A New Kind of Holiness
As we pursue a life of abandonment to God through prayer and worship we are inevitably bound to run into obstacles along the way. This should come as no real surprise - there is nothing that hell fears more than a son or daughter of God that is bent upon seeking the Kingdom first in this way. If you feel like you are the only one that is struggling to answer the call to “pray and fast” in a way that is exceptional in western Christianity, do no fear – you are not alone. True surrender to Jesus does not come naturally. I should tell you up front that it will be one of the greatest battles of your life. The devil, the world, and even your own sinful flesh are raging against you, and rare are the friends that will encourage you in these noble heavenly pursuits.
Yet Jesus does not leave us unequipped. The Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7, gives a map for holy living that starts and ends with radical prayer. However, the way is different than one might think.
To most Christians, the phrase “holiness” instantly conjures up images of staunch and out of style one-piece bathing suits, restrictions against dancing, and non-negotiable prohibitions against alcohol and cuss words. As the author Rick Joyner has rightly noted, Satan expends great effort slandering the words and concepts that potentially cause him the greatest harm. True holiness is about something far more transcendent than a list of do’s and don’ts. When I think of holiness, I think of Stephen the martyr praying for his persecutors as he is stoned and mocked by the religious leaders of his day. I think of an eighty year old man that has lived his whole life for God, praying quietly in a rocking chair and still weeping with fresh love for his Savior. I think of Jesus Himself, the Lord of Glory, stooping down on hands and knees to wash the feet of His bewildered disciples. That is holiness. Holiness is love that transcends mere human emotion, passion that endures great suffering for the sake of something invisible, and a lifestyle that confuses the carnal mind and attracts the humble heart. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, calls us to this kind of holiness. It is no less than the call to “be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
Towards the end of the Apostle John’s prophetic encounter in the book of Revelation, he witnesses the end time overcomers burst out in unified adoration of God, “You alone are holy!” (Revelation 15:4) God alone is holy, and yet we are called to participate in His holiness by the miracle of grace. “As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:15-16) We are mandated to be holy – a true biblical holiness, not the distorted and cynical notions that are so prominent in our generation. God is set upon raising up a pure and spotless bride that is ready for the returning Bridegroom. It is possible, and it is happening in our generation.
The Sermon on the Mount guides us in this wonderful quest to walk as Jesus walked. He starts out by plumb lining our expectations and fleshly notions of righteousness: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Happy are those who are desperate for God; those that know they cannot be holy in their own strength, those that do not trust in themselves. “Blessed are those who mourn” – oh, happy are the ones that grieve over the distance between themselves and God! American Christianity may tell us to “relax in God’s grace,” but the Sermon on the Mount calls us to a higher way of living. Jesus says, blessed are those that can’t stand the fact that they don’t walk and talk like Jesus yet! Blessed are you when you have pain over the compromise and apathy in your life. And on He goes, shattering our pride and shadow lives with every following verse, climaxing with the mandate to “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). You see, the Lord’s strategy is for us to come into this thing on our knees. If you are thinking, I can’t love like that! – then you are getting it. We can’t do this – it is about crying out for God’s mercy and grace and living in utter dependence on Him. God is inviting us into the impossible, for all things are possible with Him. Dear friends, we have degraded true holiness by reducing it to rules and regulations about drink and gambling. I believe that a spirit of holiness is going to be released upon the prayer movement in this generation that will give expression and body to the Sermon on the Mount. If you doubt it, read Revelation 19:7-8. The bride, the church at the end of the age, will be clothed with righteousness, ready for Jesus Himself. It is more than possible, it is promised in the holy words of Scripture.
The call to holiness has everything to do with a life of prayer. Leonard Ravenhill states rather succinctly, “He who prays stops sinning. He who sins stops praying.” Every time I read that phrase I immediately think, “Leo! You’ve oversimplified. It must be more complicated than that.” Well, it may be, but good ol’ Ravenhill merely takes the whole conversation to the lowest common denominator. Prayer is connecting with God, and in this fellowship we are changed. We find our identity in Christ, and we begin to accept and love the other people around us. We feel His burden for the lost, and we begin to intercede. We feel conviction over our compromise, and we repent. We feel His passionate love for us, even in our weakness, and we smile in His presence. In short, we start to become holy. In the other direction, when we pursue anger and lust, our spirits are bruised and we sever our union with the Lord. Without repentance, we continue on the road of destruction and the call to prayer gradually seems burdensome and foolish. He who continues to sin stops praying.
Here we are, in our twenties, pursuing the call to live a lifestyle of abandonment to Jesus through fasting, prayer, and His Word. Can you imagine what we will look like in twenty more years if we stay the course? There will be a seal of divine fire on our hearts and on our hands. Nothing will compel us but the love of Christ; no one will distract as we strain towards the finish line. As Jesus showed us in the Sermon on the Mount, it starts with poorness of spirit, the desperation of fasting and prayer, but it ends in true biblical holiness.
Yet Jesus does not leave us unequipped. The Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7, gives a map for holy living that starts and ends with radical prayer. However, the way is different than one might think.
To most Christians, the phrase “holiness” instantly conjures up images of staunch and out of style one-piece bathing suits, restrictions against dancing, and non-negotiable prohibitions against alcohol and cuss words. As the author Rick Joyner has rightly noted, Satan expends great effort slandering the words and concepts that potentially cause him the greatest harm. True holiness is about something far more transcendent than a list of do’s and don’ts. When I think of holiness, I think of Stephen the martyr praying for his persecutors as he is stoned and mocked by the religious leaders of his day. I think of an eighty year old man that has lived his whole life for God, praying quietly in a rocking chair and still weeping with fresh love for his Savior. I think of Jesus Himself, the Lord of Glory, stooping down on hands and knees to wash the feet of His bewildered disciples. That is holiness. Holiness is love that transcends mere human emotion, passion that endures great suffering for the sake of something invisible, and a lifestyle that confuses the carnal mind and attracts the humble heart. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, calls us to this kind of holiness. It is no less than the call to “be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
Towards the end of the Apostle John’s prophetic encounter in the book of Revelation, he witnesses the end time overcomers burst out in unified adoration of God, “You alone are holy!” (Revelation 15:4) God alone is holy, and yet we are called to participate in His holiness by the miracle of grace. “As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:15-16) We are mandated to be holy – a true biblical holiness, not the distorted and cynical notions that are so prominent in our generation. God is set upon raising up a pure and spotless bride that is ready for the returning Bridegroom. It is possible, and it is happening in our generation.
The Sermon on the Mount guides us in this wonderful quest to walk as Jesus walked. He starts out by plumb lining our expectations and fleshly notions of righteousness: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Happy are those who are desperate for God; those that know they cannot be holy in their own strength, those that do not trust in themselves. “Blessed are those who mourn” – oh, happy are the ones that grieve over the distance between themselves and God! American Christianity may tell us to “relax in God’s grace,” but the Sermon on the Mount calls us to a higher way of living. Jesus says, blessed are those that can’t stand the fact that they don’t walk and talk like Jesus yet! Blessed are you when you have pain over the compromise and apathy in your life. And on He goes, shattering our pride and shadow lives with every following verse, climaxing with the mandate to “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). You see, the Lord’s strategy is for us to come into this thing on our knees. If you are thinking, I can’t love like that! – then you are getting it. We can’t do this – it is about crying out for God’s mercy and grace and living in utter dependence on Him. God is inviting us into the impossible, for all things are possible with Him. Dear friends, we have degraded true holiness by reducing it to rules and regulations about drink and gambling. I believe that a spirit of holiness is going to be released upon the prayer movement in this generation that will give expression and body to the Sermon on the Mount. If you doubt it, read Revelation 19:7-8. The bride, the church at the end of the age, will be clothed with righteousness, ready for Jesus Himself. It is more than possible, it is promised in the holy words of Scripture.
The call to holiness has everything to do with a life of prayer. Leonard Ravenhill states rather succinctly, “He who prays stops sinning. He who sins stops praying.” Every time I read that phrase I immediately think, “Leo! You’ve oversimplified. It must be more complicated than that.” Well, it may be, but good ol’ Ravenhill merely takes the whole conversation to the lowest common denominator. Prayer is connecting with God, and in this fellowship we are changed. We find our identity in Christ, and we begin to accept and love the other people around us. We feel His burden for the lost, and we begin to intercede. We feel conviction over our compromise, and we repent. We feel His passionate love for us, even in our weakness, and we smile in His presence. In short, we start to become holy. In the other direction, when we pursue anger and lust, our spirits are bruised and we sever our union with the Lord. Without repentance, we continue on the road of destruction and the call to prayer gradually seems burdensome and foolish. He who continues to sin stops praying.
Here we are, in our twenties, pursuing the call to live a lifestyle of abandonment to Jesus through fasting, prayer, and His Word. Can you imagine what we will look like in twenty more years if we stay the course? There will be a seal of divine fire on our hearts and on our hands. Nothing will compel us but the love of Christ; no one will distract as we strain towards the finish line. As Jesus showed us in the Sermon on the Mount, it starts with poorness of spirit, the desperation of fasting and prayer, but it ends in true biblical holiness.
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