Life has a habit of tripping us up, situations arising where people say ‘gotcha!’

Some of these life scenarios are simply annoying, like the time Garry got stuck descending from Brimham Rocks in North Yorkshire:

Others are more serious, like the way the angler fish lures its prey with its inviting light…

Some situations, like the accident which killed the MAF pilot in Papua New Guinea when he flew into the Hindenberg Wall (a narrow set of mountain peaks), are fatal. The Bible makes it clear that to avoid these ‘gotcha!’ situations, we need both knowledge and wisdom (see 1 Cor 1:25, Js 1:5, Js 3:17).

The biggest trap of all is the lie that life can be lived adequately and wisely without God. Many try to do this, but Prov 1:7 reminds us that the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge. Prov 2:1-6 tells us that a search for wisdom is necessary if we are to navigate the pitfalls in life. We need first of all to be saved and then go on to live the life God has planned for us if we are to embrace true wisdom.

God urged His people to leave Assyria and touch no unclean thing, to depart from there and be pure. (Is 52:11) The call for holiness will always involve a separation from things that are impure and unclean because God is pure and clean. Much of the Old Testament law had to do with working out cleanliness and purity in everyday living.

Paul quotes Is 52:11 in 2 Cor 6, explaining it by saying, ‘Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?’ (2 Cor 6:14-15) Paul is not saying we should have nothing at all to do with non-Christians – we live in the world with them and are called to live out our faith in such a way that they will see our good deeds and praise God because of them –  but he is saying that we should not choose to link our lives irrevocably to them – in marriage, in business, in ways that will involve us walking together in step, the way that oxen have to walk together in unity when they are yoked together.

The call to holiness has immense practical implications for us. It means choosing wisely our friends, partners and business colleagues. It means thinking seriously about God in every area of our living, refusing to separate ‘secular’ and ‘sacred’, but allowing God into every area of our lives. It also means living with a long-term perspective. We have promises and hopes that will not only last for a lifetime of seventy or eighty years; we have blessings that are promised us to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and throughout eternity!

Ultimately, we can have confidence in God to complete the work He has begun in us. ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.’ (1 Thess 5:23-24)

Consecration involves 3 stages, according to Eph 4:22-24:

1. Putting off the old self
2. Being made new in the attitude of your minds
3. Putting on the new self

Saying No

We have to learn to say no to the old way of life and to the pull of our old sinful nature. (Titus 2:12) This is a daily battle, hence our prayer ‘lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ (Matt 6:13)

Having New Attitudes

God’s Spirit within us transforms the attitude of our minds (Rom 12:1-2). This second stage involves learning to lean on God for everything and to see things through His eyes, to understand the dual nature of His work in us and our cooperation with Him (see Phil 2:12-13) and to understand also that sanctification is a process (see Heb 10:14). Being made new in the attitude of our minds means that we come to see ourselves, other people and the world as God sees them, accepting His authority and rule over all.

Putting On The New Self

God has given us robes of righteousness and garments of salvation to wear, as well as spiritual armour to put on (Eph 6:10-16).  The third stage, putting on the new self, is where we do more than mentally assent to what we read in the Bible. It’s when we not only hear God, but obey Him. We don’t merely listen to the word, but we do what it says. (James 1:22) Ultimately, the call to consecration means we are putting God first in our lives, before anything else and anyone else, and this is a vital spiritual principle. If we don’t put God first and offer ourselves to Him as living sacrifices (Rom 12:1), we will end up trying to do God’s work in our own strength and will end up flat on our faces. 2 Cor 6:14-15 and 2 Tim 2:20-21 remind us that there has to be a difference between God’s people and the rest of the world. We must offer ourselves daily to God to be used in His service.

Mother Teresa said, ‘holiness consists in accepting and following the will of God. Holiness and obedience are inextricably intertwined. As we obey God, He will purify us, sanctify us and make us holy, for ‘holiness consists simply in doing God’s will, and being just what God wants us to be.’ (Thérèse of Lisieux) Holy people will see God do amazing things and will be involved in those amazing things, for His glory and fame.

This morning’s sermon continued our ‘Battles and Blessings’ series, looking at how Joshua dealt with the challenge of leading God’s people into the Promised Land. Moses was dead and he was given the job of leading the people of Israel (see Josh 1:2=6); now, having spied out Jericho, Joshua encourages the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.’ (Josh 3:5)

The battle for holiness will always precede the blessings of victory. God calls us to consecrate ourselves, to set ourselves apart for Him, for He is a holy God (see Lev 11:44-45, 1 Pet 1:13-16). We need to understand the holiness of God (see Is 6:3, Hab 1:3), for He wants us to be pure and clean, set apart for His service (see also Ex 19:9-13, Heb 12:18-21). God has made a way for sinners to approach His throne through the blood of Jesus Christ (Heb 12:22-24, Heb 10:20) and there is a dual aspect to consecration, for He is both the One who has made us holy and who continues that process of sanctification (Heb 10:14).

Our part in this process of sanctification is given in Eph 4:22-24, where we are told to ‘put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.’ This leads us into great blessings, for the pure in heart will see God (Matt 5:11). We are washed by God’s word (Eph 5:26), cleansed from all unrighteousness and led into a greater relationship with our God when we desire to consecrate ourselves.

We know some of the amazing things that God did through Joshua and the people of Israel, how they crossed that river, how they placed stones there as a memorial to all God had done, how they ultimately captured Jericho and moved in to the Promised Land. God has amazing things in store for us too. But we cannot see the amazing things of God unless we choose to consecrate ourselves, unless we choose to be holy, unless we take seriously the holiness of God and His commands to us to be holy as He is holy. We are made holy through Christ’s perfect sacrifice; we are being made holy by His Spirit living within us.

As we gallop towards the halfway point in the year, there is a lot planned for June!

Next weekend (3/4 June) is the Pentecost weekend, when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on the church in power (see Acts 2). We will be joining in a ‘Churches Together’ Pentecost Party at the Salvation Army at 4 p.m. on Saturday 3rd June and will be having our family service on the theme of ‘Pentecost Power’ on Sunday 4th June at 6 p.m. as well as our morning Communion service at 10.30 a.m. that Sunday.

On Saturday 10th June we will be having a cleaning and maintenance day from 10 a.m. Come along to help spruce up the building and get on with those essential jobs!

On Tuesday 20th June we will be hosting a ‘Churches Together’ prayer meeting at 10.30 a.m. Come along to pray for our churches, our local community and our nation.

On Saturday 24th June at 6 p.m. we will have our Annual General Meeting, looking back over the past year and looking forward to all God has in store for us in the year to come.

In addition, we meet every Sunday at 10.30 a.m. (at Cherry Tree Court on 11th June) and at 6 p.m. and have prayer meetings/ Bible studies on Thursdays at 7.30 p.m. Don’t forget to pray also for our coffee morning outreach (Saturday mornings), our youth outreach (Monday evenings) and our Parent & Toddler group (Friday mornings).

Three views that shape our identity:

1. Our own nature: what we believe about ourselves
2. Other people: what they believe about us
3. God: the only truly unbiased opinion we will ever know

If we are lucky, we start life with people cooing and comforting, telling us we are loved, precious, beautiful and valued. But all too often, these opinions are biased and we encounter others that say the opposite: that we are unloved, scorned, useless, ugly, unimportant and insignificant. Michael W. Smith sings of these feelings in the song ‘Never Been Unloved‘, a song which makes use of the prefix -un to describe our attitudes and behaviour: ‘I have been unfaithful…unworthy… unrighteous…unreachable…unteachable…unwilling… undesirable…unwise… undone by what I’m unsure of…unbroken …unmended …uneasy…  unapproachable… unemotional… unexceptional…undecided… unqualified…unfair… unfit for blessings from above.’

The confusion between the different opinions of others causes internal division and uncertainty. Whom do we believe? Such directly contraditctory opinions can’t all be true.

Then there is our own opinon: how we see ourselves. This is hugely influenced by our formative years, but even the most loved child can be shaped not only by what others say but by their own personality and inner thoughts. Some have critical, negative views of themselves, leading to further layers of insecurity and doubt.

Ultimately, the only objective opinion about ourselves comes from God. He gives us value and worth, unconditional love, security and significance. He is not sentimental in His appraisal of us, so we can trust His judgmenjts. He will also not be swayed in His opinion, as we are, by behaviour. His love and acceptance are not dependent on our niceness, cuteness, attractiveness or goodness. They spring from His own united, faithful character, not from our likeability. (Deut 9:6)

Our identity is ultimately decided and determined by God, which gives us stability and strength. Others may, like Samuel, only see the outward appearance and judge the book according to the cover (think of Simon Cowell’s initial reaction to seeing Susan Boyle, compared to how he reacted when she actually sang for him!) Our own view of our identity may seem like a fragmented kaleidoscope picture, liable to change depending on how we feel or whose voice is whispering most loudly into our ears.

But God’s view will not change. To Him, we are precious (Is 43:4), loved (Jer 31:3, John 3:16), valued (Matt 10:31), accepted (Eph 1:6) and changed (2 Cor 3:18, 2 Cor 5:17). That puts backbone into our weakness and strength into our step.