HOLINESS, - Adorning the Doctrine of God (Titus 2:10)

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1 HOLINESS, - Adorning the Doctrine of God (Titus 2:10) I have two books that I hold second only to my Bible. One of them is Pilgrim s Progress by John Bunyan, - an excellent book, read it if you haven t done so already. I promise you it will do you good and make you think. The other book was first published in 1879 and written by the then-anglican Bishop of Liverpool, - an excellent man for whom I have the highest regard. His book is called Holiness and again I promise you that God will bless you as you read that book. (I m sure Linda could get you a copy; if not, I can. (It s published by Evangelical Press). I want to quote a few lines from his Preface, It is easy to get crowds together for what are called higher life and consecration meetings. Anyone knows that, who has watched human nature and read descriptions of American camp-meetings and studied the curious phenomena of the religious affections. Sensational and exciting addresses by strange preachers or by women, loud singing, hot rooms, crowded tents, the constant sight of strong semi-religious feeling in the faces of all around you for several days, late hours, long protracted meetings, public profession of experience all this kind of thing is very interesting at the time and seems to do good. But is the good real, deeplyrooted, solid, lasting? That is the point. How often have you heard someone make the comment? He/she goes along to the Baptist Church and it doesn t matter whether it is hail, rain or snow he has always got a smile on his face. He would do anything for you, - he s a great Christian! I could stand here and preach non-stop and accomplish very little to the person who is outside of Christ, and then their Christian neighbour comes along and does something beautifully simple and it would say more than a thousand sermons. How do you come to be that type of person who has the ability to affect others by their testimony?

2 D.G. 2 What is it that so styles their life so as to make them someone who people recognise to be a good Christian? Well, Titus 2:10 gives us the answer, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. IT IS SOMETHING TO BE PUT ON It s something that you put on! Isaiah got it correctly, Is. 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness But be very careful as you look at it: Remember when you were a little child and your mum had to dress you, If it had been left up to you, dear knows how you would have left the house and gone to school! You might have gone out with dirty clothes, or clothes not half-ironed, or two socks different colours! But do you see what God s Word says, He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness They weren t my clothes He put on me, because the Bible tells me that all my righteousness are as filthy rags, and children of the King don t wear filthy rags! It says, He hath clothed me He hath covered me. None of your rubbish for He can afford the best! the garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness. Christian, that s what you are wearing this morning! As God looks upon you today He has clothed you with the garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness. In other words, - as Paul puts it, - that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. And where does all that start? It s got to start at Calvary, where you come to know God as Saviour. When I joined the army I had to go to the Quartermaster s Barracks and get my uniform, and when I was dressed like a soldier and trained as a soldier and took the oath of a soldier then I was a soldier.

3 D.G. 3 When you invite the Lord Jesus Christ into your life He gives you something to put on, He fits you out with the garments of salvation and He affords to you something new to put on, and it s something that only He can give you. Only Jesus saves, and only Jesus can make a change in your life. Don t try and dress yourself as a Christian for it will never work and you ll soon get fed up, The garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness are His to give and anything else you try to put on yourself is any rags and tatters. HOLINESS IS SOMETHING TO BE PUT ON But look at the first part of the verse; what does that mean? Not purloining, but showing all good fidelity; IT IS SOMETHING TO BE CAST OFF not purloining In the 21 st century, what does that mean?! I ll tell you what it doesn t mean, - it doesn t mean merely to steal (kleptw) The word that Paul uses here is another word, (nosfizw) that is only used in one other place in the New Testament, 5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it, at the apostles' feet. 3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? You see, it is the Biblical duty of every believer to tithe, and one-tenth of Ananias and Sapphira s income was automatically God s, But I can see the two of them strutting up the aisle together every Sunday morning as if they owned the place, and I can hear them telling everybody how much they do for the Lord and how if it wasn t for them the place couldn t exist. In the days when their was no direct debit to take your money and put it into the Covenant scheme Ananias and Sapphira would have let everybody see how much they were putting in the plate.

4 D.G. 4 Anyhow, they sold something or other and got a lot of money for it and they let on they were putting every penny of what they had made on the collection plate. Now, why did they do that?! if they would have been honest and upfront they could have given even 50% of their recent gains to the Lord s work but they went and told a lie in order to deceive! AND GOD CAUGHT UP WITH THEM!! Instead, they told everyone they had given everything while really they had kept so much back, and that is what purloining means, - keeping anything back. They purloined! You see, they had not reckoned on God, and they had neglected to take into consideration that in holiness there is something to be cast off. And everyone of us, as Christians, have many great loads to shed and to cast off. There s no doubt that God has saved us, and dressed us in the garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness, - there s no doubt at all, but there are still things that try to hold on to us every day and we have to cast them off, and casting off, what does that mean? It means we ve got to make a conscious effort, - they are not ready to fall off, they have got to be cast off, and the process of sanctification and holiness is the process whereby we lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and [we] run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Yes, holiness is something to be put on, and there is also something to be cast off, for finally, HOLINESS IT IS IF YOU LIKE AN APPEARANCE OF GOD THROUGH HIS PEOPLE It s very true, you know, that the world judges God by His people, His Church. The concept that society has developed regarding the Church is one that you and I as Christians have given to them.

5 D.G. 5 Oh, he/she s a Christian and you can t believe the word that comes out of their mouth. Yes, he/she s a Christian and they are beautiful people, - good friends, workmates, neighbours to have. The Word says, showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. You probably are the only contact or concept that your neighbours have of God, and that s a sobering thought. What do people think of you? As you represent God, what do people think of you? You see, that s where holiness comes in, so that what they see of you mirrors the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in a nutshell that s what holiness is. CONCLUSION. 10 Not purloining [not keeping anything back of your life from God], but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. That is the sole purpose of the believer, That is the benchmark to which the Word of God instructs us to. It means there is something to be put on, (the Christlikeness), and it means too that there is something to be cast off, because we are in a constant warfare with sin, and what is the purpose of it all? What is God s will? that you and I, as believers born again of the Holy Spirit of God, may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.