“For I am the LORD your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44)

Ugh!

I know. I’ve tried. And I’ve failed every single time. So I try harder. And I still fail. So I vow to try even harder. And still I fail.

Ugh!

I know I will never be able to perfectly holy. That’s impossible. Why would God command me to do something that’s impossible? That’s so cruel. God knows better than anyone else I will fail. So, why even command me to do something I will absolutely fail? That’s just cruel.

It’s easy to be dismissive with a verse like this. I mean, why even bother when we’re only going to fail.

But that still doesn’t make the command to be holy go away. In fact, God commands this same thing at least nine times in the Bible (Leviticus 11:44, 11:45, 19:2, 20:7, 20:26, 21:8; Deuteronomy 23:14; 1 Peter 1:15, 1:16). A quick research will reveal that the word “holy” occurs 1282 times in the Bible!

So what’s the deal? How can we be holy?

I think the key to holiness has less to do with our effort and more to do with God’s presence.

Pastor Walt of First Baptist Church of Lakewood, Jim Pledger (finance elder at the Little Church), and I normally play golf on Mondays. Sometimes, they will pair us up with a single. Every once in a while, we will get a single who is a wee bit colorful with his language. A few holes in the round, the conversation turns to what we do for a living. It’s astonishing how apologetic the person gets once they find out who we are and how the entire language and behavior changes for the rest of the round.

Now, multiply that by infinity. Because that’s what happens when we become more aware of Christ’s presence with us. Christ is Immanuel – God with us. The more aware we become of Christ’s presence, the more we change, the more his presence makes us holy.

God calls us to be holy and he enables us to do it.

The key to holiness has less to do with our effort and more to do with God’s presence.

“But Thomas said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe'” (John 20:25)

Unless….

Unless _________________….I will not believe.

Wow. Take a good look at those words.

• This is after the women told the disciples that Jesus had risen.
• This is after Peter and John ran and saw the empty tomb.
• This is after all the disciples told Thomas that they had seen the resurrected Jesus.

Unless _________________….I will not believe.

Unless….

What’s your “unless”?

• What’s keeping you from fully trusting that God is God and that God is in control?
• What’s your “unless” that’s keeping you from fully living into God’s promises?
• What’s your “unless” that keeps you from living God’s best life right now in the midst of this corona virus pandemic?

What do you say? How about we get rid of the “unless”-es in our lives?

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (John 20:29).

“When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews…Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you'” (John 20:19, 21).

“What is the difference between a disciple and an apostle?” That was the question posed to me by Coke Smart. Coke asks some very insightful questions.

At the very core, a disciple and an apostle are one and the same person. These two words describe the nature of what it means to be a Christian. These two words describe the direction, progression, and the aim of a Christian. Let me explain.

The Greek is helpful here.

• The Greek word for disciple is μαθητης – mathetes
  • This literally means a follower, a learner, a disciple
• The Greek word for apostle is αποστολος apostolos
  • This literally means a sent out one

The pattern of discipleship is demonstrated by the ministry of Jesus. Jesus called the disciples to him in order to teach and equip them for the purposes of sending them out to be his emissaries. Do you see the direction? the aim?

Jesus calls to himself     –>       Jesus      –>     Jesus sends them out with a mission

This pattern continues to repeat and never ends. We are constantly called to be with Christ to grow and learn and be equipped, in order that he can send us out to be his emissaries.

Jesus never calls his disciples for merely the purposes of educating and building up of the individual. The educating and the building up of the disciple is always for the purpose of sending them out.

I find it interesting that we see both in the verses above. Jesus comes to the disciples who have hidden themselves for fear of the Jews (v.19). They were afraid because they saw Jesus die. They no longer had anyone to follow. And without anyone to follow, they were distressed and discouraged.

But once they see the resurrected Christ, and after Jesus breathes the breath of the Holy Spirit unto them, they are commissioned and sent out. As the Father has sent the Son to be good news to a sin-sick world, so Jesus sent out his disciples to proclaim all that Christ has done (v.21).

Guess what the Greek word for “sent” is? That’s right: αποστελεκεν – aposteleken. 

After this moment on, the disciples become fearless and courageous apostles who proclaim the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

A disciple and an apostle are one and the same person. If you are a Christian:

• you are a disciple – one who follows Christ in order to learn and the grow,
• and you are an apostle – one who is sent out to be Christ’s emissary.

Thanks Coke! That was fun to look at what it means to be a disciple and an apostle.