Touré Roberts - The Cutting Edge (Of God)

God has been speaking to me recently about the word «holy» and «holiness,» really digging into what it truly means. I’m learning that when we start talking about the cutting edge, we need to understand what it means to be on the cutting edge of God, and I believe it comes from a deeper and more, quite frankly, precise understanding of what «holy» and «holiness» mean. Now, you might be thinking, «Man, I’ve been in church for a long time; I know what holiness means.» Or you may have just started coming to church and feel like, «Yo, wait, slow down, bro! I barely say I’m holding on by a thread.»

There are many misconceptions about what holiness is, and God’s been speaking to me about this. When I look around at the world, I always want to know, «Who am I now?» and «What do I need to focus on?» Because when I see crazy things happening on the earth, I’m not trying to figure out what God will do; I’m trying to understand who I need to be in response to what I see. I need to articulate that better. I have come to recognize that I am actually the answer to the things that grieve me. I feel the spirit of God, so when I see things spinning out of control, my prayer is, «God, who am I now?» Because my Bible tells me that I am an answer, watch this, to the groanings of the earth. In other words, when the earth groans, we ought to groan. Oh God, can I do this today? Can I flow like this? When the earth groans, don’t get mad. Don’t go on social media and start fighting. When the earth groans, you’ve got to groan; you’ve got to begin to rise up, because that means there’s a new baby trying to come out of you.

I need to clarify that better. The Bible talks about birth pangs; it speaks about how all of creation is in birth pains. That translates into mass shootings and craziness occurring at every turn. What does that mean? Those are birth pains. We get all freaked out and sometimes even stressed out, not realizing, watch this, that your baby is leaping. I feel the Lord; your baby is kicking. So my question to God is, «Okay, God, who does the church need to be?» Not who does the government need to be or what the celebrities need to do—come on, somebody! —not what law enforcement needs to do. No, no, no, baby, what do we need to do? Because the solution, oh, I promise you, is in you. You are more than you think. You might feel like you’re just trying to make it through life, but no, baby, you were born to shake up life! Oh God, I feel the Lord! That’s why you’re here; God wouldn’t even waste it. No, you’re here to shake some things up!

It’s so funny, you know, in March 2020 when the pandemic broke out—somewhere around there—people were a little unsure about where this was headed. But those who understand how God moves recognize that anytime there is a shaking, it means there is a repositioning. Watch this: there is no earthquake that leaves the earth the same. If there’s an earthquake right now, the ground will not remain as it was; it means it has shifted. It doesn’t shift back; it shifts forward. So when you see trouble, you’re witnessing a repositioning.

What do we know prophetically? We know that the last shall be first. We know our position and assignment is to be the head and not the tail. So you can’t get frustrated when you’re the tail because all God has to do is shake something up, and the entire purpose of shaking is repositioning. So, I digress; pardon me, but you told me that I can have «un libertad.» You told me that I got a little «espanol.» Yeah, okay, I got a little for you. See, ccc, let’s begin.

So I’m like, «God, who do we need to be?» And God just spoke to me while I was in the shower on vacation. It wasn’t some deeply holy moment; I was just in the shower, and God said, «I want you to reintroduce the word 'holy.'» It hit me so deeply in my spirit that I felt like, watch this, I felt like a kid all over again. I didn’t feel like a pastor, none of that. I felt like a little boy again! I really feel like God wants to bring us into a deeper and, if I may add, more accurate awareness of what «holy» and «holiness» truly are. I want to break down first some misconceptions about holiness, and we’re going to get into the text. We’ll preach in about 14 hours, and then we’ll be able to go home. Okay? All right. So let’s talk about what «holy» is. When you think of «holy,» some of the things that come to mind are, you know, «set apart,» you know, like…