THE CHURCH IN THIS CITY             

     Chapter 7                           A HOLY NATION

                      But as he who called you is holy, be holy

                      yourselves in all your conduct; since it is

                      written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

                      And if you invoke as Father him who judges

                      each one impartially according to his deeds,

                      conduct yourselves with fear throughout the

                      time of your exile. You know that you were

                      ransomed from the futile ways inherited from

                      your fathers, not with perishable things

                      such as silver or gold, but with the precious

                      blood of Christ, like that of a Lamb without

                      blemish or spot.

             As we follow Peter through the gospel narratives, we find that

         holiness was something he had difficulty recognizing. It almost had

         to hit him on the head before he knew he was standing on holy ground.

         Peter didn’t see Jesus as holy until the net came up loaded, with fish.

         Then Peter fell to his knees. On the Mount of Transfiguration, even

         though he saw his Lord’s face shine as the sun and his clothing giving

         off an earthly light, Peter was his old talkative self until the

         Father spoke.

                      “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well

                      pleased. Listen to him!”

             Then Peter fell on his face. And the reason Peter had such a hard time

         recognizing holiness was because he himself was so unholy, so full of

         himself.

             But by the time Peter wrote his epistle, he was a changed man. A

         sense of the awesome holiness of God breathes through the epistles of

         Peter.

                      As he who called you is holy, be holy

                      yourselves in all your conduct.

                      But you are a chosen race, a royal priest—

                      hood, a holy nation.

             Everything God touches and everything God claims for his own is holy.

         Recognizing Holy Ground

             If you want to discover the reason for the pitiful difference between

         the apostolic church and Christendom today, don’t waste time com-

         paring their organization with ours or noting the difference in our ways

         of worship or researching whether they owned buildings or rented

         them. The difference was that those people had a healthy respect for

         God’s holiness and we don’t. They trembled at God’s word. They bowed

         their necks before God’s glory, while we keep ours stiff.

             Where the church loses its sense of the holy, it also loses its

         vision of God, and its authority. We can chase around all we like

         looking for power, but God’s power is not safe with men and women who

         don’t have enough sense to take off their shoes when they stand on

         holy ground. In the apostolic church the door was wide open to all

         kinds of troubled sin-stained souls. The dregs of society kept pour-

         ing in wherever the word of God was proclaimed, and every one rejoiced.

         Nobody was turned away. Everybody was welcomed. But once a man rose

         up and entered the door of the kingdom and put on that new robe, then

         he either brought his life into conformity to the will of God or he

         was thrown out.

             Ananias and Sapphira did what seemed a minor thing. They lied.

         But they lied to the Holy Spirit as people who had already entered the

         kingdom. And they died on the spot. Or the man in I Corinthians 5

         who had a thing going with his stepmother....This wasn’t too unusual

         in a place like Corinth. Had he been coming to the assembly as a

         seeker he would have been welcome. Come and seek, never mind what

         goes on at home. But this man was a believer. He knew the truth.

         And he had the audacity to go right on living that way and to come

         into the fellowship praising God. So Paul says,

                     “Deliver this man over to Satan for the des-

                     truction of the flesh that his spirit may be

                     saved on the day of the Lord.”

                       ....But you are a chosen race, a royal

                           priesthood, a holy nation....

         Becoming A Holy People

             When God looks down upon the believers in our city does he see a

         holy nation? Are we living as a people whom God has touched? Are

         these bodies temples of the Holy Spirit? The words that come out of

         our mouths, the thoughts we think, the imaginings of our minds....is

         our life lived out in God’s light, opened wide and unashamed?

             Some of us are quick to say,

                     “I’m not ashamed of anything that I’m

                      doing. God understands exactly where

                      I’m coming from.”

             Easy words. They sound so frank and sincere. But when God starts

         sending the beam of his light straight into certain things in your

         life that you know are displeasing to him, and you stand there without

         blinking an eyelash, this does not prove that you’re frank and sincere.

                                        25.

             It merely proves that you’re too full of yourself to recognize the holy.

         God is showing you things that must be brought to the cross and buried

         under the blood, and you don't even have enough sense to fall on your

         face!

             Instead, you’re going to do favors for God. You’re going to build

         God a little temple in your living room. And God answers,

                     “Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool;

                     what is the house which you would build for me,

                        and what is the place of my rest?

                     All these things my hand has made,

                        and so all these things are mine,” says the Lord.

                     “But this is the man to whom I will look,

                        he that is humble and contrite in spirit,

                        and trembles at my word."

             Where are the people who tremble at God‘s word? Where are the people

         who fall on their faces when God speaks? Where are the people who confess

         the truth when God puts his finger right on it? Wherever you find such

         people you are looking at God’s holy nation. And where this trembling at

         God’s word is lacking, we can call ourselves by every wonderful name in

         the Bible but we have no part or lot in God’ s kingdom.

             You think you’re holy because you don’t drink, smoke, or play cards?

         Or because you’ve separated yourself from the “institutional church?” Or

         because the only transportation you own is a bicycle? Or because you’ve

         seen a vision or speak in tongues? God is calling for a holiness which

         is never measured by how you compare with other people, a holiness that

         comes directly from him.

             To be holy begins with the fear of God. How can Jesus come and say

         to us, “Rise, have no fear,” until we first learn with Peter, James, and

         John to fall on our faces....

                     “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be

                     thy name.”

             When Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up and

         heard the seraphim crying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts,” he

         didn’t pull out his pocket camera and start taking pictures. He melted

         with dread!.....”Woe is me, for I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips..."

             “Oh, but I don’t fear God, I love God.” My friend, you don’t know

         the first thing about loving God until you learn to fear him. May the

         Spirit of God show us who it is that we’re dealing with when we draw near

         to Jesus Christ.     

                     Lord, make me to know mine end,

                     And the measure of my days, what it is,

                     That I may know how frail I am.

                     And what I am beneath thy blazing glory.

             To be holy is to listen to Jesus.

                     “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well

                     pleased. Listen to him.”

             If I really tremble at his word, how can I go on living in the sin

         he told me to forsake? How can I prolong that lie? How can I keep

         nursing hatred for those brothers? How can I continue bad-mouthing

         every fellowship in town but my own? Are we listening to what our Lord

         is saying, or are we still busy running around trying to get people to

         listen to us?

                     “The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead

                     will hear the voice of the Son of God, and

                     those who hear (listen) will live. “

             Those who stop their mouths and begin conforming their lives to

         what Jesus says. If I’m not sure whether it is Jesus speaking to me,

         then I wait until I am sure. But once I know it’s the Lord’s voice,

         then I shut down my own and listen and obey.

             To be holy is to have a sincere, God-fearing love for brothers and

         sisters.

                     “Having purified your souls by your obedience

                     to the truth for a sincere love of the brethren,

                     love one another earnestly from the heart.”

             When you walk into a house that really holds God in awe, there you

         will find love. People who really respect each other, care about each

         other, help each other. And when you come to a city where the saints

         really hold God in awe, there you will find love among the brethren that

         runs deep and causes the Body to work in harmony.

             To be holy is to be real. A holy man or woman doesn’t put holi-

         ness into his voice or parade it with a yard-long face, or make people

         feel that they have to hide the beer when he comes into the room. If

         you’re holy, you’re out in the light. Nobody has to be afraid that you

         have some spiritual ace hidden in your pocket. Nobody has to be afraid

         of what scheme you’ve got going now. You’re walking in the fear of God,

         so you’re free from the fear of man. You can be exactly what you are.

             “You shall be holy for I am holy,” says the Lord to his church in

         this city. Not one or two holy souls to add a little flavor of holiness

         to the Body in this place. But a holy people. A holy nation. And God

         is able to make us what he calls us to be, if we will answer his call

         with hearts that tremble at his word.