As Becomes Saints

Good afternoon, everyone. It’s nice to see everyone’s faces here today.

You know, some of the Bible’s tiniest, most unassuming words have some of the most powerful meaning. I’ve said this in the past. Take, for example, the conjunctions, if. Big word in terms of meaning. It’s a condition, and we know that our Christian lives and the blessings or the cursings that may come along with living this life that we’ve decided to live is conditioned to things that God puts before us. Choose life, choose death. If you do these things, life. If you do these things, death.

The word but. Powerful word. If you read it in the Bible, it has profound implications when it’s used and why it’s used. Similarly, small unassuming phrases in Scripture can carry the weight of an entire life. They’re not complicated phrases, but when truly understood, they quietly become the compass that guides our lives. They can influence these small phrases. How we think, what we think, how we speak, what we say, how we do things, what we do. Today, we’re going to look at a small three-word phrase that is the ultimate biblical standard by which we, God’s people, should live.

What and how we think, speak, and act should be measured against this small, unassuming phrase. Unlike the words if and but, this phrase is only found twice in the Bible. But again, these three words remind us that who we are must match who God calls us to be. You know, consider a skilled craftsman. Well, we’re talking about a sculptor or a carpenter, a tailor. They rarely, if ever, measure only once.

Whether working with wood or stone or fine fabrics or cloths, they have trade standards that they check themselves against continuously because they know one wrong cut, one wrong hit of the hammer, one wrong cut with the saw or the scissors can ruin or undo the most important project. Our standard, brethren, cannot be found in the world. That’s how exclusive it is, nor is it subject to the world’s shifting opinions. You will not see this phrase in mottos, inside the latest self-help group, books, or offered as a bachelor’s or a master’s, or a PhD at one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

You will not find it anywhere. It has never been nor will be the subject of a TED Talk. It is not the goal of motivational speakers, trying to change what people do. Living according to this phrase surpasses any personal ideals that someone, even you and me, may think is important. Because what we are about to read, again, while simple, represents God’s ideals, His standard. And I found that whenever I feel pulled to make excuses, to compromise on this way of life, to give in, to stop, to quit, or I’m tempted to do things that goes against God’s laws or commandments, we all face those moments, brethren.

There’s not one person in this room that doesn’t face that moment. When I bring to mind and think about this simple phrase, it stops me. It challenges me. It humbles me. It strengthens me to do what is right. And it doesn’t matter what kind of pressures are applied. This standard, when upheld, will resist the greatest of temptations, the greatest of challenges. And I hope it will become the three words that guide your lives. Stops you and challenges you in those moments. Challenges you to meet this ideal, this standard that God has given to us.

I hope they help and strengthen you, these words, when you feel tempted to give up, or give in, or compromise, or succumb to pressures from family, friends, loved ones, coworkers, schoolmates, you, young people, friends outside the church, even some inside the Church. What is that phrase? Ephesians chapter five. Remember, it’s only found twice. Ephesians chapter five, and verse one. “Be you therefore followers of God,” Could that be it? Followers of God is a phrase of three words. “...as dear children.”

Paul goes on to say. Is it as dear children? “And walk in love,” there’s three more words. Could it be that? “...as Christ also has loved us and has given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor.” Verse three. “But fornication, all in cleanness or covetousness, let it not be once...” not a single time, “...named among you, as becomes saints.” There it is, brethren. Followers of God, as dear children, walk in love. That’s not the standard I’m talking about. The standard that I’m talking about actually encompasses those three that I just mentioned. Brethren, the phrase is as becomes saints. Saying it differently, it’s, as is becoming of saints. You think of the conduct of a queen.

She acts as is becoming of a queen or a king. Any royalty, for that matter. A prince or a princess. They are acting as is becoming of that office or that title that they hold. A leader. A president. Any man or woman, young or old, who lives by these three words, anyone who allows this phrase to guide what and how they think, what and how they say, what and how they do things, literally, brethren, hold the keys to the Kingdom. That’s why we measure what we think, say, and do against that standard. As become saints.

We can ask ourselves, in any situation, particularly in those moments that I described earlier, is what I am thinking as becomes saints? Or as becomes a saint? Am I, what I’m about to say, or what I just said, was it as becomes saints? What I just did? It can stop us in our tracks in evaluating something we’ve done or are about to do if we just ask, was it or is it as becomes saints? It’s that simple. I told you, it’s nothing difficult.

Anyone baptized, even you, young people, we will see during the course of this message, can ask this question. And you might be thinking, you, young folks, “But I’m not a saint.” Stay tuned. Stay tuned. You know, it says, Solomon said, “Rejoice, O young man,” or young people, “...in your youth, let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.” Be happy. Do things that you enjoy. “Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know this, that for all these things, God will bring you into judgment.”

Why? Why would he bring you into judgment, you who are sitting here listening, if you’re not a saint? As I said, stay tuned. Brethren, we must measure every area of our lives against this standard. So let’s examine the meaning of this phrase by looking at each word. And when we look at each word, we’re going to have a deeper understanding of where we’re headed in this message. The word, as. I’m going to write that down in your notes. It is kathos. Kathos, and it means just as or according to. Very simple, nothing complicated about that.

Then the word, becomes, interesting word, prepo. P-R-E-P-O, Prepo, and that means to tower up, to be conspicuous, to be obvious. The opposite of inconspicuous. Something that’s towered up, you can see from far away. Look at the Eiffel Tower or the Empire State Building, or Mount Everest. Those are conspicuous things, buildings, natural wonders. It means to tower up, to be conspicuous, by implication to be suitable or proper, fit or right. And then the word, saints, and that word is hagios. Hagios, H-A-G-I-O-S, pronounced hagios, and that is Strong’s G40.

For those of you, afterwards, who would want to do a study on this. And it means sacred. Physically pure, morally blameless, and ceremonially consecrated. So, if you put it all together with the definitions that I just gave you, it could read like this. According to being noticeably pure physically, blameless morally, and consecrated ceremonially. Let me say that again. According to being noticeably pure physically, blameless morally, and consecrated ceremonially. That word hagios is translated as holy or sacred, or saint, two hundred and twenty-nine times in the New Testament.

When I see a word appear that many times, more times than the Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, brethren, that’s when we should take note. Could there be a theme, an ongoing theme, or a theme that God wants us to pay attention to? And hagios comes from the root word hagos, H-A-G-O-S. You know what that means? It means an awful thing. An awful thing. You heard correctly. Awful. As becoming awful, is how you would say it. I hope you heard that. We think of awful as something very bad or unpleasant. But awful originally meant full of awe or inspiring awe.

It comes from combining, obviously, full, meaning full of, and awe. A feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder. So, in older English, something awful meant it was awe-inspiring, often in a sacred or majestic sense, like a powerful thunderstorm. Have you ever seen a lightning storm or a thunderstorm? It’s awe-inspiring. The massive size of it, it can invoke fear. Is it coming my way? If it does come my way, what will happen? Like a grand cathedral. Have you ever walked into some of the grand cathedrals of the world? I’ve been to some.

And you have to stand in awe and say, a man with two hands and eyes, some blind, painted this wonderful, amazing, jaw-dropping structure. But it can also mean like the presence of God. Something filled someone with feelings of reverential respect mixed with fear towards God. It was only over the years that awful became what we know it today. Something horrible, something extremely bad or unpleasant. So I want you to consider something. Have you ever considered that God wants onlookers to be filled with reverential respect and wonder toward Him when they see us?

God wants our spouses, converted or not, my spouse, my wife, your husband, your wife. He wants your children, as fathers and mothers. Children, or young people, He wants your parents, your father, and your mother. He wants fellow students, friends, inside or outside the church. He wants coworkers, your bosses, to be in awe of how He calls and can transform individuals to live according to what is physically pure and morally blameless. And we’re going to get deeper into why. So I don’t want you to take my word for it, what I just said.

There’s a clear example of this in the Bible. Let’s turn to Second Kings chapter four. Second Kings chapter four. I don’t have to read a lot on this account, but I found this very interesting. Some of these ordinary accounts can have extraordinary meaning behind it if you just meditate on it, pray about it, let God’s Spirit speak to you about it. Second Kings chapter four, and verse eight. “And it fell,” that means it came to pass, “...on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem, where there was a great woman.” It’s a woman, obviously, of influence. I find it extraordinary that they used the word great to describe this woman.

“And she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, as often as he passed by.” So every time he came into town, this great woman of great influence probably could have anybody that she wanted over, could spend time with whomever she wanted for as long as she wanted. It says, “As often as he passed by, he stopped to eat bread.” Verse nine, “And...” referring to at some point, I don’t know if it was initially or over time, as he came and spent time with this great woman, “...she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God.”

Now, that word, perceive, means to know or properly to ascertain by seeing or by observing. This woman observed Elisha and knew that she knew that he was a holy man of God. But Mr. Houk, we’re talking about saints, as becoming saints, not holy men. That says holy man. Well, hold your place there, and let’s go over to Psalm one hundred and six. Psalm one hundred and six. And this psalm is a recount of what occurred with ancient Israel in the wilderness with Moses and Aaron. And let’s just jump to verse sixteen.

“They envied, they were jealous of…” it says, “...Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the Lord. The earth opened and swallowed Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.” And, you know, we’ll come back to that story in a moment, but it says the saint of the Lord describing Aaron. The word saint is the same as holy man that the Shunammite woman used. No difference. Now, this is going to help set up a powerful point. In the Old Testament, the English word saint or saints appears only thirty-eight times.

But unlike in the New Testament, which is G40, the word saint or saints is used for four different Hebrew words. So the word saint and saints in the Old Testament, all thirty-eight times, it’s translating four different words. For example, the one that we’re looking at is sixty-nine-eighteen, qadosh, translated saints twelve times. And that’s the one that we’re going to be looking at in the New Testament that we just read in Ephesians five. But there’s also twenty-six twenty-three, chasid, translated saints nineteen times.

Then there’s qaddish, sixty-nine twenty-two, that’s Aramaic, you’ll find that in Daniel. That’s translated six times. And then there’s qodesh, not qadosh, but qodesh, sixty-nine-forty-four, that’s translated only one time. Thirty-eight times. But you know how many times these words, these four words, appear in the Old Testament? Six hundred and twenty times. Now, we’re going to focus on sixty-nine eighteen, qadosh, which mostly ties to, like I said, saints in the New Testament. But here are their definitions. Chasiyd is translated saints nineteen times, as I said.

The other twelve times, it’s translated holy, godly, merciful, and good. Qaddiysh, translated as saint six times, but it’s translated holy seven times. Qodesh, it’s only translated saints one time, but it’s found three hundred and fifty-five times as holy, holiness, hallowed, or consecrated. And then the one that we were looking at, qadosh, one hundred and seventeen times. Recall, it’s translated saint or saints twelve times, but we find that as holy or holy one, meaning set apart, one hundred and five times.

Of the six hundred and twenty times that these words are found in the Old Testament, four hundred and seventy-nine times, it’s translated holy, holiness, hallowed, or consecrated, and even holy one. Only thirty-eight times saint or saints. Now, why would I cover all of that? Because I want to drive home a point. Saint or saints is a title. These other words are not. They’re adjectives. They describe. Brethren, the simple phrase, as become saints, if you remember anything, remember this, has little to do with the title we carry, but everything to do with how we carry ourselves.

Let me say that again. As becomes saints has little to do with the title we carry, and we carry that title, and it’s an important one, but it has everything to do with how we carry ourselves. Think, each time the translators translated saint or saints, they translate one of these descriptives, one of these adjectives, twelve times. That’s a ratio of twelve to one. Let’s go back to Second Kings chapter four. Go back to the account of the Shunammite woman in verse nine.

We’ll pick it up where we left off because I’m going to use a different word. We’ve established that that’s the same word over in Psalm one hundred and six, so verse nine, let’s pick it up where we started before, or just after verse eight. “And she said to her husband, Behold, now I know by what I see that this is a saint of God who passes by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray you,” she’s begging her husband, “...on the wall, and let us set it up for him.”

Put a bed in there. Let’s put a table in there. Let’s put a stool in there. Let’s put a candlestick in there. “And it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall sleep here. Brethren, in the case of Elisha, he carried himself in a way that made him stand out from everyone else in the eyes of that great woman. Think about that. Elisha displayed characteristics that separated him from everyone else. And again, I’m glad they described her as a great woman. Because you don’t become great because you’re blind to everything around you, or you don’t know people, you can’t perceive things in people.

This Shunammite woman was described as a great woman, not just a woman. And she knew by what she observed in Elisha that he was a saint of God. I also find that interesting. She wanted him around, and her husband obviously supported her by agreeing to provide a place for in their house. Imagine that. You roll into town somewhere, and someone is so awestruck by you, by your character, by who you are, and you stand out. Not only do they offer you a room, like a bed and breakfast, they build you a wing on the house.

Now, think about that. She had to have money. “Honey, this guy’s interesting. He’s impressive. I’d like him to stay with us.” Now, why would she ask to have him stay with us? Think about what I said, “As we become saints.” It’s more than just a title. It’s about how we carry ourselves. And I looked up that phrase, “To carry oneself.” You know what it means? It means to present oneself to others through posture, through manners, and attitude. Even our posture, brethren.

Elisha’s posture, how he sat, how he stood, how he walked, how he dress, how he speak, how he act, should leave an impression on observers, on those who are listening, those who are watching us. Why? Why is that so important? You know, you use the example, we’ve all heard she carries herself with grace and dignity. You don’t hear that very often nowadays, but he behaves respectfully. He carries himself like a leader with confidence. He has an attitude, a go-get-them attitude. Second Corinthians chapter three.

Now, we have Elisha as an example, brethren. And the example that he set for someone who likely knew very little about the Scriptures, very little about the Bible, but she was reading him. We’ve all heard that phrase, right? I can read you like a book, or he’s reading me like a book, or she’s reading me like a book. Second Corinthians chapter three. Because, brethren, youngsters, prospective members, people are reading you every day in every area of your life. Verse one, Second Corinthians chapter three, and verse one.

“Do we begin again to commend ourselves?” Starts the Apostle Paul. “Or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?” Here’s what he says. “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men.” And then it says, “Therefore, as much as you are,” you can cross that out. That’s not there in the Greek. Just go right on. It says, “Known and read of all men, manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us.” Brethren, we are epistles of Christ.

“Written, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God,” we’ll get to that a little bit later, “...not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.” I have repeated what I have heard since coming into the church. We may be the only Bible verses our families, friends, acquaintances, and strangers ever read. And I’m mindful of that. There are people that do not read Bibles, even if they have one in their house. I remember when I was a young boy, my mother had a Bible probably about that thick. And it was kind of gold and all of that.

And it sat up in a shelf. And be careful if you ever touch that Bible. It was so sacred, you couldn’t touch it. But, brethren, we may be the only Bibles or Scriptures that anyone reads in their entire life. Now, which part of the Scriptures, which Bible verses, specifically about holiness, would we not want everyone we encounter to read? It’s a rhetorical question. Of course, we’d want them to read every single Scripture there is about holiness when they see our lives, right? Which one would you want to leave out? I will not say this woman didn’t know any Scriptures.

I’m not saying that. Can’t say that. But she knew what being a saint of God meant by observing Elisha, or she would have never made the statement. He developed a definition, potentially, of what being a holy man of God is, or at least further clarified it for her with great clarity, not by just what he said, but the way he acted, the way he walked, the way he sat, his manners, his posture, the way he spoke, his attitude about life. People are reading you and me daily. Young people, people are reading you. Potential employers, recruiters.

At schools, teachers, friends. Prospective member, your families are looking more closely, probably than ever, at your lives, reading you very carefully. “What is going on?” They’re learning from and filled with awe, hopefully, by what they are reading. We all need to be awful. And again, I have to emphasize this. Living as is becoming a saint, and spending time with people outside the church, must not be mutually exclusive. Living lives as becomes a saint is not incompatible with being enjoyable to have around. Being a saint draws people to you.

Being holy draws people. Elisha is proof of that. Now, what being holy does also, it sorts out the riffraff, the chaff, if you will. Who are the true friends? Who are true family? Who are true colleagues? Who are true coworkers? Those who want you to become more like them, they eventually will fade away. You can expect that. Holiness has that tendency. Draw the people who are interested and drawn by the characteristics that we’re going to talk about, holiness, and it’ll also, at the same time, push people that you don’t need in your lives away.

That’s the power of holiness. And why is that? Why does it happen? Because, as I said in the beginning, we display qualities that no other people on the planet can display. You won’t find it in self-help books, or in mottos, or taught by motivational speakers. No one teaches, in universities, holiness. You cannot get a bachelor’s, a master’s, or a PhD in a university on holiness; holy characteristics that separate us from everyone else. First Peter one. First Peter one. Why should we care to be noticed this way, brethren? Why is it important that we want people to observe and be filled with awe? I alluded to it earlier.

Why can’t we find notoriety some other way, like the Shunammite woman? She did not find her notoriety. She did not become great because of holiness. Why would Elisha strive to meet the standard of “as becomes saints”? Why would it be important for any human being? Why is being observed by others as physically pure, morally blameless, and ceremonially consecrated so critical? Why? You might be surprised at how vital holiness was to the Apostle Peter. What we’re about to read is only one of the fourteen times that he uses this word in only eight chapters.

That’s almost twice, two times per chapter on average. First Peter one, and verse fifteen. Why is it important? “But as He,” referring to God, “...who has called you as holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation,” conduct, or behavior. “...because it is written: Be you holy, for I am holy.” And that “all manner” is one word in the Greek, it’s pas. We know that word. Some of us are very familiar with that word. It means everything, nothing excluded, in every area. It means completely holy in every way at all times. Oh, now, that’s a standard.

And it’s not just when someone is looking. In fact, holiness is sometimes more tested when we’re alone. Now, brethren, I cannot see God, neither can you, but I can assure you, even when God is invisible to us, He is holy. He is hagios, and He has been for eternity. And obviously, the Apostle Peter read this somewhere. Leviticus chapter eleven. I’m sure Christ taught this to him. In verse forty-four. Leviticus eleven, forty-four. “For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore sanctify yourselves,” separate yourselves, make yourself holy, “...and you shall be holy.”

Why? “For I am holy.” Verse forty-five. “For I am the Lord that brings you up out of the land of Egypt,” I brought you up out of this world, out of captivity, out of bondage. For what reason? “...to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” In other words, the Apostle Peter took very seriously what He said. He meant what He said, and He said what He meant. God places importance on holiness. Why? Because He is holy, brethren. Elisha proved what the great woman may have already been thinking.

There is a God, and equally important, Elisha’s God is the Holy One. How many times do you think Elisha read this verse in Leviticus? I’m sure a handful, several handfuls. God was a standard that Elisha lived by. Elisha wanted to live to reflect God, and God is holy. And it encompasses everything, brethren. Not only is God holy, but let’s also look at the name for God that is used repeatedly. I never knew how often... God has many names. We know that.

We don’t get into sacred names, but I will tell you, when God calls Himself or allows Himself to be called something, it’s because He is in perfection what it is that He’s called. Job chapter six. It’s the first time it’s used. Job six. Job six, and verse eight. “Oh, that I might have my request.” This is Job having a little bit of a pity-party. “Oh, that God would grant me the thing I long for.” What is it that he longs for? “Even that it would please God to destroy me, that He would let loose His hand and cut me off. Then should I have comfort. Yes, I would harden myself in sorrow.”

That’s a tremendous setup for what he’s about to say, because it may be that Job’s seeing a difference between him and God, the way he was living, the way he was talking, and the God that he was coming to know with his own eyes. Here’s what he says. “Let Him spare not, for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.” The Holy One. Job called God the Holy One. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Habakkuk, all referred to God this way. You can go search it. The Holy One of Israel, of Jacob. How many times do you think this title was found in the Bible, brethren? forty-seven times.

I didn’t know that. Forty-seven times, God is called the Holy One. Too many to turn to them, obviously. That title, my friends, is the word qadosh. The exact same Hebrew word that was used for Elisha and Aaron, and of course, Peter, you, and me. But while you or I may be called a holy man of God, or a holy woman of God, or a saint of God, God is the Holy One. He is the standard. But God is not the only one who has this title. Luke chapter four. Luke four, verse twenty-eight.

“And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,” angry at what Christ had just pronounced, “...and rose and thrust Him out of the city and led Him to the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they may cast Him down headlong. But He, passing through the midst of them, went His way.” How fitting is that Christ became invisible to a crowd that couldn’t see Him for who He truly was.

“You want invisible? I’ll give you invisible. You can’t see Me for who I am? Well, let Me just disappear in your midst and go somewhere else where people, like the great woman, will see Me for who I am.” That’s why God’s flock around the world goes wherever He leads. Follow wherever He is. God’s true Church. Let’s see if someone could recognize Him. Let’s continue down at thirty-one. “And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days. And they were astonished.” Uh-oh. There must have been an awful presence there that day.

And I mean that in the best possible way I can. “They were astonished at His doctrine,” awestruck by what He was saying. “For His word was with power. And in the synagogue, there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, Let us alone. What have we to do with You? You, Jesus of Nazareth, are You come to destroy us? I know who You are, the Holy One of God.” Now that is a title, brethren. Even the demons can recognize holiness.

And not only holiness, holiness to perfection, because they called Him the Holy One of God. And brethren, the demons knew who Christ was by observing the most critical character trait a man or woman can display, holiness. The Jews could not see that Christ was the Holy One of God. Why? Because their focus was not on living to the standard God calls for. If I want to live to the standard of God, the Holy One, I want to be on the lookout for holiness. And that’s what we must do, brethren.

We must imitate one another, look at each other, and as we display holiness, as I defined it earlier, and imitate it, so that we too can be recognized. Christ is the only other one that holds that title. Why would Peter be inspired to write hagios fourteen times in only eight chapters, many years later in the ministry? Acts, chapter three. Acts, chapter three. He wrote First Peter after the Acts, after the gospel, after his time with Christ. Acts three, verse one, “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour, and a certain of them that entered into the temple.”

Verse three, “Who’s seen Peter and John about to go into the temple and ask for alms.” He was begging for money. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, and said, Look on us. And he gave heed to them, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but what I have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk. He took him by the right hand and lifted him, and immediately, his feet and ankle bones received strength.

He was crippled from birth. He leaped up, stood, walked, and entered with them into the temple. He was walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and they knew he sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate,” it says, “...of the temple, and they were filled with wonder, awe, amazement, shock, and what had happened to him.” Brethren, the people were astonished. They were stupefied. They were amazed at what happened. They were in awe of what they just saw this man, Peter, do. What a display of power that must have been for them.

They knew this man from his birth. The apostle Peter extended his hand to the man who was lame from birth. Everyone knew him. And verse eleven, what does it say? “The apostle Peter is about to question the onlookers and shift their focus. And as the lame man who was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran to them in the porch, called Solomon’s, greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he answered the people, You men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so earnestly at us as though by our own power or...”

Interesting, I never noticed this before “...holiness, we had made this man to walk.” Power wasn’t just involved here. Peter invoked the word holiness relative to the healing that that man just experienced. Think about the implications for us, brethren, when we walk in holiness. Why would he insert holiness? Why was he pointing to being physically pure, morally blameless, and ceremonially consecrated as being so critical in this moment? He could have just demonstrated the power of God.

Verse thirteen, “The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Son Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied Him in the presence of Pilate when He was determined to let Him go. But you denied...” Who? Who did they deny? “...the Holy One, and the Just. You killed the Prince of Life,” and so on. What did Christ tell Philip? “He that has seen Me has seen the Father.” You know what Peter saw? Holiness. And Peter gave Him the name the Holy One of God, because Psalm sixteen refers to Him as such.

Christ knew living as becomes holiness or as becomes a saint is how God reveals Himself to a world that cannot see Him yet, brethren. We’re not just revealing Scriptures. We’re revealing the Holy One and the Holy One of God. Someone asked me recently, part of the reason why I began developing this message. He said, “Mr. Houk, what is a saint?” Here’s my answer. Those who are chosen to reveal the Holy One. This is why living “as becomes saints” is so important. Is this really our calling from God? Second Timothy, chapter one.

Is this really our calling? Is this what we’re called to do? Second Timothy one, the Apostle Paul speaking to young Timothy, verse eight, “Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, His prisoner, but be you partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling,” now, there’s no doubt that God, the Holy One, established Timothy’s and our calling. It goes on to say, “...not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which has given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

But that says holy calling. It doesn’t exactly say our calling was for the purpose of being holy. It’s a holy calling. Okay, Ephesians one. Now we’re going back to where we began. Ephesians one, verse one, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints...” to the hagios, “...at Ephesus, and faithful...” Scratch out to the, that’s not there, “...and faithful in Christ Jesus.” He’s not talking about two groups. He’s talking about the church in Ephesus. “Grace to be to you and peace from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, according...” Verse four, “...as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.” Now, not only did God establish a calling before the foundation of the world, but He chose specific individuals before the world began. But for what purpose? We know it was a holy calling. We just read that in Second Timothy. But what was it a calling specifically to be holy?

Was it.. Continue reading, “That we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” Peter’s command for us to be holy in all manner of conduct was because God is holy. And that was not an afterthought. Our calling is to be holy. Ephesians five. Let’s go back to where we were when we started. “As you become saints,” it’s up there in verse three. Now, let’s jump down to verse twenty-one. “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”

He then begins to address husbands and wives, “Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, ask to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject to Christ, let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.” Come back to that point.

“That He,” Christ, “...might present Himself a glorious church, not having spot, wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy without blemish.” Christ’s purpose for the church is the same purpose that God had for Him, that we all should be holy and without blemish. Christ knew that living as becomes holiness, or as becomes a saint, is the way in which God reveals Himself, an invisible God, to the world. Again, the answer to the question, What is a saint? Those who are called and chosen to be holy so that the world knows the Holy One.

So, how do we become holy? It’s not the main purpose of my message, but I just want to go through what I would consider four quick pillars. How do we become holy? How do we stay holy? Well, let’s answer those questions, because if we’re to live as becomes saints, we must first be made a saint. To be made a saint, God must call and choose. Let’s go back to Numbers sixteen. Numbers sixteen, a very familiar account, Korah and Dathan and Abiram, that was quoted earlier in Psalms.

Verse one, “Now, Korah, the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben; took men, and they rose against Moses with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly.” I would say they’re pretty popular. Pretty great, famous in the congregation, it says men of renown, not just famous, but of renown. “And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said, You take too much upon you.”

I want you to know something, Moses and Aaron, all the congregation are holy. We’re all saints around here. That sounds like a holier-than-thou attitude developing. “Every one of them, they insist, and the Lord is among them,” too, not just you and Aaron. “Why then do you lift yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?” And when Moses... “Why are you the top guns?” “Why then do you lift yourselves among the congregation of the Lord? And when Moses heard it...” Good indication why he was... He answered their question, but he didn’t answer it, if you will, with any words.

It says, “He fell upon his face.” Let me answer that for you. I’m going to get down real quick because things are going to go really bad. I know the holy God that you’re referring to. “And he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, Even tomorrow, the Lord will show everyone who are His and who is holy, and will cause to come near to Him. Even those whom He has chosen will He cause to come near Him.

This do: Take censers, Korah and all his company, and put fire therein and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow. And it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses, he shall be holy.” Jump down to verse thirty-two. And we know what happened. “And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed Korah up and their houses, all the men in the alliance of Korah.” I’m going to venture to guess that God said they weren’t holy and they were much less representing Him, the Holy One, on earth. And I won’t have that.

Brethren, we know the ultimate plan of God. Holiness and righteousness will fill the earth. Some may look holy. We even may claim to be holy. Only God will reveal that when time comes. Hebrews thirteen, verse eight says, “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever.” Brethren, God must choose His holy ones, and we have a privileged calling. God has given us the title. Now, what are we going to do with it? And how did we get it? That’s number one. God must choose us. Hebrews thirteen. The second way. The second way.

One is no less important than the other. Hebrews Thirteen, verse eight, “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Verse nine, “Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines for it is good that the heart be established with grace, not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. We have an altar, wherefore they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp or outside the camp.” Verse twelve. “Wherefore Jesus also,” was killed outside the camp, “...that he might sanctify the people,” God’s people, “...with his own blood.” Remember the definition of hagios? To make physically pure, morally blameless, and ceremonially consecrated. Jesus sanctified those God calls and chooses with His own blood. Without Christ’s blood, no one can be hagiazo. You can’t be sanctified without the blood of Christ and without God choosing you from the foundation of the world.

This word comes from G40. Hagiazo, sanctify the people. It means to make holy, to consecrate ceremonially. No one could stand before God or be in good standing with God without being ceremonially consecrated, whether it be in the Old Testament or the New Testament. And it took the blood of Christ to put people in a position where they could be holy. First Peter one. So God must choose you if you are to be holy. You must be chosen by Him to reveal who He is to those who observe us.

Christ’s blood must sanctify whomever God chooses and selects. Second one, First Peter one and verse one. “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience,” in the sight of that word, “...and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ,” there it is again, Jesus Christ, the blood, “...grace unto you and peace be multiplied.”

Peter again makes it clear that holiness comes from the sprinkling of Christ’s blood. However, the apostle Peter adds that the Holy Spirit sanctifies, which God gives us when hands are laid on us after accepting Christ’s sacrifice and being baptized. God must choose you, the blood of Christ must sanctify us, and the Holy Spirit that we receive at baptism, having accepted the sacrifice of Christ for our sins, we receive the Holy Spirit, which continues to help us become holy because being holy is a process, brethren, and it takes the Holy Spirit to sanctify us.

Romans chapter fifteen. As I said, I just mentioned the three. It takes God to choose you, Christ’s blood, and the Holy Spirit for us to be holy and continue and remain holy. Romans fifteen and verse fourteen. “And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that you are also full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.” Mature by every indication, full of goodness, filled with all knowledge.

“Nevertheless, I have written the more boldly to you as putting you in mind because of the grace that is given to me of God, that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” There it is, the Holy Spirit. And not just Israelites, not just Jews.

Anywhere in the world, brethren, wherever you may find yourself, Israelite or Gentile or a combination of both, if you receive the Holy Spirit after God has chosen you and the blood of Christ has sanctified you, you can reveal the Holy One of God wherever you are. In Africa, in Australia, in Europe, wherever you may find yourself, South America, North America, anywhere in the world, you have the exact same calling because of God’s Spirit in the previous two. Second Thessalonians two. I want to drive this point home.

Second Thessalonians chapter two. Speaking of the man of sin, in verse three, and warning the brethren to stand firm until the very end. Remember that it said, Peter said, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience. Brethren, pay very close attention to this. I believe God has chosen each and every one of us, you, through your parents, prospective members. Meditate on that. I know that Christ’s blood sanctified each and every one of us that have been baptized.

I know that all that have had their hands laid on them have access and have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, and you youth, we’re going to see, have the Holy Spirit working with you. Verse thirteen. “But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, and beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you,” there it is again, first step in being holy, “...has chosen you to salvation...” through what? “...through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.”

Oh, he layered in something else there, the Apostle Paul. Not just sanctification by the Holy Spirit, but by belief of the truth, and remember what Peter said? Unto obedience. “...whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Those are three pillars needed to carry the title of saint. But I just alluded to the fourth. John seventeen. God must choose and call, Christ’s blood must ceremonially sanctify, and God in Christ’s Spirit must purify us unto obedience.

False Christianity falls well short of understanding of those and certainly falls short of this fourth pillar of being holy. When the Bible shows us clearly, the Bible, you can read it, says clearly that is just a beginning, what I described. And I will tell you, the many who have left us recently or over the past two thousand years wanted the title of saint, but as becoming of saint was a little bit too tough for them. That’s when the rubber hit the road.

They wanted the title of saint, but they didn’t want to continue and persevere in what it took or what you needed to endure to live as becomes a saint to the very end. And here’s what truly separates us, making us noticeably holy, making us noticeably awe-inspiring to those who are reading us every single day. Verse one, John seventeen verse one. “These words spoke Jesus and lifted his eyes to heaven...” as He was praying. What knowledge we have now, brethren, that He looked to heaven because He knew the Father was very close.

Verse six. “I have manifested your name unto the men which you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word, for I have given them the words which you gave me.” Verse fourteen. “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that you should take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil of this world,” is what He’s saying.

Verse sixteen. “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” Verse seventeen. “Sanctify,” make holy, hagiazo, which makes a hagios, “...sanctify them through your truth. Your word is truth.” Brethren, Romans twelve tells us that the law of God is hagios, holy. And the commandment, it says, holy, hagios, just, and good. Brethren, the same Greek word describes God, describes Christ, describes us, describes the Spirit, describes His word. No wonder Christ could say, so that we would all be one. One in what? Holiness.

But those who called themselves saints once because they fulfilled, let’s say, the first three, God did call them, they did accept Christ’s sacrifice and the sanctification of their lives by His blood. They had hands laid on them and received the Holy Spirit. But this fourth pillar, they did not want to obey the truth, the word that sanctifies us. The word of God, we know, washes us, purifies us, helps us maintain our holiness that we took upon us or received when we were baptized. First Corinthians chapter seven. I said I would address the young people.

Brethren, this is the measure by which we need to measure our lives now because this is the standard by which God will measure us and is measuring us. If we measure ourselves against this and we align our lives in a way that lives “as becomes saints,” we have nothing to worry about. We’ve accomplished the ultimate mission, which is to reflect the Holy One and the Holy One of God and the way in which we think and we talk and we act. And young people, that includes you.

Remember I said that that same word in the Greek describes God, Christ, the scriptures, us, parents, His law. First Corinthians chapter seven, verse fourteen. Think about this, parents, the impact that you have. “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified,” that same word, made holy, translated elsewhere, saint, “...by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified,” same word, made holy, “...by the husband, elsewhere, your children unclean, but now are they holy.” It’s the exact same word as saint.

You may not be called a saint, but your calling is as if you were. You have been sanctified by God through your parents. So you have one thing to do, and we’ve heard it recently. Take the time that we have very seriously, prospective members. If you were thinking considering baptism, this is the reason why you have been called to reveal the Holy One, God. And you can only become holy through what I just explained. Everyone, young, old, anywhere in between. If you doubt something specific in your life that doesn’t meet this standard, pray.

Ask God to reveal the answer. He’ll answer you in His word, through Bible study. Holiness is so critical fast. If an area of your life is not aligned to as becoming saints or as is becoming of a saint, meditate on the scriptures that talk about holiness, and of course, exercise God’s Holy Spirit that helps our minds become holy in our thinking. If you’re not meeting the standard, do something about it. Change. Desire to be holy, to live up to the title. Again, it’s less about the title and everything about the way we carry ourselves. Go to the church’s library and search.

Go to the sermon library and listen to messages on the area that you’re wrestling with. Being holy is critical. If someone were going to perceive that Elisha was pretending, faking being a saint of God or a holy man of God, it would have been that woman. So my advice, take what you’ve learned, take what you’re learning from all the messages. This isn’t about how to do every area in your life so that it becomes holy. I’ll leave that to you. That’s what all the vast number of messages are for. This is more of an overarching message to inspire you to take what you’re learning and apply it.

As become saints, must always be genuine and consistent, and that’s what provoked that great woman to have Elisha come back again and again and again and again. We must be genuine, consistent in our holiness, no matter where we are or with whomever we are. We could be alone in our rooms at nighttime, we could be walking in the park, we could be grocery shopping, visiting family, hanging out with college buddies or high school friends or at work. We must be genuinely and consistently living as becoming saints, and it doesn’t mean you have to be strange.

There’s nothing in the scriptures that tell you, you need to be strange or weird. You know where the lines are drawn. Stay on those sides of the line. It will draw the right people to you. It will keep the wrong people away. Christ ate with publicans and tax, and He was accused of everything, of being a winebibber because He drank wine, but He never, ever conceded His holiness or gave in or lowered the standard. Holiness is everywhere in the Bible, brethren. How to live as become saints is everywhere in the Bible.

Revelation four. Final verses here. We’ll stay in Revelation to end. Revelation four. How we have been learning from this book, I would venture to say like never before. We’re learning things in Revelation that are just mind-boggling, awesome. I’ll say even awful, full of awe. Revelation four, one, it says this. “After this, I looked and behold, a door was open in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up here, and I will show you things which must be hereafter.

And immediately I was in the spirit. Behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. Verse eight. “And the four beasts had each six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying,” What? “...Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come.” Three times, the four beasts called Lord God Almighty holy.

“The four and twenty elders fall before him that sat on the throne and worship him that lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honor, and power, for you have created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created.” The four beasts know what that standard is. Revelation fifteen, and verse one. “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are your ways, you king of saints,” you king of holy people. Revelation twenty. God is holy. And verse five. Twenty verse five.

“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the chief resurrection, the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that is part in the first resurrection.” You know, I used to read that as kind of a commentary on making it to the chief resurrection. In other words, if you make it, you’re blessed. I didn’t read it quite the same way when I saw holy there. I said, “No, wait, that’s a statement of fact, that’s what got them to the chief resurrection.” Holiness.

Certainly, we’re blessed, all of us, in whatever stage in the plan that God has to bring people into the God family. But holiness is a requirement to be a part of that. To be a part of that. And Revelation twenty-two, the final verse. Brethren, never forget that true holiness will fill most people with awe. No different than with Christ, no different than with ancient Israel, no different than with you and me. It will draw the right people towards us, and most importantly, it draws us and God closer together. Holiness will never draw us to the world.

Think about that. Think about that. We learned that from the encounter between Elisha and the great woman. The world would be drawn to holiness, but holiness will not draw us to the world. And here’s how Revelation twenty-two ends. We know where it applies prophetically, but what about us as we read this? Verse eleven. “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. He which is filthy, let him be filthy still. He that is righteous, let him be righteous still,” and brethren, “...and he that is holy, let him be holy still.”