Do you remember the massive slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people that occurred in Central Africa in the country of Rwanda? I read somewhere that it has been calculated that, during the 20th Century, over 200 million people lost their lives as a result of political decisions. These decisions brought war, slaughter, disease and famine. We may think that things like this could never happen in our country. Yet, you don't need an x-ray machine to see the cracks that are beginning to appear in the very fabric of our own society. In the past, we took pride in our unity as a nation. Even in the Pledge of Allegiance we say, "One nation, under God." However, in recent years, there seem to be forces at work that are actually encouraging, and even institutionalizing, disunity. We used to call ourselves Americans. Now we speak of ourselves as Asian-Americans, Latin-Americans, Afro-Americans, Native Americans, and so on.

You and I might say, "What difference does it make? Why can't we just live and let live?" That would be nice if it were possible. In the kingdom of heaven it is possible to live and let live; however, in the kingdom of sin it is impossible. The truth is that a heart that is not changed by the Holy Spirit cannot and will not "live and let live." Pride, selfishness, greed, lust, bitterness and hate will never win the "Good Housekeeping Neighbor of the Year Award."

You can see that if the devil were left here unchecked, and if the natural human heart (which is on his wavelength) were not restrained, this planet would be a virtual hell on earth. I don't need to tell you that we seem to be going in that direction. The book of Revelation tells us that, when Jesus comes, He will come to destroy them that are destroying the earth.

These days there have been laws enacted to protect the environment. It is unbelievable, but in the 21st century it seems there is more concern about protecting owls, whales, swamps, and so forth, than there is to protect our families and homes. By the way, I am in favor of protecting the environment, but I believe that we had better be careful not to make the environment a kind of cult. Remember, mankind has a natural instinct to worship nature instead of the God of nature. There is, in the current move to protect the environment, something that could well smack of Hindu pantheism. Pantheism, you know, sees nature itself as God. We must be careful not to be used by the special interests that are promoting this philosophy.

We live in a society that prosecutes a criminal who has tortured and raped a little child, but this same society will protect the rights of a publisher to print and distribute the pornographic and perverted books and magazines that inspired the criminal to commit the crime. Not long ago I was talking with a man who works as a prison librarian. He told me that he is required by law to order for the prison libraries the books that the prisoners request. He told me that the prisoners are constantly requesting the worst filth that the human mind can devise and print. I guess I'm just not very smart. I can't figure it out. Our communities have restrictions on how to handle sewage. There are regulations that determine the safety of drinking water. There are rules about the handling and storage of food. There are strict laws that govern the storage and transport of poisons and radioactive materials. Those who do not comply with these laws must pay stiff fines, even risk imprisonment.

I say I guess I'm not very smart, but I can't see why there should not also be strict laws that regulate, and even prohibit, the production, transport and sale of moral filth and poison. However, somehow this is seen as being against freedom and human rights. Even we who are Adventists are often mixed up in knowing how to stand in these matters. We know, of course, that one day freedom of worship will be taken away in this country, so to try to keep this from happening, we have come up with this thing that we ought not to try to legislate morals. You may not agree with me, but I am convinced that we are doing worse than throwing out the baby with the bath water in this respect. Personally, I don't believe that religion and morals are the same thing in a society. I believe this for the simple reason that a person can be moral and not be religious.

You may disagree with me, but I believe that the last six commandments are not, in their practical application, about a person's relationship with God, but rather they are about a person's relationship with their fellow human beings. From the beginning of time, in all kinds of societies, the principles found in the last six commandments have been the basis of the laws governing those societies--be they pagan, heathen, atheistic or Christian. I don't understand how the last six commandments somehow have gotten labeled, in the minds of many, as being religious laws. I can't see how "thou shalt not steal" or "thou shalt not kill" are religious laws. It seems to me that they are simply the laws protecting our persons and our property.

Please understand, I am not in favor of compulsory prayer in public schools; however, I am convinced that the curriculum in any school that does not include the teaching of the principles of the last six commandments will result in dehumanizing our children and will put them on the level of lower life forms. It seems to me that it is not contradictory to be a champion of religious liberty and also a champion of morality in human behavior. We've got to defend religious liberty, but somewhere along the way we must also defend the freedom of women and children to move around in society without being assaulted or abducted.

I am convinced that it is important that we must recognize that the devil doesn't just work in the Religious Right, but also with the God-denying, humanistic, pagan elements of society. I don't think that we need to align ourselves with the so-called left against the right. I think we need to be well aware that there are powerful forces at work on both sides, and the right and the left are, in effect, working together without knowing it. Together they will accomplish the devil's agenda on this planet. We believe that the forces on the right will ultimately take away our religious liberty. But we must also understand that forces on the left, if they are left unchecked, will turn this planet into moral anarchy where every man's hand will be against his brother, and everyone does what is right in their own eyes. So, let us be aware that the enemy is not just on our right, but also on the left, and in front of us and behind us! We need to be aware that the homosexual rights movement and the militant feminists' organizations are a threat to our ultimate quality of life. It seems to me that anarchy is as great a threat to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as is tyranny. Friends, it is for this reason that the Second Coming of Jesus is the only thing that can save us now. So it will be at that time when we will look up and say, "Lo, this is our God. We have waited for Him and He will save us."

In 1 Peter 1:15,16, the Scripture says, "Just as He who has called you is Holy, so be holy in all you do. For it is written, be holy because I am holy." For many people, to speak of holiness is often perceived as being something about wearing your hair in a bun, long skirts, black stockings and eating raw food. The fact of the matter is that holiness is what salvation is all about. Holy is what God is, and holiness is what He wants to give to His people. Holy is a word that is used more than 600 times in the Bible.

This sermon is about our part in the pursuit of holiness. There are many sincere people who would like to live a holy life, or who have tried to live holy lives, but gave up. Now they don't think that it is possible to do it. They have even tried to apply certain principles. They study hard and even attend seminars. This seems to work for a while. There is a temporary spiritual high, but then something happens and things slip back to the usual.

By the way, one place where many people get frustrated when they are trying to live a holy life is in the area of diet. I heard one time about a person who was reading in the Spirit of Prophecy that we eat too much, so that person began to eat less. Every time they read that quotation they were convicted that they still were eating too much, until at last they were just skin and bones!

In our pursuit of the holy life, we need to understand that, though a holy life will impact the diet, it is much more than the way we eat. Scripture tells us that a holy life is about more than diet. The holy life is a balanced life. The text says that we are to glorify God, not just in our eating and drinking, but in whatever we do. You and I must someday learn that holiness is not about emphasizing one truth at the expense of all the rest. True holiness does not lead to extremism or fanaticism. It is sin that is fanatical and goes to extremes. Sin has unbalanced us. It makes us tend to go to extremes even in good things. I am praying that the Lord will lead me to the middle of the road, and I don't mean between good and evil, but the middle of the right road.

Many people want holiness, but can't seem to get a handle on it. These people then get frustrated and become prime candidates for the "Let go and let God" thing. You've heard that one, haven't you? When people, who have become frustrated and discouraged, hear "Let go and let God," they say, "Now, this is good news!" They are overjoyed to be told that Jesus has already done it all, and that they need only to rest in Him. People are so excited when they hear this that they say it is almost like hearing the gospel for the first time. Perhaps some of us here have even gone sailing off into the "Let go and let God" thing. But, after awhile, if we will be truly honest with ourselves, we find that we are continuing to be defeated at the hand of our sinful natures. The victory of Christ, which He has done for all of us, still doesn't seem to be getting into our real lives. We still are being overcome by pride, jealousy, materialism, impatience and lust. We still eat too much, criticize each other, don't tell the truth, don't get along with our spouses, have lustful fantasies and hate ourselves all the time.

When your marriage is about to break up, or one of the children is abusing drugs, or you just lost your job, what good does it do to hear the preacher say that we don't need to worry--Jesus has done it all? It is like hearing that someone has cleaned up the house and then you get home and find that it is more messed up than ever. Or you hear that someone has paid off your bills and then you go to get in your car and find that, during the night, the bank has repossessed it. "Let go and let God" can be misleading if we are not thinking clearly. God has called us to live a holy life, and He makes it possible in Christ. But He has given us definite responsibilities.

A text that is being tossed around a lot these days is the one which says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Others are quick to quote another text that says that if we will just confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord we will be saved. I suspect that many of us don't know what the word "Lord" means. But people in Bible times knew. When we confess Christ and call Him Lord, that means that we are willingly committing our entire existence to Him and His will for our lives. To confess that Jesus is Lord and to believe on Jesus requires that we recognize ourselves as crucified with Him on the cross. This brings to an end the domination of sin in our lives. A person who really confesses Jesus as Lord and believes on Him will have a new life; the old life is crucified with Christ. A person who really believes on Jesus will increasingly hate sin and will more and more hunger and thirst after righteousness. Their lives will manifest more and more the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and self-control.

A person who has died in Christ has a completely different attitude toward sin. That person doesn't justify sin nor rationalize it, but neither do they see sin as a hopeless condition. Those who go by faith to the cross in Christ experience first-hand what it means, that as "we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." They know what it is like to be forgiven, but they are experiencing every day the best part of all and that is they are being cleansed from all unrighteousness.

You can know if you are experiencing a holy life, not by what you eat or don't eat, but because you are becoming aware that you are now truly sorry for your sinful attitudes and, more than anything, you want to do the will of God. The Bible calls this hungering and thirsting after righteousness. When this is happening to us, then God is truly working in us both to will and to do His good pleasure.

Romans 6 verses 1 and 6 tell us that we are dead to sin because we are crucified with Christ. Now, please listen to what I am about to say--it is extremely important. When Scripture says that we are dead to sin and crucified with Christ, it is not, in the sense, that we then will be free from the influence and presence of sin. A person who is actually dead is free from the influence and presence of sin. This is not the case for us who are alive. The fact is that being crucified in Christ obviously doesn't mean that we are physically dead. Though the war against sin was won at the cross, as long as we live sin will be a problem to us. Sin resorts to a kind of guerrilla warfare in our lives. Though we have a new life in Christ, sin is still around and will attack us when we least expect it, just like a sniper or terrorist. Even in the born-again Christian, the battle against sin continues. Romans 7 tells us that a sinful nature still resides in us. I don't need to tell you that this sinful nature exerts tremendous power and is constantly seeking to destroy our new life in Christ.

Galatians 5:17 says, "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary to each other, so that you cannot do the things you would." This text in Galatians, together with Romans, chapter 7 and a host of other verses, makes it crystal clear that to become a Christian does not mean to get out of the battle against sin. This is why, when you and I get serious about Jesus in our lives, things may actually get worse as far as the battle against sin is concerned. That is because we are not only at war against the devil, but we are at war with our natural selves. We used to do what came naturally and enjoyed it. We even had an alibi for it. Now, to look at our natural selves--the selfishness, pride, lust, bitterness and lack of self-control--makes us cry out, "O wretched person that I am!"

Reality shows us all that we are experienced sinners. Not only do we have the natural tendency to sin, but sin is even established in the way that we think. Scripture says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death." In another place it says, "My ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts." So, even when we are born again and begin a new life in the Spirit, we still have the tendencies to continue the sinful habits of thinking and acting that we have practiced for so long. How can we survive the reality of our own tendency to sin?

Listen now... Romans 6:11 says, "Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." "Reckon" is a word that has to do with the will. We have a part to play in the pursuit of holiness, and our part is all about our will. We cannot say too much about the role of the will in the Christian life. Of course, we're not saved by willpower but by God's power. But, without the exercise of the will, we cannot be saved. The will is where God gets a handle on us. A person who comes to Christ to be saved must do so by choice. Of course, we have a part to play in the pursuit of holiness--and that is to resist the urge to revert back to what comes naturally. Though we have a new life in Christ, we still have an enemy within which will draw us back into sin if we do not resist. It is the enemy within that must be continually dealt with. We have been instructed in Scripture that we are to deal with it by reckoning ourselves to be dead to sin.

In Romans 7:21 it says, "So I find this law at work, when I want to do good, evil is right there with me." Isn't that the truth! I wish that we could find the ultimate "getaway." I wish that there was some hidden text or handle or button that would make all of our temptations disappear and would erase every bad habit and propensity to do wrong from our minds. Many think, that when we come to Christ, our troubles will be over and our struggle will be a thing of the past; however, this is simply not the way it works. Now I recognize that there are many who feel that the experience that Paul is describing in Romans 7 is his experience before he was converted, but if we will be honest with ourselves, we know this is just not the way it is. The sooner that we do a "reality check" and own up to what really goes on, the better we will be equipped to deal with it. The more that we discover the strength of indwelling sin, the less we will feel its effects.

When we understand the law of sin that is in all of us, we will stop denying it and begin to hate it and fight against it. Though a Christian still has an indwelling propensity to sin, in the new birth the Holy Spirit will give us a prevailing desire for holiness. Where before we wanted to sin, now we want victory over sin and we hunger and thirst after righteousness. We long to live a life of holiness.

In 1 John 3:9, the Scripture is saying, in effect, that no one who is a child of God continues to sin as a way of life, because God has given them a new life. A child of God does not have a lifestyle of sin. The difference between a person who is born again and the one who isn't is that the one that is born again struggles against sin while the one who isn't born again likes himself the way he is. I like what someone said about being a Christian. They said that as we find out more and more about ourselves, as Paul did in Romans 7, and as we learn more and more about the Holy Spirit of Christ, we will actually have a worse and worse image of ourselves and a more and more wonderful image of Jesus.

Scripture says that in our natural selves there is nothing good. "In me (that is, in my natural self), dwells no good thing," but this does not leave us frustrated or abandoned, because in another place it says, "Christ in you is the hope of Glory." This doesn't sound like good modern psychological therapy, but the work of the Holy Spirit is to put us on a guilt trip. But then He also shows us the righteousness of Christ as the solution for our guilt. The fact that Jesus won the victory over sin at the cross doesn't mean that we don't have to fight against sin!

Do we have a part to play in our pursuit of holiness? Of course we do! I think that we would do better to not say, "Let go and let God," but rather it makes more practical sense to say, "Let God and hang on for dear life!" The call to us is not to let go, but to get involved. To let go of Jesus is to fall! Scripture teaches us that the Christian life is a race, a struggle, it is a war, and like a wrestling match. These words are not about someone who has let go. But rather someone (like Jacob) who wrestled with the angel and wouldn't let go! We are called upon to reckon ourselves, to be dead in Christ, and to live the new life of His resurrection. This, ladies and gentlemen, in plain words, is all about the will. We must be in the continual process of asking, seeking and knocking if salvation is going to be effective in our lives. We must resist the flesh and devil on one hand and submit to Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit on the other.

What will be the result of all of this? (1) Holiness. (2) Victory over sin. (3) The fruit of the Spirit. Our Holy, Perfect God will not leave us. He who began this work in us is finishing it. Sin will not continue to have dominion over us. Forgetting those things which are behind, we, being resurrected with Christ, press on toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God's ideal for His children. Godliness, holiness, is the goal to be reached.

In one place Scripture says, "You have not resisted unto blood in the fight against sin." If we will submit to the power of God, He will break up sin and give us a holy life. Our will must resist the urge to resist the work of the Spirit.