One day at a particular church, a guy came and gave his heart to the Lord. He came forward and prayed for God to change him. Well, the next week, the church was doing baptisms and church membership so he signed up and was baptized. A couple of weeks later, one of the Elders of the church pulled him aside and said, “Son, we’re going to have to pull your membership. We received word that last night, you were spotted dancing at a party.”
The young man said, “Dancing? Well, if you want to call it that. I really can’t dance very well. And actually, the only reason I was up in front of people dancing was because I was drunk.”
Praise God for people who come to Christ. Praise God for people who walk in holiness.
There is an interesting Old Testament passage that speaks of the holiness of God.
Isaiah 6:1-3
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated in a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Isaiah had a vision. A vision of the Lord. A vision of the holiness of the Lord.
The world that we live in today has a different view of sin that what the Bible speaks of.
Over the last few years, I have seen that people are less and less concerned with sin and more and more concerned with self.
After all, if we don’t have to deal with sin, then we don’t have to deal with repentance.
If we don’t have to deal with guilt, then we don’t need a Savior.
Today, I believe what you and I need is to catch a vision of the holiness of the Lord.
There are approximately 135 verses in the Bible describing the holiness of God.
But what does the word “holy” mean?
The word “holy” means “set apart,” “sacred,” “unique,” and “special.”
So when we refer to God as being holy, we are – in essence – saying that he is set apart from everything and everyone else.
His sacrifice is better than any other sacrifice!
His forgiveness is more forgiving than any other forgiveness!
His love is more powerful than any other love!
His power is greater than any other power!
He is God! And He is holy!
It is very difficult to define what is meant by the Holiness of God.
I have attempted to do so in the following way . . .
The holiness of God is the sacred glory of God that reflects His purity from sin, His perfection of character, and His standard of righteousness.
He is sacred because He is “set apart.”
The glory of God is something that
His purity from sin means that He is without sin. And this sets Him apart from all of mankind.
His perfection of character means that He is the only perfect One.
His standard of righteousness means that He sets the standard.
Why do we often sing songs in worship like, “Holy, Holy, Holy.”
Or “Holy is Your Name.”
Or “Holy is the Lord.”
As we talked about three weeks ago, The Name of the Lord refers to His character. It’s all tied in to Who He is!
The Lord is holy, so it is proper to say “Holy is Your Name.”
- because holiness is the character of the Lord.
Psalm 96:9 ”Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.”
And I love the way Isaiah describes the song that is being sung: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty.”
Revelation 4:8 refers to the worship in heaven, where we will be singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”
Why is the word “holy” repeated three times?
The Bible never words the characteristics of God by saying that He is love, love, love.
Or that God is light, light, light.
Or that God is truth, truth, truth.
Or that God is merciful, merciful, merciful.
But the Bible does refer to God as being Holy, holy, holy.
Why? I believe that it is because God wants us to understand the great importance of His holiness.
When we are taught to pray, the pattern is set forth to recognize the holiness of God: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by Your Name.”
Hallowed means to uphold the Name of the Lord with the utmost of respect, the utmost of fear and the utmost of reverence.
Why must we give the Lord respect, fear and reverence? Because He is holy!
OUR RESPONSE TO THE HOLINESS OF GOD.
It was the holiness of God that caused Adam and Eve to hide from God in the Garden of Eden.
It was the holiness of God that necessitated Moses to cover his face after he met with God.
It was the holiness of God that brought John to his feet, as recorded in Revelation 1:17.
“Be holy, because I am holy.” I Peter 1:16
Quote from John Wesley: “The essential part of Christian holiness lies in giving your heart wholly to God.”
1) Holiness is having victory over sin.
With most people, sin has victory over them. But holiness is having victory over sin.
2 Timothy 1:8, 9 “But join me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.”
When it comes to living a life of holiness and avoiding sin, we must learn to take responsibility.
Nowadays, it is so easy to play the blame game.
We tend to blame our birth order; we blame co-dependency; we blame other people; etc.
And we use these things as excuses and we justify our sins.
Josh Hancock. Pro baseball
player got drunk and as he was driving down a St. Louis highway, ran into a tow
truck and died. A few week later, his dad filed a lawsuit against the
restaurant, against the tow truck and against the driver whose car broke down on
the highway and called the two truck. This is called blame shifting. Whatever
happened to the idea of ‘taking
responsibility for one’s actions’?
Josh Hancock made a wrong choice to drink and he had to face the consequences of
death.
We have a choice. We can either allow sin to have victory over us, or we can choose to have victory over sin.
Quote from Henrietta Mears: "Holiness is not the way to Christ, but Christ is the way to holiness."
2) Holiness is preparing yourself for useful service.
2 Timothy 2:20, 21. In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
Holiness does not only mean “being set apart,” it means “being set apart for a special purpose.”
When we encounter the holiness of God, we cannot help but respond by saying, “Here am I. Send me.”
We hear the voice of the Lord. We see the glory of the Lord. We acknowledge the holiness of the Lord.
And we respond by saying “yes,” to our holy calling.
Quote from Chuck Colson: “Holiness is the everyday business of every Christian. It evidences itself in the decisions we make and the things we do, hour by hour, day by day.”
Quote from Mother Teresa: “Holiness is doing God’s will with a smile.”
Quote from D. L. Moody: “A holy life will make the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns, they just shine.”
Once again, the word “holy” means “set apart,” “sacred,” “unique,” and “special.” You have a calling.
You may be a secretary, but your holy calling in life is to be set apart for the purposes of God.
You may be an electrician, but your holy calling in life is to be a righteous example for others to follow.
You may be a computer operator, but your holy calling is to be a man of integrity who reflects the Holy One.
3) Holiness is living your life according to God’s standard.
Isaiah 64:6 “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all righteous acts are like filthy rags.”
Our natural tendency is to compare ourselves to other people, rather than God.
In the evangelistic focus of “The Way of the Master,” we learn that most people – when asked the question, “Are you a good person?” – will respond, “yes, I consider myself to be a good person.”
Why? Because they are comparing themselves to other people.
They turn on the ten o’clock news and see a report of a murder and think, “Yeah, I’m better than that guy.”
They hear of someone embezzling millions of dollars . . .
They hear of someone committing adultery . . .
The problem is that we compare ourselves to other people.
Should I compare myself to
other people or should I compare myself to a perfect God?
Well, I look a whole lot better when I compare myself to other people.
On Friday at prayer, the message was simple: “It’s not as it seems.” We tend to rely way too much on our own perspective. Instead of seeing things from God’s perspective, we rely on what we see – what we perceive – based on our own personally judgments.
You see, this is where people take the principle of holiness and convert it into legalism. Legalism is a set of rules and regulations set up by man.
Holiness is the standard set by God.
Do you see the difference?
Legalism is the rules and regulations of man, and it always involves judging.
Legalism is . . . “Sister, did you see that lady in church today? Did you see what she is wearing? She is so worldly. She is trying to seduce the men of the church (and then we spiritualize it) I’m telling you so that you can pray for her.
- Because someone is dressed in appropriately, legalists judge that person’s heart.
Holiness is . . . “God, I want to honor you with the clothes I wear today. I realize that I am in the world, but I don’t have to dress like the world.”
Legalists go around and talk to people. Gossip. Did you hear this about the pastor.
Holy people talk to God.
God’s concept holiness is much higher than our concept holiness.
Our righteousness is like filthy rags . . . compared to that of God’s.
Holiness means that you have set yourself apart.
It means that you are different than those in the world.
Have you noticed that the typical non-believer does not realize that what he is doing is sin.
Why? Because he doesn’t spend time in the presence of God.
The closer you get to the glory of God, the more you see His holiness and your humanness.
Five principles in making holy decisions.
Often times, people ask me, “Is it wrong to participate in this particular activity? . . .
Is it wrong to . . . frequent a night club?
Is it wrong to . . .
The Bible principle – does it violate God’s Word?
The integrity principle – does it violate Godly convictions?
The Godly example principle - will it cause someone else to stumble?
The conscience principle – does it cause me to experience guilt?
The Heart of God principle - would it displease God? WWJD
If you have to say “yes” to any of these questions, then don’t do it.
I have a question for you today . . . “Are you living a holy life?”