to find that attitude only
in a local church like this. I mean, that's where it should be found. Where you could come
and feel accepted and loved, and you could find a place where you can
grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You say, wait a minute, Pastor
I didn't know you were talking about love, and you were just screaming and yelling about sin
and it's wicked and gone and gone. Hey, look, that is love. Because love is when
I preach you the truth, and I tell you what the Bible says, and hey
that doesn't mean I'm going to control your life or something. You know, that doesn't mean that
I hate you or don't like you, or hey, I love you. That's why I'm preaching the truth to you
and this is an environment where you could come, though, and you could grow at your own level
You understand what I'm saying by that? And don't get an attitude
like the world has that's so pompous and arrogant and proud
See, that's in the list here. Proud boasters, covetous, blasphemers
That's the way the world is. Don't be that way. Be set apart, be sanctified
Be holy. Do you understand? I hope that this sermon
has helped you to understand what holiness is. This is what holiness is, just to wrap it up quickly
Number one, it's where you've set apart yourself to God
You've dedicated yourself 100% to God. Number two, it's where you put a difference
between what's clean and what's not clean, what's right and what's wrong
And number three is where you have different attributes
of yourself than Joe Blowout in the world
Because you don't want to be like that. You want to be holy before God. You want to be set apart
You want to be like God. And you want to have God's kind of love. You want to have God's kind of friendship
You want to have God's kind of attitude about you. You want to have God's kind of humility
That's what holiness is. It doesn't mean that you walk in
like the Pope
The Pope who lets people worship him like he's God, when he's a man
Not like the Pope who stands up there and just exalts himself
lifts himself up, proudly, having people bow down
and worship a man on earth. He calls himself the vicar of Christ on earth
like he's the substitute for Jesus Christ on this earth. No.
That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about an attitude. That's not holiness.
The Holy Father is what they call him. That's blasphemy. It's ungodly.
The Bible says call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father which is in heaven
Call anybody rabbi. We learned about this on Wednesday night. Call anybody rabbi
Call people master. Call people father. He says you've got one father
His name is Jesus Christ, the everlasting father, Isaiah 9-6
And so I'm not talking about holiness like the world thinks of holiness
Where it's somebody who's just above sin and they speak for God
and people worship him. It's not holiness. Holiness is where you say
I'm just going to set apart myself to God. I'm not perfect, but what I do have
is I'm going to make a difference between right and wrong. My music is going to be different
than the world's music. My attitude and everything is going to be different than the world.
I'm going to give it 100% to God. Why?
Because it's my reasonable service. God has done so much for me.
That's the least I could do for him. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
God, thank you so much for the sermon this morning, dear God
Just the Bible. I mean, pretty much the sermon was just a lot of Bible
says, dear God. And Father, I just pray that you would help
those that are here to understand my heart, dear God, and understand
what the message is about. Sometimes
the truth seems a little bit radical because a lot of people aren't telling the truth.
But God, it's the same truth that it's always been, the same Bible.