The Key of Holiness | Dr. Mike Woods, Sr. | {Replay from AIB TV}

Today on the Attitude of a Believer ought to be to practice holiness. Again, this is not popular, it's not preached much today, and people don't want to hear it because people have ascribed to the disposition that I can do what I want to do. And most preachers, because they look at their members as stockholders and shareholders to keep the business of ministry functional. They're afraid to address sin and unholy living because they fear they're gonna lose money. They're gonna lose— Grace and peace be multiplied to each of you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For those of you who are uninitiated, this is Apostle Mike Woods, and welcome To Rada now. I'm so glad you're here. We're excited to share the word of the Lord with you tonight. Listen, it's going to be phenomenal. So right now I need you to like this video, comment below, let us know where you're watching from, and please share it with someone else. You know, the Bible says we're blessed to be a blessing. Listen, tonight we're talking about the key of amazing called holiness. This is key number 5, and we're super excited to share this word word because you know what, honestly, it's not preached much in the church today. But I want to challenge you, open your heart, open your mind, take an introspective look closely and examine yourself. And if you find anything that's not like the Lord, take it out. Ask him to forgive you, ask him to strengthen you so you can put difference between that which is holy and that which is unholy. So I'm excited that you're here. Don't scroll again, please. Like, comment, and share right now and stay with us because this is going to be absolutely amazing. Let's go into this message already in progress. This is the key called holiness. Nevertheless, we're going to share it anyway. Glory to God. Key number 5 is holiness. Somebody say holiness. Come on, say it again. Say holiness. Yes. Glory to God. I need you to be very clear that God has called us to live under the auspices of practical holiness and responsible Christianity. I'm gonna say it again. We as his church, his people, we have to operate under the auspices of practical holiness and responsible Christianity. And believe it or not, it is more important now than it ever has been. Touch yourself and say, I got to be holy. Responsible Christianity deals with the idea that you're not just a hearer of the word but you are a doer of the word also. Yes, it also deals with the reality that you put into practice behaviors that represent God outside of the church. Responsible Christianity says that even when you don't come up to practical holiness. You are responsible enough to repent. Oh my God, because some people now make mistakes, fall in sin, go to church every Sunday, speak in tongues, run, jump, shout, spit, blow bubbles, but they are not responsible because they have come to believe that as long as I play the grace card, I'm okay. But there is a passage of scripture, uh, the Apostle Paul writes to the Romans. He says in Romans 6, I think it is, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. In other words, Paul speaks to the abuse of grace. He speaks to us moving in a realm where we, we just don't want to do right. We don't want to be delivered. We don't want to be responsible for carrying the light of God's holiness. And God knows— I, I raise both my hands, my feet— in my life I have messed up. And have needed the grace of God. But at the end of the day, there is no excuse for planned sin, premeditated sin. Hallelujah! The Bible says if you sin, yes, you have an advocate with the Father. In other words, while you're trying to practice what's right, if you fall on the way to that, the advocate is there. But the attitude of the believer ought to be to practice holiness. Again, this is not popular, it's not preached much today, and people don't want to hear it because people have ascribed to the disposition that I can do what I want to do. That's right. And most preachers, because they look at their members as stockholders and shareholders to keep the business of ministry functional. They're afraid to address sin and unholy living because they fear they're going to lose finances, they're going to lose the church budget. So I better preach what they want to hear. I better not step on their toes. That's what the modern-day preacher says. But the devil is a liar. We must tell the truth now more than ever. So let's get into this, and I'm going to teach a little while this morning, so just stay with me. Let's look at what holiness is, because I think a lot of people have missed the reality of what holiness really is. So first, let's look at some etymology. Let's get some working definition of this word. The word holiness— first of all, let's do, let's do what is not, okay? Holiness is not a dress code, right? Right. Let me say that one more time. Holiness is not a dress code. I grew up in church where holiness was defined as how long your dress was. If you didn't take off makeup, they called you Jezebel. If you wore makeup, you couldn't wear earrings. The ladies couldn't put perm in their hair, and God knows they needed it, y'all. And they needed some makeup too. Y'all not talking. But they told them they wasn't holy. If they put it on. But let me be real honest with you right here. I learned growing up in the church, not in the world. Matter of fact, worldly girls were more, uh, respectful toward me being saved than the ones in the church. Y'all not talking to me here. But I learned in the church that it was just as much hell under a long dress as it was a short dress. It just took that woman a longer dress, a little longer to bend down and pull hers up and do what she had to do. Y'all quiet. Listen, but because holiness starts on the inside, that's right. But growing up, it seemingly the people needed to have all these rules and regulations in place to feel like they were saved. Don't comb your hair, don't brush your teeth, don't wear earrings, don't wear makeup, don't play basketball, don't go to the movies. If you didn't do that stuff, they said you was holy. But holiness begins in the heart. Holiness doesn't start on the outside. Matter of fact, holiness is when God superimposes his holiness on you. Oh, shi! Good God Almighty. And God is the essence of holiness. Watch this. The context for holiness comes from God. You really can't know holiness if you don't know God. Hallelujah. Uh-oh. So here's, here's the problem. Most people don't live holy because they don't know God. Hallelujah! Because if you really get a revelation of God, yes, you will think twice before you do wrong. Uh-huh. You will have a context to judge your behavior and your actions. That's right. Wait a minute, we said we have the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit. Oh God. So we got the Holy Spirit, which is God in us. He is present to be a guide to do what's right, to watch this, to do what's holy. The church has lost this. Everything goes now. Holiness, when we read it in the Hebrew context, is from a Hebrew word kadosh. And kadosh means to cut away, to separate, to cut off from. Oh boy, to be holy means that you are isolated from that which is toxic. From that which is polluted. You separate yourself from that that doesn't reflect the nature of God. To be holy means to be entirely morally pure. Oh my God, it means to be morally pure all the time. Good God Almighty. Somebody say, all the time. All the time. And in every way. So kadosh deals with the idea that I'm morally pure, cut off, cut away, isolated, separated from anything that doesn't reflect the mind of God, the nature of God. So if I'm Holy Harry, I shouldn't be in a strip club. Y'all not talking to me here. That doesn't reflect the nature of God. If I'm holy, the only woman I should be making love to is my wife. Y'all not talking to me here. If I'm holy, I shouldn't be watching pornography. Y'all not talking— listen, see, we, we've escaped this. If I'm holy, I can't be a whoremonger, right? If I'm holy, I shouldn't be telling lies. Oh God, help us. If I'm holy, I can't be gay. Oh, y'all talk— I can't be a lesbian. It's not the reflection of God's nature. Oh, this won't be popular, y'all, I'm telling you right now, because people want to do what they want to do. But the reason the church lacks power— you got preachers that can intellectualize the text, pontificate, and make super hermeneutical adjustments to it. It sounds good, it rattles your fancy, but there's no oil. They can't heal a flea with a headache, can't cast out a devil Y'all not talking to me here because there's no power because there's no holiness. I want to submit to you today, no holiness, no power. I'm gonna say that one more time, no holiness, no power. We see a lot of false manifestations that are born out of filth, and God says we got to be holy. That's right, because he's holy. Hallelujah. Again, he's called us to practical holiness and responsible Christianity. And what's this? The church should be a light. The Bible says you are light unto the world. Yeah, a city that sits on a hill that cannot be hid. How do we expect an amazing God to manifest his amazing promises if we refuse to live for him? Amen. The word— watch this, oh my God— holy behavior, it's a word called pneumaticos in Greek. Pneumaticos means that you exhibit the behavior of the Holy Ghost. So when you get filled with the Holy Ghost, your life should be an expression of pneumatikos. You should make choices daily to listen to the Holy Spirit and behave as he suggests. Lord have mercy. Just say that with me. Say, Lord, I want to be holy. Lord, I want to be holy. And God knows we're not innocent, but we can be holy. We made mistakes, we got a past, but we can make a choice from this day forward that our life will be clean. Hallelujah! That's right. Glory to the name of God. So why is it, Michael Woods, that holiness is important? My goodness, glad you asked. Before I answer that inquiry, because there are people that will say, oh, we're living under the grace of God and God forgives my sin and God loves me. He does love you, but he hates sin. And we gotta understand that there's a difference in our standing in God and our state in God. All right, so, so let's look at these two important pieces: standing versus state. You, you need to understand. Then I'm gonna answer that question why holiness is important. See, our standing is what we are in Christ before God. The reason the Father in his authority and power has not killed us because of sin. It's because of our standing. Coming up on Rhoda Now. The holiness of God will defend me. Somebody give God glory. I got to get out of here. Good God Almighty, why? We might as well have church here. Why then is holiness important? It's important, one, because it pleases God and guarantees access to his plan, to his resources. Why? Okay, well, praise the Lord. Listen, I know you're enjoying that message, but I wanted to break in here because I want to bring some clarity to a few things. When I'm teaching on Sunday morning, I'm really teaching at a different pace. We're streaming live. And just a lot of things are happening, and we're trying to make sure that we, uh, don't lose the attention of people who are watching. But I really feel it necessary here tonight to break in here and say something briefly. We're going to get back into the word, but I want to break in here and talk to you really quickly about state and standing. Your standing and your state in Christ are two different things. So your standing relates to your position in Christ spiritually, who we are in Christ. The scripture says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, which refers to the spiritual dimension of our reality— listen, we are tripartite beings. We're body, soul, and spirit. We are a trichotomy. So knowing that Our standing now is the way God looks at us through the efficacious vicarious work of Calvary. So the substitutionary work of Calvary saves our spirit. And 2 Corinthians— watch this— 5:17 says this. It says, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away, and behold, all things have become new. Uh, Colossians 3:2 says this, and I'm gonna read these and then I'm gonna talk about them a little bit. It says, you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. 1 John 3:1-2, it says, beloved, now you are the sons of God. So watch this. So when I come under the spout again of the efficacious, vicarious, substitutionary work of Calvary, the blood of Jesus, our King and our Lord, when I come under, surrender to that and accept him as Savior, immediately my spirit— hear me— when I am, oh my God, filled with the Holy Ghost, baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and receive God into my life. Watch this. Immediately, hear me, immediately my spirit is saved and God now sees me as a son. Now this is our place in the realm of the spirit. That is our standing. Wait a minute. So our standing in Christ then, watch this, is perfect. Huh. Glory to God. Watch this. First Colossians 1. And verse 13 says, who has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us— listen to this— into the kingdom of his dear Son. Now watch this, both instances, hath delivered us and hath translated us, past tense. So again, when I submit to the work of the cross, he— watch this— forgives my sins. He delivers me from the power of darkness. Now the power of darkness has no more authority in my spirit, and now I've been translated from the kingdom of man, the kingdom of darkness, into the kingdom of his dear Son. How powerful is that, man? So watch this, your standing is perfect. Let me talk a little bit about your state, okay? Your state, on the other hand, relates to who we are in ourselves. So watch this. Your body is used to sin. Your soulical man is used to processing acts that manifest in the flesh. Oh my God, that be— that are sinful. Your spirit is saved, so now your body— that's why it says mortify the members of your flesh. Let me show you our state in scripture, okay? Uh, let's show it side by side with our standing. I don't have much time. The Bible says in 1 John 3:2-3, beloved, now you are the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that had this hope in him purified himself even as he is pure. So watch this. Now I must deliberately display some pneumaticos. I must live in a way that pleases God so that— watch this— the holiness and the power of my perfect spirit can pass through my soul, purify my soul, and manifest out of my body. Lord, help us today. So I want you to understand, because there are people that say, well, once saved, always saved. Then there are people that say, oh well, I can do what I want to do. No, you can't. If you want to experience the power of the living God while you're here on this earth, listen to me, you have to purify yourself even as you appear. So you have to make a choice. The pneumaticos in Greek, pneuma, atikos. Atikos is behavior. Pneuma is the spirit, or the Spirit of God. So you have to exhibit spiritual behavior that aligns itself with the leading of the Holy Ghost. Now let's go back into this word, man. I just wanted to stop and give you that. Look, don't go, it's something special at the end of this stream tonight. God bless you. So watch this. So when you got saved you became immediately one with God. You are— you're standing before God is that the blood is covering you. That's right. Watch this. But our state is what we experience in our walk in the world before others. Now watch this. The manifestation of who God is, it's not predicated upon your standing. God's manifestation in your life in the earth realm is predicated upon your state. Hallelujah! How you live before others. Because God says there's some things I can't trust you with. Amen. Because you ain't gonna do right. That's right. So your state has to mature. See, power often is accommodated by purity. I could tell you, I've been in ministry 31 years, and there are some seasons I know my life wasn't where it needed to be. And I can tell you from experience, being someone that had moved in power, and then when impurity was in my heart and in my life, power was limited. Y'all have to say nothing, it's the truth anyhow. God will remove himself and say, you on your own, buddy. Yeah, you need to get this together, you need to get your mind right. Get your life right and I can trust you with this power. Listen, at the pinnacle of when I've seen the greatest miracles in my ministry, it was attached to a life of purity, a life of cleanness. And watch this, any person that comes into your life that cannot respect your purity and all they want is to appease what you give them in the flesh You need to start asking some questions. What's more important? Is it more important that I flow in power, or I get these 2 minutes? Y'all not talking. That my flesh wants— listen, at the end of the day, it's not worth it. And I'm telling you, I've been there. I've been— I woke up in the wrong bed a lot of times. Y'all not talking to me here. That's the grown folks, y'all. That's okay, stay with me. Glory to God. I, I, I've woke up in the wrong bed a lot of times, crying, repenting before God. But you know what? When I look back over it, it wasn't worth it. Sin will make you pay more than you want to pay and stay longer than you want to stay. And you got to make up in your mind, I want to be clean. I want my state to mature that I'm not— that I can walk by it and don't want it. Y'all not talking to me here, man. I'm so good to say I could be scrolling my Instagram and see all them Instagram chicks who don't wear clothes and take pictures and just keep going. There was a time in my life, no buddy, I'm gonna stop and look at that. Look how y'all looking at me like y'all just left heaven to come to church this morning and your chariot is outside waiting to carry you back to glory. Y'all know what I'm talking about. Act like nothing ain't never tempted you. But there was a time in my life I'd be stopping at all them photos.