Turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Last week we considered the fear of the Lord in the book of Proverbs and I thought this would be a good message to follow up that particular topic or that particular theme in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 1 which goes with the preceding context. He says, therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. So we're looking at this same theme, but in this letter of Paul to the Corinthians.

And I just will pick up reading in chapter 6 at verse 11. He says, O Corinthians, we have spoken openly to you. Our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.

Now in return for the same, I speak as to children, you also be open. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.

As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you.

I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Father, we just pray now for your spirit to be at work in our hearts and lives. We pray again for a fresh application of the blood of Christ. God, as we read a passage like this, I suspect we're all found out. I suspect we're all convicted.

And Father, we just look to you to forgive us and to enable us to go from this place, resolve to serve you, resolve to put passages like these into effect in our daily lives. And we would just pray now that in all of this, you would be glorified. And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, we see there very specifically the command or a duty given in chapter seven, verse one. But before we look at that particular duty, we need to consider what he says at the very beginning. He says, therefore, having these promises, beloved, he doesn't just give this naked command or he doesn't just come out of the chute and say, this is the way I want you to live.

Gospel Foundation for Holiness

Christianity isn't simply behavior modification. Christianity isn't simply not doing bad things. Now, that's certainly a part of it. But we seek to not do bad things based on what God the Lord has done in us.

There's a dynamic involved in Christianity. The idea is very simple. We come by God's grace to the Lord Jesus Christ. He forgives us of our sins and he gives us a perfect righteousness that avails with God.

That doctrine, as we hopefully know now, is called justification. And then after we're justified freely by his grace, he calls us to live. the Christian life, which we might call sanctification. That means to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. It means to live in light of 2 Corinthians chapter 7, to cleanse ourselves from all the filthiness of the flesh and spirit, to perfect holiness in the sight or in the fear of God.

But brethren, what we often fall into is trying to do the duty without having first come to the Savior, trying to live the Christian life without having first believed the Christian gospel. We try to be better people. We try to be not as bad, but we try and do it in our own power and in our own strength. And thus, when we make some success, we take all the credit.

If we fail miserably, then we stand condemned. But it's the virtue of Christ that needs to be remembered. That's why He says, therefore, having these promises, beloved, consider the Gospel. Consider the truth.

Consider the fact that God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Consider that reality as you live your daily lives. In other words, live a cross-centered life. Never stray.

Never go away from. Never try to undertake in your own strength. Never try to kill a particular sin or to put on a particular virtue by the fact of your own ability. No, everything we have, everything we are is connected to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember, in the vineyard, Jesus said to his disciples, apart from me, you can do nothing. You can't justify yourself. You can't save yourself. But as well, you can't make yourself holy.

You can't sanctify yourself. In another place, Paul tells us we're to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Don't miss the particulars there. He says, work it out.

We can only work out what God has placed in there graciously. He doesn't say work for your salvation. He says rather, work it out. And then he says, for it is God who is at work in you. both to will and to do according to his good pleasure.

So before we look at the necessary pursuit of verse one in chapter seven, we should look at these foundational promises. Again, God is gracious. He calls us to consider his mercy. He calls us to consider his goodness.

He calls us to consider what he has done for us in the person and work of our Lord Jesus. It's on that foundation, that gospel foundation, that we then live the Christian life.

The Three Gospel Promises

So notice these promises. It comes in the context where the apostle is charging the Corinthians to be godly. I mean, Corinth was one of those cities in the ancient world that was pretty messed up. They made a verb out of Corinth.

They called it to Corinthianize. And what they engaged in was sexual immorality. In fact, you can get a bit of the backdrop of what this church looked like in 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians 6 at verse 9. He says, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. What he says, what he goes on to say, and such were some of you. That's what the church in Corinth was made up of. Remember a few weeks ago, I said the thing that binds us together is the fact that we're sinners.

That's our commonality. That's how we roll. That's how we are united together. By virtue of the fact that in Adam all died, by God's grace in Christ we shall be made alive.

This church was, to use the vernacular, jacked up. They were made up of wicked people. saved by the powerful blood of the Lord Jesus. He says, but are such were some of you, but you were washed, you were justified, you were sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. So when he comes to second Corinthians, he has to continually encourage them not to go back to their wickedness.

He asks a series of questions in verses 14 to 16. He makes a statement, verse 14, do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. He's not saying get out of the world. He's not saying don't ever mix with sinners.

He's not saying don't be like Jesus, because Jesus received sinners and ate with them. He's saying don't be unequally yoked. Don't enter into an intimate association. Don't be one with them.

Don't think for a moment that it won't affect you. Don't be unequally yoked when it comes to marriage. Don't be unequally yoked when it comes to other pursuits. Don't be unequally yoked because most of the time it's the evil that pulls you down.

And you're not that godly, you're not that holy, you're not that upright, and you need to watch your soul. He says, for what fellowship is righteousness with lawlessness? What communion has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial?

Probably a name for Satan there. And then he says, or what part is a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said.

And then he sets forth three foundational principles that we need to keep in our minds as we seek to apply Second Corinthians seven, verse one.

Promise One: Communion with God

He highlights first that we have communion with God. Notice the argument, how can you engage in lawlessness? How can you engage in darkness? How can you engage in Satanism?

How can you engage in idolatry when God, the Lord, has promised, I will dwell with them? This is a promise that comes all the way back from Exodus 25, verse 8. You want a good overview of the book of Exodus? Three D's, courtesy of Ralph Davis.

God delivers, God demands, and God dwells. That's the book of Exodus. God delivers in the exodus, God demands in the law 19 to 24 and then God dwells according to chapters 25 to 40. God is carving out a people for himself so that he can be with them, so that he can dwell in their midst. so that he can be a part of their lives, so that they'll live always in the conscious presence of God Most High.

You see, you're supposed to keep that in mind when you pursue holiness. You're supposed to keep that in mind when you're cleansing yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. You're not supposed to do it in your own strength and for your own glory. You're to do it in the strength of God and for the glory of God.

I will dwell in them and I will walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people. One man calls this the Immanuel principle. You know, that name Immanuel that the angel says would be true of Jesus.

His name will be Immanuel, which is translated God with us. It's beautiful in Matthew's gospel. That's how it begins. Introducing God with us.

And then Matthew's gospel ends on the same note. Remember when Jesus said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He says, and, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Immanuel in Matthew 1, Immanuel in Matthew 28, Immanuel by virtue of the fact that he shed his blood on our behalf. That's how God dwells with us. That's how we know him. It's because of what Jesus has accomplished on our behalf.

So you see the apostles argument. He says, therefore, having this promise. Knowing this reality. That God is dwelling with you, that you are the very temple of God itself.

It's moved from that temporary tabernacle. It's moved from the glory of Solomon's temple to the very person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And by virtue of the fact that we're in him, we are called the very temple of God Most High. It's an amazing reality.

That's not it. He goes on.

Promise Two: God Receives Sinners

He speaks of the favor of God. Verse 17. Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean.

That fits the context. Cleanse yourself from all filthiness of the spirit and of the flesh, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Well, what's the last statement that he cites there from the prophet Isaiah? And I will receive you.

Is that amazing? You come away from the lawlessness. You come away from the darkness. You come away from Belial.

You come away from the idol. And what do you find but a God who will receive you? Isn't that amazing? Just be honest, brethren.

In your mind, you think of God this way. Or maybe you don't because you have been freed from this reality. We have this idea. That while we're in the lawlessness, and while we're in the depravity, and while we're with Satan, and while we're in the darkness, and while we're wallowing in the hog pen, while we're engaged in idolatry, we are thinking that if I go back to God, there is no way He'll receive me.

Why? Because I wouldn't receive me. I wouldn't take me back. I'd say go back to your lawlessness.

Go back to Belial. You want to worship and serve idols? Go to your idols. That's not the way God is.

God says, come out from among them, my people, and I will receive you. I will welcome you to myself. One of the best illustrations of this is the parable of the prodigal son. Remember, the young man comes to his father and says, give me my share of the inheritance.

I know you know this story. When do you usually get an inheritance? When your father dies. So this young man is saying, Father, you're better to me dead than alive.

That's horrible. I've got to tell you, I'm not as gracious as that father. If one of my sons said that, I'd probably want to rear back and let him have it. I'm just being honest, brethren.

Everybody that he told that parable to would be thinking the exact same thing. This shameful young man throwing dirt on the name of his father. Give me my share of the inheritance. I'm tired of being under your rule.

I'm tired of being under your reign. I'm tired of living the way you call me to. I'm tired of this arrangement. I'm tired of this situation.

I want to go be like everybody else. Give me my share of the inheritance. What's the father do? He obliges him.

He gives it to him. So what does the young man do? He goes out, he engages in sex, drugs, and rock and roll, basically. He wastes his money.

He blows everything. He's at the point where he needs a job, so he gets hired on as a servant. And he is coveting the food that pigs are eating. Ever seen pig slop?

Can't ever say it's made me hungry. Can't ever say that it's something that I've desired. But of course, I've never been that hungry. He is longing to eat what pigs are eating.

And it says he came to himself. He says, I know what I'll do. I'll go back to my father's house because my father's servants, his day laborers, have it a whole lot better than I do. They're not coveting pig food.

They're at least getting an honest day's wage for an honest day's labor. I'll just go back and cast myself upon His mercy, begging and imploring Him that He takes me on as a hired servant. That's what I'll do. You know the text, brethren.

You know the Scripture. You know Luke 15. It says when the son was a long way off, the father ran to him. That's this God.

I will receive you. The father ran to him. I picture it in my head. An older man in the ancient Near Eastern world probably had to lift up his robe so that he could run without tripping.

Didn't care how dirty he got. Didn't care how undignified he looked. Because of course he would have. Any one of those townspeople would have said, you are making a huge mistake.

That boy took the share of the inheritance. He went out and he wasted it. And you actually are going to run out there and meet him? Now, if it's to beat him up and to castigate him and to throw him out, then go for it.

That's not what the father does. He runs to him and he falls on him and he kisses him and he's rejoicing over him. He's delighted in him. He doesn't care that he smells like pig.

He doesn't care that he reeks. He doesn't care that he's filthy. He's just happy that the son that was lost is now found. The son that was dead is now alive.

And he brings him back to the house and he says to his servants, slay the fatted calf. Let's eat, let's party, let's rejoice. Take a ring and put it on his finger. Get the pig smell off of him and put a robe on him.

Let's rejoice because my son was lost and is now found. Brethren, the same point is being made here. I will receive you. God has received us by Jesus Christ.

God has washed us from the smell of pig. God has washed us from our filth. God has washed us from our sinfulness. God has undertaken on his own behalf to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And then

Promise Three: Fatherhood of God

notice the third promise. He says, the fatherhood of God. I will be a father to you, he says in verse 18, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Why is he spending all this time on this subject?

Because I'm going to tell you, when you go out and try to perfect holiness in the fear of God without thinking about these things, you're going to fail miserably. Or you're going to end up a legalist. You're going to have some degree of external success, and you're going to pat yourself on the back. You're going to say, look how holy I am.

You'll stand out on the street corner, and you'll say, look at how holy I am. Look at how godly I am. When you seek to live like Christ apart from the gospel, the inevitability is failure or legalism. There's no in-between.

You're either going to come to the place of utter despair or you're going to be too satisfied with self and accomplishment and you're not going to be looking to Christ. You're not going to say with Paul, in the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and who gave himself for me. You're going to think, you know, I got this stuff mastered. I know where not to go.

I know what to do. I know how to perform it. No. You need to live in light of the cross.

You need to live in light of the father of the prodigal. You need to live in light of that whole passage in Luke 15. You know why Jesus told that story concerning the prodigal son? It was the third of an answer or a response to certain religious people in his day.

See, the tax collectors and the sinners all gathered to hear Jesus. Do you love that? We meet people who say, I'm so sinful, I shouldn't go to church. You're so sinful, you must go to church.

You're so sinful, you need to go where the scripture is spoken. You need to be under the word. All the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to hear him. Kids, young people, children, I want you to hear this.

I want you to understand Luke 15. You get Luke 15 down, you've got a lot of good theology in your head and hopefully in your heart. It starts off with all these people coming to hear him. Tax collectors and sinners.

Now, we don't like tax collectors in our own day. They're not our favorite people. I doubt that when you send your tax return in, you send a nice little note to the person who's going to review your documents and say, thank you very much for the grand service that you provide here in Canada. But tax collectors in Jesus' day were even lower.

Because usually they were Jews. working for the Roman government, exacting more from other Jews. So, I mean, they had two strikes against them, right? So the Scripture says, all these tax collectors and sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the scribes and the Pharisees, you know what they said?

They said, this man receives sinners and eats with them. They didn't say it in a good way, like, wow, he's such a good man. He receives sinners and eats with them. They weren't extolling his virtue.

They weren't parading his nobility. They were speaking evil against him in their mind. This man receives sinners and eats with them. You know what happened to the ears of all the tax collectors and the sinners?

They were like big radar dishes. They focused on Jesus. What's he going to say? How's he going to respond?

What's going to be his answer to this charge that this man receives sinners and eats with them? What does Jesus say? He says, you bet I do. You better believe I do.

I receive them. I cleanse them. I wash them. I purify them.

And then I set them on a path of conformity to me. I'm like a man who has a hundred sheep. And if one of those sheep leaves, He doesn't just count his losses. He leaves the 99, and he seeks that one sheep.

And he grabs that sheep, and he puts it upon his shoulders, and he goes home rejoicing. He says, I'm like a woman who loses one of her 10 coins. Again, she doesn't count her losses. She moves the furniture.

She gets the broom. She searches for it. When she finds that coin, she rejoices and calls her friends to rejoice with her. And unlike the father of the prodigal, who when he took the share of the inheritance and went and blew it, he runs to him and he falls on him and he kisses him and he puts a ring on his finger.

This man receives sinners and eats with them. Praise God. The psalmist said, even the wrath of man shall praise you. These guys are complaining.

This man receives sinners and eats with them. And they're confessing the Gospel. They're professing the truth. When we come to these promises, brethren, when we see that God dwells with us, when we see that He receives us, when we see that He's our Father, we know it is connected to the cross.

The long and the short of it is,

The Gospel Must Come First

you cannot perfect holiness in the fear of God if you've not first believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. I think the church today is filled with a bunch of people trying to be good, when they've never realized how bad they are and how much they desperately stand in need of the blood of Jesus Christ. The church today is filled with people who all for all external accounts seem to have their act together, but they've never come to Calvary. They have never acknowledged their waywardness before a holy God.

They have never bowed before the Lord of glory. They have never confessed their sin. They have never believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Hear me today.

You cannot live the Christian life apart from the gospel. You cannot engage in Second Corinthians 7.1 without first having these promises. without first knowing God as your God. Without knowing that He has received you through Jesus Christ. Without knowing that He is a Father to you.

How do we know this is the case? The rest of Paul's writings talks about adoption. How did we come into the family of God? It wasn't by our own ingenuity.

It wasn't by our own wisdom. It wasn't by our own perfection. One of the most humbling passages in all of Holy Scripture is Ephesians 1, 3-14. It's one long sentence, and Paul begins it this way.

He says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. And then he says, first of all, just as He, the Father, chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless, in love, having predestinated us unto adoption as sons. We've come into the family of God again, not by our law keeping, not by our merit, not because we cleaned up our act. That thought is out there, I got to get right and then I'll go to the Lord Jesus.

You can't. It's Jesus that makes man right. It's a beautiful passage in Jeremiah 3, where God, through the prophet, is calling Israel, yet return to me, says the Lord. Yet return to me, says the Lord.

Yet return to me, says the Lord. He keeps saying that. And then he says, return, and I will heal your backsliding. See, the common and devilish logic is, I've got to clean myself up before I go to Jesus.

That's not the scripture. That's not the gospel. Gospel logic is go to Jesus and he'll clean you up. That's his job.

That's what he's about. You shall call his name Jesus. Jesus means Jehovah is salvation. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he and he alone that will save his people from their sins.

He doesn't save you because you cleaned up. He doesn't save you because you did something. He doesn't save you because you performed well. He doesn't save you because you've gone out in the spirit of 2 Corinthians 7.1 and you've cleansed yourself.

He doesn't save you as a result of those things. He saves you by grace alone, in order to those things, for those things. So the gospel of Christ is crucial. That is verse one of chapter seven.

Therefore, having these promises. You need to know Jesus as Lord and Savior before you can engage in a pursuit of holiness. I mean, it just makes sense, doesn't it? Luther says we don't have an apple and then get a tree.

You don't have a bunch of apples and then a tree pops up. It's completely backward. You have a tree that grows apples. How do we get an apple tree?

By coming to the Lord Jesus, by believing the gospel. by believing that God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And now, as a result of God's grace, as a result of gospel blessing, as a result of these promises, now you can produce fruit. Now you can go out and live like a Christian.

Now you can pursue holiness.

The Duty: Cleansing Flesh and Spirit

And that brings us to consider verse one. He says, let us cleanse ourselves. And again, the idea there is not atonement. It's not by doing this we are making ourselves fit for heaven.

I think the idea in this cleansing ourselves from all filthiness is the idea of putting off sin. putting off on righteousness, not engaging in the very things he's already condemned, lawlessness, darkness, Satan and idolatry. Now, we might desire those things to be filled in with more detail, but lawlessness is pretty easy to understand. What's the law of God? The Ten Commandments.

Lawlessness means we disobey. We reject. We rebel against those things. So the apostle is saying, based on the gospel truth, based on the reality that you've been saved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh, which includes lawlessness.

Don't break the commandments. Don't sin against God. Don't commit adultery. Don't steal.

Don't lie. Don't cheat. Don't blaspheme God. Don't dishonor your father and your mother.

Cling yourself from all filthiness of the flesh. It's talking about the outward man. It should be very peculiar and very particular for this group in Corinth. Remember back in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, he says, there's a morality existing among you that isn't even true of the pagan.

It's actually reported among you that one of you has your father's wife. See, that's bad, but the worst part of it is the church was arrogant about it. The church knew about it. Maybe they thought this was their freedom in Jesus.

No, he says, cleanse yourself from all filthiness of the flesh. Put off sin. Remember, Jesus used the language of plucking out eyes and cutting off hands. Origen, the church father, took that seriously.

He had himself castrated. He said he wouldn't offend. Clock out eyes and cut off hands. Because it's better to enter into life maimed, it's better to enter into life lame, than having your whole body entering into hell.

You see, God is calling us to pursue holiness externally. At the outer man, we are to avoid lawlessness, darkness, Satan and idolatry.

Holiness of the Inward Man

But he doesn't stop there because we can fall into an externalism. We can get into this idea that I didn't go there and I didn't do that and I didn't do that. But you wanted to. You desired it.

Sure, you haven't actually visited a prostitute, but if you are mentally engaged in that activity, Jesus says you're guilty. Whoever looks upon a woman, the lost has already broken the commandment in his heart. That's what Paul says. Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.

It's talking about the whole man. You see, it's not enough just to say, yes, God, but in your heart be opposed. How many of you parents accept that sort of obedience at all? Your kid picks up what you tell him to pick up and he's got this face.

Wait a minute there, camper. We need to talk. That's not obedience. Just because you're externally going through the motions does not mean that you are obeying.

That doesn't mean they've got to do a backflip and sing while they're picking up whatever it is they're picking up. Of course, it would be nice, children, to show us you mean business. You see, Paul is concerned with the whole man. It's not enough that you come to church.

It's not enough that you read your Bible. It's not enough that sermonaudio.com is your favorite link. We need to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. We need to be about the things of God externally and internally.

It's not enough not to just go out and take a gun and shoot somebody. We need to guard our hearts against unrighteous anger. It's not enough, brethren, just to go through the motions. Paul says, based on the reality that Jesus has redeemed you, having these promises, you need to pursue holiness, body and soul.

This is his argument back in 1 Corinthians. Remember, the people there are prone to lie with prostitutes. I'm making this up. It's right there in 1 Corinthians.

What does Paul say to them? He says that you sin against Christ in doing this. You are joining her with Him. And that's vile.

And then he summarizes or ends it by saying, therefore, glorify God in your body and soul because Jesus has redeemed you. So having these promises, they need to flesh themselves out in our daily lives, externally and internally. It's not going to be perfect. We will sin.

We do sin. We're not preaching Wesleyan perfectionism here. Well, just be perfect. You can't.

This side of glory. We will never be without sin. 1 John encourages us, though, when we see Him, we will be like Him. Not deity, but sinless. Entering into the presence of God.

Have you ever seen that scene in Revelation 7? Where the people of God stand before the throne of God, crying out, salvation is of the Lord. day and night. It's hard for some of us to keep our eyes open for an hour and a half worship service on this side of glory. But rest assured, when God brings us into that consummate glory which is heaven, He will work in us such a way, fill us with the Spirit in such a way that we will worship nonstop.

But on this side of glory, brethren, there will always be sin. We need to confess it, forsake it, and by God's grace, persevere. And this is what he says, cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. We need to do this with recognition of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We need to do this independence upon God, the spirit. We need to understand that even in this, our best attempts are oftentimes going to be marred by iniquity. So we confess it and forsake it and seek God's help and seek God's mercy. So he gives the duty, the command, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.

Perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God

And then he says perfecting holiness in the fear of God. I think the perfecting holiness there summarizes this whole idea of cleansing ourselves from filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Again, the perfecting there does not mean we'll be perfect. You cannot get that from the Bible.

Men have tried, but you cannot. I'm not trying to dissuade anybody. I'm not trying to say don't pursue holiness, but just realize on this side of glory we stand in constant need of God the Spirit. We are to perfect holiness in the fear of God.

Reverence toward God. Remember we defined this last week. Maybe we should just have a moment for everybody to think in their head again. What did we say the fear of God was?

Reverence before God as we acknowledge his infinite worth and dignity. This is how we're supposed to pursue holiness, to realize the God of Isaiah 40 is over us. Remember the God of Isaiah 40 who measures all of the waters of the earth in the hollow of his hand? The God of Isaiah 40 who measures the very heavens itself with the span of his hand?

The God of heaven who holds all nations before him like a drop in the bucket? The God of heaven who names each and every star in the hundred and billion galaxies which each have a hundred billion stars. God knows them and calls them all by name. We're to perfect holiness in the fear of that God.

We're to perfect holiness in the fear of the God that we admire in his attributes. The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks the question, what is God, or who is God? And it says, God is spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. In His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

The Fear of God Defined

We admire those things. We think on those things. We are conscious of those realities. We understand that He abominates unjust things.

So we're going to seek to be just in our dealings. We're not going to cheat people. That should never be named in the Christian church. You ever met somebody who said, oh, the church is filled with hypocrites.

I had business dealings with that guy and he ripped me off. That's wrong, man. You'd be more like that man in Psalm 15. He swears to his own hurt and he doesn't change.

I mentioned a book by Jerry Bridges that I'm reading, The Joy of Fearing God. He mentions an instance in his own work career. He used to work for the Navigators, which is a Christian ministry. One day his superior called him in and said, hey, Jerry, we've got a bit of an issue.

They had a deal where people could give property to this particular Christian ministry. I'm not getting into all the particulars, whether that's right or wrong or whatnot. But the deal was they could give the property to this ministry, and then the ministry would basically pay them a stipend or a salary of some sort for the period of time that they were alive. So this guy calls Jerry Bridges, and he says, hey, look, one of our other associates made a deal that we would accept this property and pay this person a salary.

But the only problem is the property is a real dog. It was a bad deal. So the idea was, let's figure out a way to get out of this deal. Bridget said, Psalm 15 came into his mind.

The godly man swears to his owner and does not change. Thankfully, his superior said, well, we got our answer. Even though it's going to hurt, we got our answer. Brethren.

Cleansing ourselves from the filthiness of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness and the fear of God at times will hurt. At times will affect, at times will pinch the flesh, at times will offend people, at times will cause people to go, what is with you? Are you crazy? This is what it means to fear God.

We stand in reverence before his infinite worth and dignity. We admire his glorious attributes and we are amazed at his infinite love for us. You see, Paul says perfect holiness in that disposition. Seek and pursue holiness in that frame of reference.

Not in your own strength, not in your own ability, not because you're strong, not because you're good, but because God is and you need to fear him and you need to pursue holiness based on that reality. In Paul's thought, Murray Harris says, the Christian life is in essence an advance in holiness, a bringing to maturation of our consecration to God. This process of sanctification involves first and foremost a sense of awe and dread before the omnipotent Lord. Not dread again that we run from him, but dread that we run to him.

Adam and Eve ran from him, they should have ran to him. Harris goes on to say, but also a repudiation of evil in every form, especially the avoidance of close, permanent alliances with unbelievers. That's the particular point going on in this section. These close personal alliances via marriage, via whatever, eating with unbelievers when it's stuff that's offered up to idols.

Brethren, we need to guard our hearts against lawlessness, against darkness, against Satanism, and against the idolatry that is rampant in this world. Again, he's not calling for total withdrawal. The answer is not Protestant monkery. The answer is not to withdraw yourself from all association.

First Corinthians 5, Paul says, I told you not to associate with the ungodly. He says, I didn't mean the ungodly of this world, because then you'd have to leave the world. But I meant those who named the name of Christ, those who call themselves brethren, and yet engage in these things. Warfield says, we see then, the apostles' urgency here is against not association with the world, but compromise with the worldly.

You're not going to fly to the moon. You're not going to live on Mount Sham just so you can be holy. You know what happens if you go to the moon or you go to Mount Sham? You've got you.

This is why monkery doesn't work. You take a whole bunch of sinners and put them in a cage together. Wherever you go, you're with sinners. You.

Paul doesn't tell us to go and leave. He tells us to be godly in the midst of, not compromise with the worldly. That's the essence. That's the point.

Don't make these close associations that will corrupt your soul, that will keep you from pursuing Jesus, that will keep you in a position of disadvantage, that will bring you into its lawlessness or its darkness or its Satanism or idolatry. These things are alive and well, brethren, in our generation. I'm not going to sit here and name everything. I think Galatians 5 is a wonderful description of the sort of lusts of the flesh that we have to deal with.

He says the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But, he says, conversely, this is what we are to pursue. We're to put off those things of the flesh and we're to pursue those things of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Against such there is no law. And so the Corinthians are being urged to walk in a spirit of holiness, but not in their own strength, Concentrating always on the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the dynamic that the Bible sets before us. That's what Paul highlights in Romans 6.

Even so, consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ. That's where it begins. It's right here. Repentance.

The root of repentance means a change of mind. Sinners say, what do I do? Change your mind. Why?

Because God knows that when the mind is changed, hopefully the body will follow. That's the whole point in Romans 6. He opens up justification by faith alone in chapters 3 and 4. He gives us the theology of this blessed arrangement in chapter 5, the imputation of Adam's sin, the imputation of Christ's righteousness.

He gets to chapter 6. He recalls what has happened to us in that imagery used in baptism. We were dead. We were buried.

We've been raised again, the newness of life in Jesus. Therefore, consider yourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Then he says, therefore. That's the gospel.

What Jesus has done for you, now go do this. Every false religion, every system out there, every other competitor to Christianity inverts that. It says, go do and then you'll get. The scripture teaches Jesus has done.

Believe on that and then go do. It's not worth righteousness. And then what does he say in Romans 6? Therefore, do not let sin reign in your body.

Don't obey it to lusts. Don't bow down to the idol of self. Don't feed it. Don't gratify it.

You've died with Christ. You've been raised in newness of life. You've been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God with your body.

It says, do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness, but rather take those hands, take those feet, take that mouth and use it for the glory of God. That's the dynamic we need to get. Having these promises, go live like a Christian, not go live like a Christian and hopefully God will save you.

Corporate and Personal Application

Secondly, we need to recall these promises. We need to think in terms of communion with God. The fact that God has received us, the fact that we've been adopted by God. Now, Luke 15 does not continue on and tell us what the conduct of that young man looks like.

But I suspect it was a lot better than before he left. So God received him, the father received him, the father cleansed him, the father washed him, the father put a ring on his finger. No doubt, so whenever he looked at that, he would just recall the great love that God had for him. But he lived a lot differently from that point on.

He didn't go back to the hog pan. He didn't go back to the prostitutes. He didn't go back to all the garbage. The Father received him out of that.

And we need to consider that adoption that we have. Adoption. A blessed, blessed term. What does Paul tell us in Romans chapter 8?

We are joint heirs with Christ. It means everything that Jesus is entitled to by God's grace and the fact that we are in union with him, we are joint heirs. We receive those blessings. As individuals, this verse 1 of chapter 7 is a call to action.

We need to cleanse ourselves from the filth of the flesh. We need to cleanse ourselves from the filth of the spirit. We need to perfect holiness in the fear of God. It needs to be true of us.

It needs to be something that we're engaged in. Not something that we lord over everybody else and say, wow, look at how good I am. Look at how I perfect holiness in the fear of God. Proverbs 4 is instructive.

It says, keep your own heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Keep your own heart. Don't keep everybody else's heart. Keep a list of how everybody else is doing.

You worry about yourself. There's enough in each day concerning you that will keep you occupied. Find that in the church very often we want to get up in each other's business, get up in everybody's grill, not saying we shouldn't be accountable, not saying we shouldn't love each other and encourage one another. Rather, we need to keep our own heart with all diligence.

And then I think there's a corporate application with reference to this verse. Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. It's what our churches should look like. Not entertainment, not just some feel-good religion, not just a shot in the arm so that you can go back out and be a better you.

Martin Lloyd-Jones ministered in London in the 20th century, and probably about the mid-20th century. He said this, our Christianity has the appearance of being an adjunct or an appendix to the rest of our lives instead of being the main theme and moving force in our existence. We seem to have a real horror of being different. The church is organized with drives.

I'm sure our British brethren could fill us in on what a west drive is fates. I happen to know that. I was in Britain. A fete is like a fair.

An F-E-T-E. Maybe they say that in Canada. I don't know. But a fete is sort of like a fair.

He's saying the church organizes whisk drives and feints and dramas and bazaars and things of that sort to attract people. I wonder what the good doctor would think about churchianity today. We've far exceeded fates and dramas and bazaars and things of that sort to attract people. He says we are becoming almost as wily as the devil himself, but are really very bad at it.

All our attempts are hopeless failures and the world laughs at us. Now when the world persecutes the church, she is performing her real mission. But when the world laughs at her, she has lost her soul. And the world today is laughing at the church. laughing at our attempts to be nice and to make people feel at home.

My friends, if you feel at home in any church without believing in Christ as your personal savior, then that church is no church at all, but a place of entertainment or a social club. For the truth of Christianity and the preaching of the gospel should make a church intolerable and uncomfortable to all except those who believe. And even they should go away feeling chastened and humbled. Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Not as those who are seeking to attain with God, but as those who, by God's grace, have been conquered by amazing love. Those who, by God's grace, have come to the cross, who have had the blood of Jesus shed abroad in their hearts and lives. who have been cleansed, washed, justified, and sanctified. And if you don't know that experience today, if you don't know what it is to be born again, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe the gospel of free and sovereign grace.

Believe on the one who said, the one who comes to me, I will certainly not pass out. Believe on him who receives sinners and eats with them. Believe on him who has been preached through the ages as the only savior for sinners.

Closing Prayer

Well, let us pray. God in heaven, we thank you for your holy scripture, and I pray that we would consider these promises, that we would consider that you commune with us, that you have received us, that you are our father, and that all of these blessings were purchased by Christ at Calvary. and our Father having these promises, I pray that you would grant us the grace to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, that we would perfect holiness in the fear of God as individuals and as a church, that we would always do so in dependence of God, that we would always cry out for the ministry and aid of your Holy Spirit, and that we would seek by your Spirit to know more of the truth of Holy Writ, because we know that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. I ask now that you would go with us, that you would watch over us in the remainder of this day and help us, God, to glorify and honor you. And we pray through Christ the Lord.

Amen.

Scripture References

• Exodus 25:8
• Psalm 15:4; 76:10
• Proverbs 4:23
• Isaiah 40:12-26
• Jeremiah 3:22
• Matthew 1:21; 1:23; 5:28; 28:18-20
• Luke 15:1-32
• John 6:37; 15:5
• Romans 3:1-4:25; 5:12-21; 6:1-14; 6:11; 6:13; 8:17
• 1 Corinthians 5:1; 5:10; 6:9; 6:20
• 2 Corinthians 5:21; 6:11; 6:17; 6:18; 7:1; 10:5
• Galatians 2:20; 5:19-23
• Ephesians 1:3-14
• Philippians 2:12-13
• 1 John 3:2
• Revelation 7:9-10