We were talking about purification of the servants of the Lord in the last few messages. We read in Psalm 24:3-4: “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.
If we are born again we are made righteous in Christ, but then we have a choice whether we desire to be holy and set aside for the Lord. It is easy to go to church and for the remainder live like we please, but if we want to see God we need to be sanctified, for “without holiness no one will see the Lord,” (Hebrews 12:14). “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it,” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).
We don’t have to wait for heaven to ‘see God’. We can also see Him in our daily walk, for if we obey Him and live holy He will reveal Himself to us and talk with us. This is why Christian life is not easy and why only a few will find the narrow way. The sinful nature and temptations to sin constantly attempt to take our holiness away from us. The Lord is the purifier who does the sanctification, but He only works with willing people who are prepared to “continue to work out [their] own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose,” (Philippians 2:12-13).
On the narrow road (Matthew 7:13-14) is only room for us and the Lord. There is no room for Mammon and all kinds of idols, and therefore the Lord is available to those who need help to get rid of these idols. Idols are anything that demands the attention that belongs to the Lord and it includes the sin of the body. We easily argue that ‘innocent’ ungodly entertainment does no harm, but it usually slowly leads to more time dedicated to idols until the Lord is only a ‘tag-along’ entity.
I, like most sincere Christians, have a thorn in my flesh as Paul mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12:7: “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” Whenever I allow my sinful nature to respond to it, the Lord’s discipline gets into action immediately (Hebrews 12:4-12 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%2012:4-12&version=NIV1984). In the past I still got away for a while before I was gently guided back to holiness, but now the Lord doesn’t tolerate impurity anymore. Temptation sets a trap for me and when I yield to it, my carnal nature enjoys it and the lie tells me it is not that bad, but soon I experience the consequences and then regret that I yielded to my sinful nature. I therefore avoid the sinful nature at all cost. I know people who constantly fight idols, but find it difficult to surrender completely to the Lord through spending time with Him in the Word, in prayer and in fellowship with the saints. As long as they allow the circumstances of life to keep them too busy to be dedicated to the Lord through Word and prayer, they will have no power over idols and will struggle against sin all the time.
I have found that complete peace only comes with complete holiness – having nothing to do with God’s enemies; idols among which Mammon is the most deceptive.
Mammon is an idol that presents money and materialism as a source of fulfilment. All of us need to live a decent life with all our needs met, but the moment money and the need to impress people with it becomes important, it becomes an idol. Money should be a means to meet our essential needs and for the remainder to bless God’s Kingdom. The Lord, the sanctifier, will give us wisdom how to deal with Mammon if we are serious about being holy.
Lord, please sanctify me so I can be holy and see you.
Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.
Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.
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