>> Okay, so hope you guys had a good time. In fellowship, hanging out, going out to eat together. As we think about this day's theme of God's holiness and things like that. A big portion of it, obviously, it's not necessarily something brand spanking new to you. But every time we get together like this, it is such good refreshes for us to think about how we are treating God and how we're relating to him.

And so let's take a moment to pray. And then as we enter into time of worship, I want us to kind of frame it in that way. Worship can be an activity for us. But also in many ways, we know there is a directional and relational aspect where this is our expression, right?

This is in many ways, this is how we're treating the Lord, so to speak. Let's take a moment to bow in prayer. Heavenly Father, as I think about, as we together think about you, we want to, Lord, more and more express to you how much we love you. And being able to sing to you, Lord God, is sweet food to our soul.

Because God, that is a longing of our heart. And Lord, as we hear your word, for a lot of us, these things that we hear is just a reminder to God that we want to respect you for who you are, we want to prioritize you for who you are, and we want to love you for who you are.

And so to that end, God, I pray that all the things that we hear, the words that we lift up to you, would truly be for us expressions of our relationship with you. And God, would you continue to bless us in that? Lord, as we sing to you, would you bless our heart?

And then Lord, as we hear your word, would you thoroughly cause our minds and our hearts to be blessed this time? We thank you it's in Christ and we pray. Amen. Why don't we all stand for a time of praise? Lift up your case, be lifted up. Tell everyone how great the love.

We've come down from heaven's gates to kiss the earth with hope and grace. Lift up your case, be lifted up. Tell everyone how great the love. We've come down from heaven's gates to kiss the earth with hope and grace. Who is this King of glory? The Lord is strong and mighty.

Lift up your hands, be lifted up. Let the redeemed declare the love. And we bow down at heaven's gates to kiss the feet of hope and grace. Who is this King of glory? The Lord is strong and mighty. There is one God, he is holy. There is one Lord over everything.

There is one King, he is Jesus. The King of glory, strong and mighty. There is one God, he is holy. There is one Lord over everything. There is one King, he is Jesus. The King of glory, strong and mighty. You are the King of glory. The Lord is strong and mighty.

You are the King of glory. The Lord is strong and mighty. You are the King of glory. The Lord is strong and mighty. You are the King of glory. The Lord is strong and mighty. Lord, I give you my heart. I give you my soul. I live for you alone.

Every breath that I take. Every moment I'm awake. Lord, have your way in me. This is my desire. This is my desire. To honor you. Lord, with all my heart, I worship you. All I have within me, I give you first. All that I adore is in you. Lord, I give you my heart.

I give you my soul. I live for you alone. Every breath that I take. Every moment I'm awake. Lord, have your way in me. This is my desire. This is my desire. To honor you. Lord, with all my heart, I worship you. All I have within me, I give you first.

All that I adore is in you. Lord, I give you my heart. I give you my soul. I live for you alone. Every breath that I take. Every moment I'm awake. Lord, have your way in me. Lord, I give you my heart. I give you my soul. I live for you alone.

Every breath that I take. Every moment I'm awake. Lord, have your way in me. You may be seated. Okay. So, earlier I mentioned, you know, this is in many ways, as we think about the holiness of God, and then our own application of that, it is kind of like a motivational speech, in the sense that essentially what we're singing there is at the heart of the exhortation.

Basically, to love God more. If we're seeing him in the right light, to respect him more, to honor him more, to prioritize him more, right? That's at the heart of the exhortation. And earlier this morning, we were learning and thinking through, if we think about the holiness of God, and particularly the fact that he is unique, and therefore of utmost, highest, and transcendent value, then there is a different way you handle him.

There's a different way you treat him. Where it should not be just like every single day, and it should be essentially uncommon, as opposed to commonplace. And what I said was, what's really profound about all this, is then in terms of not only God's holiness, but our relationship to it, what is going to be the primary character trait of that relationship we have with God.

And the exhortation I have for you in this second sermon, is that this relationship is going to be marked by faithfulness. And another way to put it, is how I entitled this day, and the topic and theme, is faithfulness can be synonymous with something like loyalty. You're doing your best to be loyal to this God.

But another way I want to put it, is in order to be loyal with God, there is this element of exclusivity. Where there is this element of, yes, you're being loyal to God, but not at the same time, entertaining or having other relationships. And so that's why I entitled the day's theme, "Reserved for God." That our interaction and relationship with God is not about just the do's and don'ts, it's not about limitations, it's not about prohibitions, but it's more about your reservation, that you have been set apart, consecrated for the Lord.

And therefore, when other opportunities come, when other enjoyments, other enticements and allurements come, that our heart says, "Nope, I'm not actually engaging in this because I have already been claimed, and reserved for the Lord." That is the way we ought to think, that is the way we're supposed to be framing our interaction with God.

In the epic battle between, "Oh, are we supposed to operate by faith?" and then trying to fight our natural inclination to do what is easy, which is to operate by law, operate by rules and principles. Just tell me what I need to do. In that epic battle, the way you overcome is to make sure that your relationship with God is seen by way of these words, "Your reserved faithfulness, your simplistic but very clear devotion, I'm yours." That's it.

And that's why I said today is going to be in many ways just a reminder, a push, and a motivation for you to love the Lord in that way, to be able to say, "God, there's a sentiment that I want to express to you, which was in the morning, 'You matter so much to me, you're everything.'" But then there's also another flip side to that exact same coin, which is you being able to say, "I'm entirely yours." And there, I'm done with my sermon.

That's the main point, that's the main thrust, and that's how I want to phrase it. One of the passages that we read earlier in our mini-talk or mini-sermon at 2 o'clock was Galatians 5, verse 22. And I'm going to just reference for you, so don't turn there for the sake of time.

Just listen carefully. Galatians 5, verse 22 stated, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." And then it says, "Against such things there is no law." Pause there and ask the question, "Huh, but there is law, right?" God commands us to be patient with all.

God commands us to have joy. "Rejoice always," He said, right? God commands us to be kind and good and just and faithful. God commands us to be gentle even with those who are caught in sin. The very next chapter, Galatians 6, actually begins with that. "If a brother is caught in sin, you who are spiritual, correct him, but with gentleness." That's an order.

So what in the world does He mean when He says that the fruits of the Spirit, of such things there is no law? Why? Why no law when you've clearly given us commandment in the Scripture? Because in life, there are things that are not governed by just simply law.

Especially when you have the heart of saying, "I am 100% yours." Tell me, what governing principles, what governing limitations, right? What governing to-dos and not-dos exists in a kind of hard attitude that says, "I am 100% yours." Why? Because I love you. Right? There are things in life that are not governed in such ways, but are rather governed by love, reservation, where you have reserved yourself freely and volitionally to the Lord.

And what you have then is not law, but you have freedom. You can come and ask me for advice. Do you think it's wise to give X amount to the Lord? Do you think it's wise to devote two hours to praise? Do you think it's wise? What do you think I'm going to say to you?

Do it! It would be awesome if you could pray for an hour, sing songs like this for two hours, read the Scriptures for three, fellowship with the saints for four. Just do it to your heart's content. Why? Because that question of "should I" is not governed by law. It's governed by your love relationship with God.

Amen? And that's the amazing thing we have with the Lord, where God has given to us this context. This is, again, one of the massive grace gifts of the Gospel, for you to freely love God and have Him, but also for you to freely give of yourself to the Lord that you would be fully His.

Take a look at this passage. This is point one. Turn your Bibles to Leviticus 20, verses 24-26. Leviticus 20, verses 24-26. As we turn there, this is where we recognize what's funny is Leviticus is an entire book of laws. And yet what we find is this operating principle that God's love is upon us, and He gives to us the context that we would freely, freely engage the Lord in this love relationship.

Leviticus 20, starting from verse 24, says this. "Hence I have said to you, you are to possess their land, and I myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey." That's a promise of God. I'm going to give this to you. But then He says, "I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples." That's the love of God.

God has consecrated you. He has now made you no longer just like the rest, following the devices of fallen mankind, but He has sanctified you. He has pulled you out from a wicked generation. And then He said, "I'm going to make you mine." Verse 25, "You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean.

And you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean. Thus, you are to be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy, and I have set you apart from the peoples to be mine." Wow.

We could camp out here and meditate on this. Point one, essentially, is to recognize and meditate that our relationship with the Holy God is to think of it as reserved for Him. Right? Our relationship with the Holy God is to be reserved for Him. That's point one. Take a moment to meditate and think about this.

In so many different sermons and in so many different contexts, we have been thoroughly rebuked. "Do not see God as the vending machine who is there to give you gifts for this life." Absolutely true. Right? And in the Gospel, we recognize to think of God in such ways is to belittle Him and to belittle the work that He has done.

Why? Because to think of the Gospel in that way, where God is a giver of gifts, it means that God, upon looking at the orphan child who is naked, bleeding, and cast out, and thrown away-- that's how the Scripture describes, God describes people prior to His salvation work. He saw a child, bloody, naked, thrown away.

And if you believe the Gospel of this sort, you're saying, "God gave that baby a nice camping mat. What a gracious God." That's not the reality of the Gospel. God did not come by and say, "Do you need a canteen? You thirsty?" To see God as merely a giver of gifts is to see God as an individual who happened to be a good Samaritan.

But that's not the fullness of the Gospel. The fullness of the Gospel was, "You who are bloodied and cast out, I bring you home. I adopt you and make you mine. I am now going to be responsible, not only, yes, for your food, not only for your sleep, but for your sustenance, provision, and entirety of life." And ask the child, "What would you like more?

Would you like a nice camping mat, or would you like a father?" That to us is a distinction, and that's what we have for us in Leviticus, is our relationship with this Holy God is that He has sanctified us and consecrated us to Him. So the point of the text, the verse you're underlining is verse 24 and 26, where it says, "Thus you are to be holy to me." He says, "You're supposed to be holy to me." And He Himself says, "I set you apart from the rest of the people." How emphatic there is, "to be mine." You see, in the epic battle of living life as a Pharisee and a legalist versus living life by faith is understanding this distinction.

My holiness is not a token of my achievement. My holiness is this relationship. God has set me apart for Him. Right? Those individuals who see holiness as some kind of benchmark, those individuals who see holiness as some kind of leveling up, like it's some kind of single-player strategy game, it's an absolute different worldview.

But here and now, God is teaching us there is a relational, applied nature to the relationship we have with this Holy God. And therefore, we see the connection in Deuteronomy chapter 6. Go there now, Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4, and as a prep for you, this passage is to the Jew the epic passage.

This is the passage every good Jew has to memorize. This is the passage every good Jew has to recite over and over again. But what we know it as is this is the golden rule, the greatest of all commandments. Let me read it for you guys. Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 4.

It says, "Hear, O Israel, "the Lord is one." That statement summarizes for us what we learned in the morning. He is unique, he is singular, there is none like him, and therefore he is of utmost sacredness, utmost value. And therefore, verse 5, "You shall then love the Lord your God "with all your heart, with all your soul, "with all your might, "and these words that I command you today "shall be on your heart.

"You shall teach them diligently to your children "and shall talk to them when you sit in your house "and when you walk by the way "and you will lie down and when you rise." All of these things he says, "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand.

"They shall be as frontlets between your eyes." They had little boxes, some of these individuals. "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house "and on your gates." What's really interesting about all this is just a moment ago I said, "According to the governance of love, "there is no such law in terms of what you should do." But here, he describes what you should do to express the love that you have for God.

Basically, write it everywhere. The fact of the matter is, though, for every single one of us, we know what it means to love so much that we would gladly post photos of the people we love everywhere. Right? You all have photos of your family members, your best friends, right on your desk.

It's the same concept, that the standalone God should have such high place in our affection. Yes? The God who is one should have such a high place in all of our affection that with our heart, soul, and mind, we adore him. This is the kind of relationship we are to have.

Now, the reason why I'm trying to emphasize it and rephrase it and repicture it is because this is where truly the battle is. If this affection wanes, then everything you do at church in terms of putting up photos, putting up this, you know what that's going to feel like?

It's going to feel like having a box between your eyes. You know what it's going to feel like? It's going to feel like having a sticker on your hand and saying you did something. If this aspect of the affection that you have for God because he is singular, because he is holy, is lost, then the reason and purpose for everything we do at church is lost.

And so I want to rephrase how we are to think of our relationship with God in another way by having you turn to 2 Corinthians 11, verse 2. Turn your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 11, verse 2. Okay. As you turn there, Apostle Paul is going to frame for us how he envisions our relationship with the Lord.

And Apostle Paul in that statement then also is able to place himself and his role in the universe. Take a look at this. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 2. It says, "For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." Take a moment to think and meditate on that, how he is envisioning your relationship to Christ. And then therefore he's able to think about his role.

How many of you guys like being matchmakers? How many of you guys enjoy that stuff? It's like, you know who you'd fit really well with? And when you see people, you're like, you know who you could get really along with? Apostle Paul is picturing himself as the matchmaker. He's like, you know what I want to do?

Not only am I going to be your matchmaker, I'm going to prepare you. I'm going to help you get all dressed up. I'm going to prepare you, get all ready for your union with Christ. That's the way he's envisioning. So the reason why this all matters is because when we start thinking about the practicals of your daily decisions in your holiness, and we talked about it during the Q&A, decisions about your moves, like where and when you move, decisions about your career, decisions also, yes, about dating, decisions about how much and why you invest, all of these things has an element of what should you do based on wisdom and reality and information you have.

However, here and now then, we're going to use a different kind of parameter, a kind of wisdom that is not exercised by the world. You see, the world has its kind of standards, and it keeps wanting to tell this to us. Just maximize your gain. Easy. I can tell you what to do.

Just maximize. You know, a famous philosopher, Aristotle, he had lots of principles for living. One of the things he said that people use is, "You know what? In everything, just moderation. Just don't overdo it." And some people live by that mantra. Just want a balanced life. Everything has to be kind of manageable.

My schedule, my ambitions, my church, my devotion, all that kind of stuff. But honestly speaking, all those things is low standards of living. All of those things are deficient principles. Why? Because for us, what we're trying to do is preserve ourselves in the purity that God wants so that we would be as pure virgins for Christ.

To think of ourselves in that way, "I am reserved." And so, when you think about that, think about all the ramifications. I didn't want to just give you specific do's and don'ts. I wanted to give you a broader framework. Think about the ramifications of what it means for you to not give yourself away to various things, but rather preserve yourself so that you would be pure.

And so, I want to talk about a couple of these things. Now, the way that I'm going to move into talking about these things is to say, when we think about being pure, being reserved, and preserved, I want us to follow the example of Christ. Because another way to think of it is the fastest way to holiness is to be more like Jesus.

And so, in this whole talk about having a relationship, in this whole talk about being in an intimate relationship with God, with love, have you ever thought about this? It's like, "Huh, sometimes I struggle so much with how do I express myself? How do I express my love for the Lord?" Have you ever thought about copying Jesus and his love for God?

Jesus is typically to us the model of suffering, the model of sacrifice. Jesus is typically to us the model of how to absorb all the angst, anxiety, and troubles of this world. That's typically a lot of times how people think of Jesus' example. Have you ever thought about Jesus' example in his love and devotion to God the Father?

And that's what we're going to do. Scripture tells us that our fastest way to holiness essentially is imitation. That we who call on the name of the Lord, as we abide in him, we ought to walk in the way that he walked. Right? So, in this way of thinking about it, the next point I want to talk about, point two, is in the example of Christ, his reservation for God was his loyalty.

I want you to write down an important term to think about his loyalty. Turn in your Bibles to John chapter 17, verse 13. Okay? This is Jesus' high priestly prayer. What an intimate relationship that Jesus had with God. Such a way that he really expressed himself as one with the Lord.

But what you find is Jesus saying to God, essentially, on this life, "I've walked the path that you have set. I've walked in loyalty to you." So, if you turn in your Bibles to John chapter 17, this is Jesus going to the cross, praying to the Father, and this is what he says.

Starting from verse 13. He says, "Actually, although it's a little bit long, I'm going to start from Jesus' prayer there in verse 1. It says, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you. Even as you gave him authority over all flesh, that to all whom you have given him, he may give eternal life.

This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on the earth, having accomplished the work which you have given me to do. Now, Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was.

I have manifested your name to the men you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they have come to know that everything you have given me is from you. For the words which you have given me, I have given to them." Do you see this repeated theme?

Everything you gave me, I kept. I've honored you. I've served you. I've magnified you. Every word you give me, I've spoken. That's the theme that he's going to constantly say. Where was I? Verse 9. "I ask on their behalf, I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

And all things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, and yet they themselves are in the world, and I have come to you, Holy Father. Keep them in your name, the name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.

While I was with them, I was keeping them in your name, which you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition, so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled. But now I come to you, and these things I speak into the world, so that they may have my joy made full in themselves.

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 do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also sent them into the world. For their sake I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. Let's take a moment to pause there. Jesus essentially is giving a summary of what's happened so far.

And the intent of God that God has expressed. The purpose of God that God has sent Christ for. And what you see is this constant mentality, I am in you, you in me, we're like this. Right? I guess if I can mesh my fingers together into one, that would be more appropriate to the picture.

And the constant repeated idea is, everything you have desired me to do, I have done. This is the kind of loyalty. This is the kind of faithfulness. I want you to think about that in terms of now, quickly thinking through. That is a model, very much so of what we are following.

Right? For us, when we think about our loyalties to God, I want to ask you those categorical questions. Those questions of, Lord, I want to be about your business. I want to be about you. I want us to be one in this. I want us, essentially, to have such an existence on this world, where everything is through you, for you, by you, in you, of you.

It's from you, every other preposition you can possibly think about. And this is the idea of Christ's existing in a way by which there's nothing done here apart from God. This is the kind of loyalty and faithfulness Jesus has to the Lord. Right? And so, this is kind of an age-old struggle that every single one of us have.

Where rather than operating in this fashion where there is loyalty, where there is faithfulness, we regularly try and do, well, in terms of my workplace, I'm a completely different person working apart from you, working beside you, beside as in not next to you, but outside of you, doing my own thing.

And then on Sundays, I come to you running back. That's an entirely different picture. You see what I'm saying? And so, I want to give you this admonition. The Lord wants us to be tied in such a way, and this is the best example I can give. Again, the marriage example is so frequently used in the Scripture.

You know how once you're tied with somebody, even when you're dating, you come to church, and then people ask you, "Hey, where's your other person?" Right? If there's Billy dating Betty, it's like, "Hey, where's Betty?" Right? And you should know. Sorry, don't mean you. I just use the word Billy and Betty a lot, okay?

But I want you to think about that. To you, the Christian, your faithfulness in terms of your relationship should be so tight, the question regularly is, your awareness of God, your walking with God, is you expect the two to be together always. Right? And that's what I'm talking about.

I want to give you this interesting, like, thought. Hosea, just listen to these words. In Hosea 2, verses 19-20, we know that the Scripture used this book, we know that God used this prophet, to model what was to be God's relationship with His people. So listen carefully. God says, "I will betroth you to Me forever." Yes.

"I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in loving kindness and compassion. I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord." I find that pretty incredible. To think about the way God is thinking about us, He is thinking about us in that light, where He has created union between us and Him.

And that union is supposed to be characterized by such loyalty. And yet it has been the sin of mankind, and the sin of the people of God, the sin of the nation of Israel, and the sin of Christians in this day, where there's all kinds of adulterous behavior, not just by way of selling yourself, like perhaps in this scenario in Hosea, as a harlot, but in ways in which we act so many different ways.

For example, there are so many times when although, yes, as a married couple, you should be finding your protection and your unity in that harmony, but rather people want to find protection elsewhere. We're supposed to experience intimacy, affection within that relationship, but we long for it elsewhere. We're supposed to find acceptance, a sense of belonging within that relationship, but we're happy to find it elsewhere.

Those things that I just described to you, those are all absolute contrary antonyms of loyalty, right? But this has been the mark of mankind for so long. And so that's why Scripture says in James 4, He asked this question about where is the source of your quarrels and conflicts among you?

Do you not dissource your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on yourselves.

And then he says this, "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God? Do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose? He jealously desires the spirit which he has made to dwell in us." I want you to just reflect on that for a moment there because that, again, this point one about thinking ourselves as reserved for God is going to be to you one of the most powerful ways of framing and having a mentality through all the decisions of your life.

Yes? I want you to think in such a way where whenever you're engaged in a certain activity and you've got that little voice in your head that says, "Maybe this isn't wise." If you simply ask the question, "Is this wise?" your mind can go into all sorts of different rationales.

"But if I do this, I could get this. But if I do this, I'm going to get hurt. But if I do this," and we calculate so quickly. If you ask the question, "Is this right? Is this permissible?" your mind will quickly go into, "Well, he did it." And then you will rationalize the fact that this is all permissible.

The Scripture challenges us to think beyond those categories of asking ourselves, "Is it simply the norm, permissible? Have people done this before?" The Scripture is commanding us to ask an altogether different question. "Does this communicate my loyalty to my love?" And that's an altogether different question. That's my exhortation to you.

Is the decision I'm about to make right now, is it communicating loyalty? Is it communicating this kind of sentiment? And again, it's between, let's say, me and my wife. Could I go and hang out with another woman if I wanted to? As a pastor, truth be told, sometimes it's weird, right?

Because people ask me for advice, and I'll say, "Come to church." And then we meet out in like the cafe or something like that. But imagine if I decided, "Well, why don't I take you to with Chris?" You would think that was just absolutely silly, right? So the thing about it is, is that permissible?

We're just getting food. Your mind can so rationalize anything. Why? If Bia is actually not in the picture, and you start simplifying things down to a pure base of what it is, you can rationalize anything. But if I'm thinking about the heart of my wife, will she be jealous for me?

That's an entirely different question. Have you ever asked that? Have you ever thought to that extent? James says, "You realize God will be jealous for your heart because he gave you the new heart. He gave you that opportunity to exist with him in that love relationship as a unified spouse-husband relationship." In your decision-making, have you gone to ask the question, "Would my love feel jealous for me if I did this?" So people could ask all sorts of questions.

Should I go here? Should I go there? Should I do this? Should I do that? These are some questions you could ask to check your heart, but not only check your heart, but to consider, "Lord, if you were here right next to me, and you were as real as my wife, you were as real as my spouse, would you be jealous because I did this?

Would you question my loyalty? That will cause us to live in a completely different manner." And so that quickly makes me move to my next point, point number three, which is the Christian who is growing in maturity, in practical holiness, daily decisions, is the person who's going to be able to discern and be readily aware of what pleases and displeases his Lord.

So my question to you, when we're thinking about holiness applied, my question is not just simply, "Do you know what to do, what not to do in every situation?" The question more so is, "Do you have a sense of what pleases my Lord? Do you have a sense also of what displeases my Lord?" And this is something that our Lord Jesus is readily aware.

In the example of Christ, Christ said very clearly, "This is the will of my Father, that he loses nothing." "This is the will of my Father, that this life-giving faith, this truth of the gospel be given to them, so that they may have life and that they may be one with us." Jesus is so clear on the will of God.

"You have willed this from eternity. You have willed this from long ago. You have sent me for this purpose. This is your agenda. This is your business, and my food is to do the will of my Father." Our Lord is crystal clear. When he sees the temple, my Lord does not like this.

Right? My Lord will be enraged by this. When he sees the week, my Lord will have compassion on this. Our Savior is so in tune with the will of God. Turn your Bibles to Ephesians 5, verse 18, because this chapter, Ephesians 5, actually I'm going to highlight several verses from us.

Just turn over to Ephesians and go to chapter 5. I'm going to read various passages just within it. First passage I'm going to read is Ephesians 5, verse 1, where it says, "Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant offering." Take a look at this.

As he talks about everything you're supposed to put off and everything you're supposed to put on, what he says in verse 10 is this. I'm going to start reading actually in verse 9. "For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth, trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord." Scan your eyes to verse 15.

He says, "Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of your time because the days are evil." Verse 17, "So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." There are times when people want to know very specifically.

Is it God's will for me to take this job? There are times when people ask very specific questions. Is it God's will for me to date this person? There are some times we want to know exactly what he wants me to do in a supernatural way. Help me make this decision.

Just tell me what to do. But instead, a lot of times what the Lord wants you to know is not just simply the minutiae of the detail of the decision to be made. He wants you to understand his good pleasure. He wants you to be able to gauge what causes his displeasure.

So when you see various things that are happening in the world, there is a time and a place for everything. There's a time for you to be in great joy and happiness that things are happening, but there's a time for you to be upset and indignant about the things that are happening.

How do you tell the difference? The way you tell the difference is going to be, "Would God be pleased by this? Would be this to him pleasurable in his eyes? Or is this something that the Lord detests?" I want you to think about the way that people love each other.

And the fact of the matter is two individuals who have walked with each other in intimacy, two individuals who really know each other, can already predict, "Oh, no, no, no. My spouse is going to hate that shirt, right? Oh, no, no, no. My spouse is going to love that food.

Oh, no, no. My spouse is going to hate that stuff." Why? Because as you walk together, you are so in tune with your likes and dislikes that you can already tell. Yes? And so that's my question to you. If you want to grow in practical holiness in your life, are you growing in the things that the Lord has said, "I love these things"?

The Lord has said so many times in Scripture, "These things are precious to me." A meek individual who knows how to be humble. "These things are absolutely abhorrent abominations to me. Your haughty eyes that look up at me like, 'What in the world are you doing, God?'" God hates that attitude.

And we should hate it too. God loves to see the precious ladies who are meek, gentle, hardworking, wise, industrious. He says this is a jewel. Men who are responsible, strong, convicted, principled, and willing to serve, willing to carry in the burdens of others. He says, "Good job." Those things should ring in our ear regularly.

Those things should be to us like our sensitive palates for us to grow in practical holiness. And then as we think about that, now I want to move to point four. The holiness that we should seek should constantly transform the desires of our heart. As we think about what is palatable to us, what we are comfortable accepting, what we are okay with having exist in our lives, I am challenging you, you should know the will of God, and you should be able to say, "Uh-uh, that stuff cannot be here." It's like, "Yes, more of that, please." But clearly, in the end, this should absolutely transform our tastes.

Every single one of us, we can do that. Some of you hated pho when you were young. You said it smelled like feet, you said it smelled like sweat, you hated the fact that when the server came by, his thumb was always in the soup. And then now, you love the smell.

It's on you when you come out of the restaurant, and you love it. And if the waiter's thumb is not in the soup, you're like, "That's not authentic." It's not OG from Westminster. It grows on us. There are so many things, actually, that grow on us in our palate.

The thing about it is, for us, what is to somebody who is mature is the individual whose tastes are actually refined. And what is pleasurable to him has become the things of God. A lot of us, we're struggling because we know in theory, I know I'm supposed to like that stuff.

Let's be real, okay? I'm in the struggle of Christianity. I know I'm supposed to enjoy that stuff. Truth be told, it's hard. Truth be told, it can be dry as a bone. Truth be told, sometimes it actually is painful. Truth be told, sometimes it's very displeasurable. Yes? And what we need to do is continue to approach the Lord and say, "God, grow in me this heart that is changing both physically, both spiritually, both mentally, and of the spirit, where my taste buds are being transformed, that my palate is being matured and refined to the degree that my desires match yours, and what is pleasing to me, what is feeding my soul, are the things that the Lord desires." Go back in your Bible to that passage in John 17, and I want you to think about this, this idea of the desire of the heart, this idea of a mature palate.

Jesus, remember, is praying to God before his ultimate sacrifice. Jesus in this moment is agonizing, yes? He's going through incredible difficulty preparing his mind and his heart, and he prays. And what he says is this, verse 20. So we left off having read up to verse 19, and we read in verse 20, "I do not ask on behalf of these things alone, but for those who believe in me through their word, that they may be one even as you, Father, are in me and I in you.

They also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me." Verse 22. "The glory which you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that you sent me, and love them even as you have loved me.

Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not yet known you, yet I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me.

And I have made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you love me may be in them and I in them." I never thought about it this way. I always thought of it as because Jesus is agonizing to go to the cross, this is where Jesus is receiving the spiritual strength to go and do that which is impossible, which is an innocent man bear the penalty and die for sinners like them.

But you read it again and again, and you realize actually Jesus is pouring his heart out in terms of what he wants from the Father. Have you ever thought of it that way? Jesus is expressing to his Father, "God, what I want you to fulfill is this amazing plan that is both in us that we share our glory with these people.

And these souls that we love, we want to gather them in such a way that they're literally engulfed in us." I'm thinking, "Wow." And so when I sing songs of like, "Lord, your heart is so good, your intention is so kind," these are the passages I think about. Yes?

God's desire is profound. And what's to us our growing maturity is to take our desires and grow and rise to the stature of Christ. This is our prayer. Confession. After a long week of hard work, you know what I like? You know what I desire? I like stuff. I shared with this one group, my Bible study group, I did the whole like look at my screen time thing.

Do you know what it says? It's so funny. I'll just do another one for you now. Two hours and 20 minutes on shopping and food. So sad. Two hours, and you guys, I feel so blessed at this church because people know like you pastors and elders must be really busy, of which we are.

Very little sleep and our days just keep running. But I confess, after I'm done working, you know what I like? Stuff and food. (laughing) I want to read to you this ridiculous passage. Go in your Bibles to Hosea, please, and go back to Hosea chapter two. This passage just rebuked me to the core.

Okay. Go in your Bibles to Hosea chapter two, verse 21. Remember how I told you that God, because of the relationship he established with us, he is thinking on a jealousy level. He is thinking on a married, loyal, devout, unified level. And he exemplified that in Hosea. And what's really ridiculous to me is what he describes as the sin of Hosea.

Not Hosea. Hosea is the prophet. The name escapes me all of a sudden. I said, "Go." Thank you. Take a look at this passage, Hosea chapter two, verse 21. It will come about, so this is verse 21 of chapter two. It will come about in that day that I will respond to the pleasure of the Lord.

I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth, and the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. I will sow her to myself in the land, and I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion.

And I will say to those who were not my people, "You're my people." And they will say, "You are my God." Take a moment to pause right there. This scenario that he's describing is a future scenario, and it's ridiculous. It's appalling. You know why? Because what he says is he's going to call out to his people, but they're going to call out to somebody else.

But nevertheless, he's going to plant them, and he's going to have compassion on them, and he's going to give them such a mercy that he's going to allow them still to be called his people, and he will let them call him their God. Mind-blowing. It goes on. Then the Lord said to me, "Go again.

Love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, because that's the scenario. Even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes." What? I read that, and I laughed so hard. These adulterous people, I love them to death.

They're calling somebody else's name, which is, again, such, such perverse stuff. I love a woman who is an adulteress, giving herself to other people. They turn to other gods, and they love raisin cakes. And then I think about, "Ah, sometimes in my fleshly state, I am so pitiful because my simple desires make me so unholy.

It is not very hard to entice me to be unfaithful to my God, is it?" All somebody has to do--you guys pretty much know my sins because I've confessed them many times on this pulpit. You know I like cars, and so if you dangle, like, "Maybe you could drive this nice car," maybe I would think, "Maybe I can." If only I just spent less time with ministry, less time with family.

I could add that hobby to my schedule. Why not? There was this weird, weird day. You're so tired. You come home. Things don't go your way. And so all you want is to veg. All you want is to enjoy a hobby that you like. And then in my heart, I think, "What's wrong with that?" So then you allow yourself to fantasize about having such and such thing, and then there's frustration.

Why? Because such and such thing costs a lot of money. And then so you think, "Oh, I can't have that." But then if I change my course of life, and I get another job, and I get another career, I could have that. I'm a hardworking man. To you, it might sound strange, this weird flow of thought that goes from, "All I wanted was this," and then it moves to changing my entire trajectory of life.

But that's the nature of man. So in that way, one of the great battles we will have to do is to make sure that we address from the infancy level what in your mind is so desirable, what little raisin cakes are so tasty, that we would be sometimes willing to compromise, potentially test our God with jealousy, and sometimes even to change the entire trajectory of our lives.

Because can it happen? Yes. You guys know that, like, there have been times you, here, have counseled young men and women who wanted to be faithful, but all they did was every time finals came around, they just jettisoned God. And then they kept that compromise up until they ended up getting a job.

So every time there was a project due, they jettisoned God. And the next thing you know, all of a sudden, they stop coming to church. And the next thing you know, all of a sudden, they're so guilty, they feel so, I guess, ashamed, they don't even want to show up.

How many people have we walked with, where just a simple desire to get an A on that one paper was the compromise needed in order to set the trajectory for every other compromise they'll make? Now, my point in sharing that stuff is not just to make, let's say, us feel guilty about times we struggled to manage our schedule.

Because we do this struggle every week. Every week we do this struggle. But my challenge is not so much, oh, if you've ever just stayed up late and you worked hard on your paper to feel guilty. No, no, no, no. My challenge is at that moment when you're struggling, make sure you're checking your heart.

Lord, as I'm doing this, I have responsibilities, and there are some things I need to do, and I need to get it done. But in terms of my heart, I'm going to ask this question. Is there such a desire in me? Is it evident in me to a degree, for clearly what I'm pursuing is not of you?

Is there such a desire in me that is not mature? Is there such a desire in me that's less than the kind of faithful, loyal, humble, and devoted kind of love that I should be expressing towards you? Those are questions you should be asking yourself. And yes, although those questions are hard to answer, and yes, although sometimes it feels like all you're doing is being skeptical, it's good to test your heart.

Amen? And what I want to challenge you today is when it comes down to a kind of holiness that is of a practical growing maturity, it is individuals who have wrestled on that level that can offer up their mature desires. When Jesus says, "Ask of me anything," the lifted up desires of our hearts are going to be like Christ.

"Lord, what I desire are things of, I want to present my brother so pure in Christ. Lord, I desire my unity with you. Lord, I desire this church to be edified. Lord, I desire this truth to be proclaimed. Lord, I desire my Savior to be exalted. I desire," and your list can go on and on and on, and everything God hears is, "That's so sweet." That's what I picture in my head.

That when God rips open my chest and He's looking at, "What are you longing for? I want to give it to you," He's not thinking, "A beat-up car? That's what you want?" When He rips open my heart to see, it's like, "Do you want food? You like camp gear that much?" When He looks at the longing of my heart and He opens it in to see, and He says, "I want to give that to you because the affections and the things that you're seeking are right after my heart." That, bringing all things together here, that kind of heart is the heart that is most like God.

That kind of heart is the heart that is most like our Savior, and that's the kind of practical holiness that is truly set apart to the Lord. Amen? I hope then that you could take these principles, and rather than me having to say, "Go through the Galatians. Here are the fruits of your flesh.

Are you immoral and doing X, Y, and Z? Are you given to sensuality and doing X, Y, and Z? Are you doing things that are adulterous?" You would frame every single one of these things into, "Am I pleasing my Lord? Am I causing my Lord to hear from me my devotion, my pure sincerity?

I love you, and all of me is yours. Or am I presenting to my God a kind of sacrifice that is riddled with all of this stuff, anger, dispute, dissensions, and factions?" So you take those questions, and you apply them to the decisions that are being made. You take those questions, and you apply them to the struggles you have in your heart.

And I believe that when you make decisions that way, the Lord is not so concerned about, "Oh, in the end, you did it right." But how you came to those conclusions are going to be, "You really considered me as significant in your life. You really considered me as so important that you did the hard work of asking if I would be pleased." I genuinely believe our Heavenly Father, that's the faith He's looking for.

Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you that you are leading us to maturity, to growth. And I pray, as the Scriptures say, that you will cause us to keep walking this path where we are following your lead and your will for us to be sanctified. And you have said in Scripture that you are going to work all things in the church.

You're going to use this body so that we will rise to unity in Christ in such a way that we are all growing to the measure of Christ, into the fullness of His stature, into His maturity and holiness. And I pray, Father God, just as the Lord Jesus, His heart was so in tune with you.

He spoke your words. He accomplished your work. He was about your priorities. He was about your glory. And He cared not to be a respecter of man. But, God, He always feared you, and He entrusted Himself to you. I pray, Father God, our goal is that. And I ask, Lord, and we have confidence in you as our Heavenly Father, we know you will lead us in all things.

Lord, I pray right now for if there's any brother or sister here that is struggling with doubt, struggling against their flesh, and perhaps even failing in so many ways, may they experience such a grace as is mentioned in the book of Hosea. You call us, Lord, and then your desire and heart for us is to be sanctified to you.

Let them know that and experience that. And, God, I pray that any individual struggling would hear this prayer of Jesus, that, God, you would guard us and protect us in your name, that, Lord, we're so secure, we are bound up in you. So, God, in this way I pray that they would be encouraged, and in this way they would be motivated, that above and beyond any failure, Lord, we can continue to pursue your righteousness.

For, Lord, you are a gracious God. We thank you in Christ's name. Amen. Why don't we all stand for the response song? ♪ Purify my heart ♪ ♪ Let me be as gold ♪ ♪ In precious silver ♪ ♪ Purify my heart ♪ ♪ Let me be as gold ♪ ♪ Pure gold ♪ ♪ Refiner's flower ♪ ♪ My heart's one desire ♪ ♪ Is to be holy ♪ ♪ Sanctified for you, Lord ♪ ♪ I choose to be holy ♪ ♪ Set apart for you, my master ♪ ♪ Ready to do your will ♪ Here, from my heart.

♪ Purify my heart ♪ ♪ Cleanse me from within ♪ ♪ And make me holy ♪ ♪ Purify my heart ♪ ♪ Cleanse me from my sin ♪ ♪ Deep within ♪ ♪ Refiner's fire ♪ ♪ My heart's one desire ♪ ♪ Is to be holy ♪ ♪ Set apart for you, Lord ♪ ♪ I choose to be holy ♪ ♪ Set apart for you, my master ♪ ♪ Ready to do your will ♪ Refiner's fire.

♪ Refiner's fire ♪ ♪ My heart's one desire ♪ ♪ Is to be holy ♪ ♪ Set apart for you, Lord ♪ ♪ I choose to be holy ♪ ♪ Set apart for you, my master ♪ ♪ Ready to do your will ♪ Amen. You may be seated. (audience members chattering) Okay, so we're gonna go into a time of your small groups.

It's 7, like 55-ish right now, so you guys can have until nine, and then we'll come back here, and then we'll have one closing song together. So just keep an eye on the clock, just so you guys can be back here at the right time. So our next event for May is gonna be the weekend, the 15th and the 16th of May.

It's gonna be, it's like a potluck and prayer time. So we're gonna split you guys into groups, and then you guys, kind of like the BAM adventure one, you guys can choose which weekend, or what day you guys like, Saturday or Sunday, and then we'll kind of split you guys up into groups, and then hopefully you guys will kind of eat like a potluck, and then you guys will pray together, hopefully.

So I know that's actually pretty soon, so we're gonna have the sign-up starting probably by tomorrow, so just so you guys know. We have Justin, he's gonna come up, and he's gonna make a quick announcement. So after he's done, you guys are free to go into your small groups.

And then, oh, and then after everything is done, after our last song later, if you guys could just kind of help us clean up outside, that would be great, too. Okay, thank you. - Real quick for all you newcomers, 'cause I see a lot of new faces, next Saturday we're having a BAM welcome team, is actually doing a welcome event specifically for you new guys.

So I don't know if you guys are part of like the BAM page, or have gotten in the emails on our email list, but we've been sending like invites, and it's gonna be next Saturday, actually in the cafe over there now at 7 p.m. And what we're gonna be doing is just like a time of like, just a time to get to know each other, time of games, and then we'll also have some like sharing at the end of the day.

So yeah, it'll be a lot of fun, and you know, it's like an opportunity for us to get to know some of you new guys, and we also want to provide some information for maybe to help you guys get plugged in, too. So if you guys are interested, and you haven't gotten the invite yet, or aren't on the Facebook BAM page, just come up to me, and I'll let you know somebody else on the welcome team, and just talk to me, and I'll just get you invited, and send you some info, yeah?

So yeah. (applause) (audience chatter) (audience chatter) (audience chatter) (audience chatter) (audience chatter) (audience chatter) (audience chatter) (audience chatter) (audience chatter) (audience chatter)