The Sacred

With Bishop Ronald K. Powell

SACRED DEFINED

• Connected with God or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration. “sacred rites”
• synonyms: holy, hallowed, blessed, blest, consecrated, sanctified, dedicated, venerated, revered
• “only the priest were allowed to approach this most sacred place“ religious rather than secular.”
• synonyms: religious, spiritual, Devotional, church, churchly, ecclesiastical, “sacred music“
• (of writing or text) embodying the laws or doctrines of a religion.

Sacred: Latin

• hagios: sacred, holy Original Word: ἅγιος, ία, ον
• Transliteration: hἅgios
  Phonetic Spelling: (hἅg‘-ee-os)
• Definition: sacred, holy Usage: set apart by (or for) God, holy, sacred.
• hἅgios – properly, different (unlike), other (“otherness“), holy; for the believer, (hἅgios) means “likeness of nature with the Lord” because “different from the world.“
• implies something “set apart” and therefore “different (distinguished/distinct)” – i.e. “other,” because special to the Lord; most holy thing, a saint

Consecrated- Set apart

• When He called Jeremiah, He told him, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew and approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”  Jeremiah: 1:5
• Like Jeremiah, we can offer God’s truth to people everywhere we go.

ACTS 10 : 1-20 -The Process

• There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment,
• 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.
• 3 About the Ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
• 4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.
• 5 Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter.
• 6 He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.”
• 7 And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually.
• 8 So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.
• 9 The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour.
• 10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance
• 11 and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth.
• 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.
• 13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
• 14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”
• 15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.“
• 16 This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.
• 17 Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate.
• 18 And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there.
• 19 While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you.
• 20 Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.” Acts 10:1-20 NKJV

Nave’s Topical Index / Setting Apart / Sanctifying Them

• Exodus 30:27,28
• And the table and all his (Moses) vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense,
• Exodus 40:9,10
• And you shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shall hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy.
• Leviticus 8:10,11
• And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them.

Consecrated Vessels

• We become useful vessels when we are wholly consecrated to God.
• The Bible refers to us as earthen, or frail, human vessels.  2 Cor: 4:7
• Like stoneware formed on the potter’s wheel, we are made of clay.  Is. 64:8
• God formed Adam out of “the dust of the ground” according to;  Genesis 2:7 
• Psalm 103:14 says, “He knows our frame, He [earnestly] remembers and imprints [on His heart] that we are dust” (The Amplified Bible).

Second Timothy 2:21

• But first we must be wholly consecrated to God.
• Second Timothy 2:21 reminds us:
• “Whoever cleanses himself [from what is ignoble and unclean, who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences] will [then himself] be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work.”

Dedicated Mouth

• What would happen if we gave our mouths to God each day so that only godly words came from our lips?
• Psalm 34:13 says, “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.”
• Dedicate your mouth to God and use it only for what pleases Him–praise and worship, edification and exhortation, and giving thanks.
• Place your lips on the altar each morning. Give your mouth to God through praying His Word: “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise” (Ps. 51:15).

Like Cornelius

• Make a fresh commitment to be a giver and invest yourself, your time, and your money in the Lord’s work.
• Don’t let the devil talk you out of giving just because you have bills to pay and obligations that cause you to worry.
• Jesus urges us not to be worried or anxious about anything, for God knows our needs and promises to care for us.  Matt. 6:25-34
• Proverbs 3:9-10 says, “Honor the Lord with your capital and sufficiency [from righteous labors] and with the first fruits of all your income; so shall your storage places be filled with plenty, and your vats shall be overflowing with new wine.”
• The apostle Paul also said that the believers in Macedonia not only gave their money to God but also gave themselves to the Lord’s service.  2 Cor. 8:1-5
• Paul too gave his life in service to God’s people.
• Many people want to receive from God, but they are not willing to give all of themselves to Him.
• The parable of the talents instructs us to use what God gives us to expand the Master’s kingdom.  Matt. 25:14-30

His Church

• A Jewish person would think immediately of Solomon’s temple, something that was considered the holiest site in Israel.
• Yet above all these sacred things the most sacred thing in the world to the Lord is His Church that he is building.
• Jesus said he would build His Church (Matthew 16:18) and to this day he is still building this temple.

Paul the Apostle

• Paul the Apostle shares that the temple is God’s people who are assembled together as the Church.
• God has a called out people that are holy towards his purposes in the earth and who are doing good, loving the poor, preaching the Good News in the earth.
• We read the very sober words that warns us that this work of the Church, if someone seeks to destroy or hurt this work, the Lord will defend it.
• Gamaliel gave the sound counsel that if we oppose Gods work we “find yourselves fighting against God” (Acts 5:39).

1 Corinthians 3:17

• If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.  1 Corinthians 3:17

Holy Things

• Many people in our day do not have a sense of the holy things of God, they do not consider things sacred.
• Sadly such people oppose God’s work without fear, speak evil of things they do not understand.
• Jude speaks of such people who “reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings” (Jude 1:8).
• No one is holy to them and they do not want to submit to authority but feel themselves above all authority. They speak against things that are holy and end up even destroying themselves.
• God treats his work as a very holy thing, when we oppose his work we set ourselves against God Himself. It seems extreme to say but our passage even says that “God will destroy them.”

A Call to Holiness

• Hebrews 12:13-15
• 13Make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be debilitated, but rather healed. 14Pursue peace with all men, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. 15Be careful that no one falls short of the grace of God, so that no root of bitterness will spring up to cause trouble and defile many.
• When someone would neglect the holiness of Solomon’s temple and walk into the holiest of all they would be destroyed.
• Likewise in the days of the prophet Samuel when people who lacked reverence for the sacred, “God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they looked into the ark of the Lord. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the Lord had dealt them” (1 Samuel 6:19).
• Likewise Ananias and Sapphira spoke with holy Apostles without the fear of the Lord (Acts 5:1-11). God is still at work, although the Church is not perfect it is what God is doing in this earth.
• May we see what he is doing as holy and have reverence for what is sacred.

Closing: Consecration and Dedication

• If you have never dedicated yourself to the Lord’s service, you are missing a great adventure.
• Every day you need to give yourself entirely to God.
• Say: “Lord, I am Yours. I want to be a vessel fit for Your use. I dedicate myself to You. I give You my hands, my mouth, my mind, my body, my money and my time. Do with me whatever You want to do today.”

My Decree over the Church

• May you pause today to remember that your journey is as sacred as the destination.
• Whatever next place God has for you, He intends to meet you in this place, where you now stand. He’s hidden treasures in the valleys and grace in the shadows. He offers rest amidst the chaos and peace in the middle of the storm.
• Instead of wishing your life away, pause today and pray, “Lord, open my eyes to see You here. Help me to extract the precious from the difficult.
• Help me embrace the everyday graces you’ve so richly provided.”
• May you find joy today simply knowing that you belong to a loving, invested, attentive Savior and He intends to get you safely home.