OPEN HEAVENS
SUNDAY 26TH JULY, 2015.
DIVIDENDS OF HOLINESS
Memorise:
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Hosea 10:12
Read: Lamentations 3:22-25
22 It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
BIBLE IN A YEAR: EZRA 1-3 AND JOHN 4:46-5:18
MESSAGE
Everyone saved by the precious Blood of the Lamb is called to a lifestyle of holiness (1st Thessalonians 4:7). Believe it or not, a lifestyle of holiness pays great dividends. Proverbs 11:19 says:
“As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.”
There is therefore a link between righteousness and life, just as there is a link between sin and death (Romans 6:23). Although God has promised you long life in Psalm 91:16, it is only when you live holy that this promise can be fulfilled in your life (Psalm 91:14). If you look close enough, you will discover that most of God’s promises have conditions attached to their fulfilment. If you live holy, you will easily have access to long life, but if you live in disobedience or secret sin, you have moved from life to death. Are you holy? Are you still secretly living in sin? Repent today and turn a new leaf!
Another dividend of holiness is mercy. If you sow holiness, you will reap a harvest of God’s mercy. Hosea 10:12 says:
“Sow to yourself in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”
Holiness is a seed. If you sow holiness, mercy will definitely be part of your harvest. If there is one thing all men need at all times, it is the mercy of the Most High God. Lamentation 3:22 says we are alive today not by our efforts or power but by the mercy of God. Just as holiness is a seed, sin is also a seed. If you sow sin, you will reap judgement and death (2nd Corinthians 5:10). Mercy makes God to relate with you not on the basis of your sins, but on the basis of Christ’s sacrificial death and shed blood. Mercy makes God not to give you the punishment you deserve, but sin ensures you are served what you sowed. Sin ensures God relates with you only on the basis of your crimes or evils. God has said that the soul who sins shall die (Ezekiel 18:20). If God were to relate strictly with us on the basis of our sins, everyone on earth would have died by now (Psalm 130:3). If you want to live long and enjoy God’s mercy on a continuous basis, live holy. Live to please God and God alone.
Key point:
The wisest people on earth are those who live according to God’s commands.
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