Sermon Central
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God Is Holy
Contributed by Anthony Roberts on Jan 5, 2002 (message contributor)
Summary: The Attributes of GOD include Holiness and He requires us to follow that pattern not of ourselves but only by His devine Grace and Power in us through the Holy Spirit.
GOD IS . . . HOLY
“Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 20:7).
6:1In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
2Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
5Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
6Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
8Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
KJV
Opening statement.
What would the world be like without the influence of a Holy God?
Crime unchecked
Attitudes running wild
No church
No peace
No love
No Fullness of joy
You get the picture. Now let us continue on.
If you look up the word holy in the Strong’s Concordance. It appears approx 597 times. If you look up the word holiness in the Strong’s it appears aprox 43 times.
As you see the Bible places great importance on this subject.
We cannot attain the holiness of God on our own. No matter how hard we try, we cannot measure up to the standards of God’s holiness. God must give holiness to us freely. We must allow God to live His holiness in us in our daily lives.
God is “perfect light,” which does not know darkness. Words we experience like murder, lust, and dishonesty never even enter the mind of God as options.
God has many different attributes. The Scriptures tell us that He is love, light, merciful, grace, faithful, just, perfect, good, gentle, righteous, and holy. The attribute of holiness is an essential and integral part of the character of God.
He requires us to be holy (Leviticus 20:7). 7Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.
KJV
He could not do this if He were not holy Himself. The term holiness in relation to God reveals His purity, perfection of character, and freedom from any form of evil. John tells us that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5). God is holy in a way we will never be. He is holy in and of Himself.
The writer of Hebrews stated that faith is mandatory to pleasing God (Hebrews 11:6). 6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
KJV
That faith consists of two elements: believing God is, and believing He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
The first part of this belief is a faith that God is.
But is what?
A). The emphasis is on God’s nature of independence.
B). He is God alone and does not need anyone else to help Him be God.
C). He does not depend on anyone to help Him be love or light.
D). He does not need anyone’s help to be Holy.
E). He is Holy all by Himself.
We have been made holy because God freely imputed His holiness to us. But without God making us holy there is no way we could be holy.
James clearly declares God’s nature as unchanging and the Father of lights (James 1:17). 17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
KJV
In other words, God was holy yesterday, He is holy today, and He will be holy tomorrow.
Isaiah was a prophet and a preacher. He was also a servant in the court of King Uzziah. During the year in which the king died Isaiah received a vision from the Lord. He saw the very throne of God and host of angels worshiping and praising God. The angels were saying to one another, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3) It is interesting that of all the attributes God possesses, the one the angels were extolling was the holiness of God.
