Our God is Holy (Part 4)

That the Lord does indeed on those grounds call us to be holy in practice, practice. Alright? In the same way, this is no different than what we know as justification by faith, which is God declares us to be righteous. He makes us righteous, not because we do righteousness, but he counts our faith as righteousness, right? Everybody on the same page with that? We understand that idea. How can someone who is not practically righteous be counted righteous? Well, it’s simple. First of all, there’s none righteous, no not one. So if anyone is gonna be righteous, they must be counted so by God. And number two, because of that fact, in response to that fact, God says, now live righteously.

You have that privilege. You have been declared righteous by me on merits of the blood of Christ. So now, live up to that honor that he has given us by grace. And so it is with the idea of being a saint, being one who is holy. And so that summarizes what we looked at last week. And so what we’re gonna do now is we wanna look at holiness as it relates to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so let’s pray and then we’re gonna be in Luke, we’re gonna begin in Luke chapter one. Luke chapter one. So we can go ahead and turn to Luke chapter one.

Luke chapter one. Alright. Let’s pray together and then we’ll, get into Luke chapter one. Our lord, we thank you for the opportunity to study your word once again. Lord, I pray by your power and by your spirit that you would make our study of the word fruitful and that you would guide our study. Lord, we just want to see the Lord Jesus Christ as he is. We want to understand your word. And so lord, open our the eyes for understanding.

Lord, give us eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to understand what your word says that we would not be dull regardless of how the flesh might feel and and that kind of thing. Lord, we know that the inner man can be alive and and energetic and zealous and ready to receive the word regardless of the flesh. And so, help us. Help us to be in tune with what you wanna say to us this morning. And Lord, just reveal more to yourself to us as we study. We ask in Jesus name, amen.

Luke chapter one, the Bible says this in verse number well, if you get, if you kind of pick up the context, this is a conversation between Gabriel, the angel in verse 26, the Bible says, and in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee named Nazareth. And so Gabriel is having a conversation with Mary, of course, you know chapter one of Luke is the announcement that Christ would be conceived and then born.

And then down in verse number 32, speaking of him, or verse 31 rather, it says, and behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus and he shall he shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest and the lord god shall give unto him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then Mary said unto the angel, how shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee.

Therefore, also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son of god. Now, trivia, pop trivia. In the New Testament, you find the word holy most often associated with who or what?

In the New Testament. What? The Spirit. The majority of the times that the word holy occurs in the New Testament is referring to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost. And that’s significant because the fact that it says that, the fact that it says the Holy Spirit differentiates the Lord, the Lord’s spirit from all the other spirits in there that are in the world. And so so the Holy Ghost. Alright. Now, notice in this verse, in verse number thirty thirty five, and I I love when I when you see things like this just kind of by accident but in 35, you have the appearance or the mention of all three persons of the trinity.

In verse 35, it says, the holy ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. There’s the father. Therefore, also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son of god. So, there’s the son and so you have the holy spirit called holy. Of course, you have the father and then you have the holy thing which is the lord Jesus Christ. Now, here’s what here’s the interesting thing is Jesus is called holy before he is even conceived in the womb.

He is referred to as holy and and there’s a it’s not directly stated here but it does remind us and does kind of hint at the idea that Jesus did not begin when he was conceived like a like a like you and I did when we were when we were brought into the world. We our our life, our soul if you will was created at our conception.

But with the lord Jesus Christ, he existed prior to that. He’s always been holy. So, it’s no wonder that his as conception. Now, remember, before he did right, before he did wrong, we we know he did no wrong but before he did right or wrong, before he was conceived in the womb, he’s already called holy, okay? So, this is the pronouncement of Gabriel that the lord Jesus Christ is holy. Now, if you remember in the Old Testament, take a peek if you would at Isaiah 54, I just wanna show you one example of this before we move on.

Isaiah 54, Isaiah 54 and verse number five. Isaiah 54 verse five, the bible says, for thy maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is his name, and thy redeemer, the holy one of Israel. The God of the whole earth shall he be called, the holy one of Israel. Now that term, that that name or title of the Lord in the Old Testament, the holy one of Israel occurs 31 times in the Old Testament, 31 times and it, of course, always refers to the true and to the living god. Most of the times you see that in the book of Isaiah.

This is why it’s such an abomination when someone refers to the pope as holy father. That is that is blasphemous. That is blasphemous. Here here’s the thing. Without scriptural warrant, applying the word holy to anything or anyone that god does not apply it to is tantamount to blasphemy and here’s why. Because that is, that characteristic is something that God retains alone. And the only people he gives it to are very a narrow group of people or a narrow group of maybe beings, if you wanna say it like that, that he himself says they are holy and it’s always because of their association with him.

And but but here we have in religion outside of the scriptural warrant, people apply this name to these people and to that people and those kinds of things. Even applying the term saint which is the same thing, applying it to people who were definitely not saints and probably were not even believers and that happens. And the other thing that really gets my goat is when you go back to people like Patrick of Ireland, who was as far as we know, there’s not a lot of historical data on him, but as far as we know, was an actual believer in Christ and he has been kind of commandeered to be a saint. Poor old John, Saint John the Divine, poor old Paul, Saint Paul, and they just, in heaven they probably squirm a little bit and kind of wince every time somebody refers to them as Saint John or Saint Paul because of that, that’s just my idea.

Applying character to someone that God doesn’t apply it to, that’s because remember, this is something, the holiness of God is something that is unique to God, it is unique to him and to those that and the only reason that anything or anyone is holy is because of the association with god himself and so, we’ve already seen some of that in our study. So, the holy one of Israel, common title given to the lord 31 times in the book in the Old Testament, mostly in the book of Isaiah. Now, let’s go to the New Testament to Mark chapter one.

Mark chapter one. Mark chapter one, look if you would at verse number 23. The Bible says, and there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit and he cried out saying, let us alone. Now, let’s just pause a second. Why was there a man that had a devil in their church? That’s what I wanna know. And how long had he been there? That’s what I wanna know. How long he’d been there? And it does reveal something, man.

What does it say about their religion that a man with an unclean spirit can be there for apparently some amount of time, we don’t know. And this is a place where they were actually reading scripture and people were teaching it and those kinds of things, and yet there’s a man with a devil there and there was But but apparently, there was no power at all because the Lord shows up and all of a sudden there’s a there’s a conflict because where the spirit of God is, of course, he’s the holy spirit and you have a unclean spirit here by contrast, but notice what it says in this conflict, he says, verse 24, let us alone. What have we to do with thee? Thou Jesus of Nazareth, art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the holy one of God.

Holy one. That word holy one is just the word holy. The the holy one of God, which is the same term used of God 31 times in the Old Testament used of the the Almighty. Look at Luke chapter four.

Luke chapter four Luke chapter four verse 34 I’ll read 33, it’s very similar to what we just read. And in the synagogue, was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil and cried out with a loud voice saying, let us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the holy one of god. Again, now, this is a this is kind of a double edged sword.

This is kind of a double edged sword because of the person who’s saying it. That’s always been a problem. Because you know if you’ve read you’ve read your bible, you’ve read the New Testament, the gospels, even as we’ve gone through Matthew, you have seen that the Lord, whenever a devil makes a confession like this, the lord often rebukes the devil and tells him to shut up. Okay. So, the question is, is he telling him to shut up because he’s not saying the truth?

No. He, Jesus is the holy one of God. Right? He is the holy one of Israel. He is holy. He is the holy, the almighty. And so it is proper and is right for this this devil, this unclean spirit to almost kind of instinctively cry out, like at one point in the past probably had cried out, holy, holy, holy, maybe in heaven whenever he, she, it was there prior to the fall but so it’s proper. So, the fact that Jesus rebukes the devil does not indicate that he’s denying that he’s holy. He’s denying his own holiness. It’s not it’s not that at all but it does show us one other thing which is a practical truth.

The reason why the Lord rebukes the devil is because when the devil cries when when the devil says, thou art the holy one of God, the truth that he is saying is tarnished by his person, by the devil. You you see what I’m saying? That’s the problem. And so think about what you what we’re seeing here. What is he referring to Jesus as? He’s saying Jesus is holy, the holy one of God.

But the mouth that is speaking it is unholy. The mouth that is speaking it is evil. And that is a problem to the Lord, to the Lord Jesus. And there’s a is there do you see that? Do you see the truth? Do you see the the principle there? If we are going to if we even as even as the people of God, if we are going to talk about god as a holy god, then, we need to be a holy people that bear witness to that fact. The lord wants the witnesses to his holiness to also be holy because the witnesses to his holiness reflect on his own holiness.

And this is why the Lord said, hold your peace, be quiet. Because, and think about what he’s saying there. It is better not to speak of him, not to confess him, than to confess him as a defiled thing. That that’s actually what that’s actually the truth that’s being conveyed there. It does, it matters a lot to the lord, the witness that bears witness to him And that’s kinda what you see here. And so in this, you have a you have a stark contrast. You have an unholy spirit bearing witness to, if you will, the holy spirit, the holy one of God.

And so and and that that’s where that that conflict comes. Now, look at Acts chapter number two. Acts chapter number two. Acts chapter two. Acts two verse number 27.

This is a this is part of Peter’s sermon and he is quoting from the Psalms and verse 27, we’ve gone over this, I’m not gonna belabor this, but it’s quoting the Psalms he says in verse 27, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Now here’s where, here’s the overlap of the Old and New Testaments. Remember, each one of these attributes of God that we’ve looked at, whether it’s omniscience or omnipresence or omnipotence or eternality or whatever we’ve looked at, we have seen how the Lord Jesus retained that attribute. He has called that attribute, He’s described that attribute and thereby His deity, His deity and His position as the true God is reaffirmed over and over. Here, you have the Old Testament Holy One of Israel, the New Testament Holy One overlapping in a Old Testament verse being quoted referring to Jesus quoted in the New Testament, but it says holy one in the old and holy one in the new. And so here they overlap, again affirming Jesus is indeed, it’s the holy one. There’s only one. Jesus is it, right?

And so let’s go one more place, actually two more places, one more chapter over Acts three verse 14. Look at Acts three verse 14. This is Peter again preaching Acts two fourteen, he says to the Jewish people, But ye denied the Holy One and the just and desired a murderer to be granted unto you. That’s where we are in Matthew 27, remember? But notice he says, holy one and the just. Remember, we talked about how the holy and righteous are a little bit different. Here you can see them distinct, holy and just, just as the same as righteous.

They’re separated here. But just we know they’re very closely related especially on questions of moral issues, but here you can see them separated. Lastly, in Acts, look at Acts 13.

Acts 13 verse number verse number 35 is just a repeat of what we’ve already seen in Acts. It says, and concerning how He raised from the raised Him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, He said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David, wherefore He saith also in another Psalm, thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Jesus is the Holy One of the Old Testament. Manifest in the flesh, He is God manifest in the flesh, and we know it because of the title Holy One. Alright, look at Hebrews chapter seven.

Hebrews chapter seven. Hebrews seven verse 25. Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Notice it says separate from sinners, it says undefiled. So again, you see this idea and when we get to the practical part of our lesson which is how the holiness of God affects our life and what we do, remember the primary go to reference for that is, as He who hath called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation.

Well here, you can see where they kinda bump. Because you see God is holy, but it says separate from sinners, it says undefiled. And again, we see just to emphasize the point that holiness in practice doesn’t mean I’m better than you. Holiness in practice means I’m distant from wickedness. That’s the idea on a moral level when we talk about holiness. Distant, just like God said to Moses, remember, stay back, I’m holy, you’re common. So it is with moral questions, God is holy, He is not defiled with sin, you can see it in this verse, separate from sinners. Now look at Revelation chapter three.

Revelation chapter three. Revelation three and verse number seven. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, these things saith he that is holy, he that is true. He that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth. Again, the Lord Jesus called holy. Chapter four, look at chapter four.

Look at verse number two. So, four verse two is a scene in heaven where John is called up in the spirit and he sees this vision of heaven, okay? Notice what it says, verse two, chapter four verse two, and immediately I was in the spirit and behold a throne was set in heaven and one sat upon the throne. So, notice the throne and there’s a person on the throne. We’re we’re going somewhere with this. Just hang with me. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone and there was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto an emerald and then it talks about the 24 elders and and that sort of thing. Then, drop down to verse number eight And the four beasts which had each of them six wings, about him, they and they were full of eyes within and they rest not day and night saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come.

And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne who liveth forever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne.

Saying, for thou art worthy, oh lord, to receive glory and honor and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Question, who is on the throne?

God’s on the throne, alright that’s pretty. That was a typical Sunday school answer, You ask a child, what’s the answer? Who is on the ark? God was on the ark, alright.

In this case, it’s the right answer. God’s on the throne, but notice what they’re doing. They’re saying now now going back to Ezekiel or Isaiah rather, Isaiah six, holy, holy, holy. The Seraphim are are are crying, holy, holy, holy to the one that’s on the throne. Not only that, but they’re giving glory. The beasts that are mentioned here, which I, my guess is the beast are referring to the Seraphim. It’s they’re referred to differently, but I think that’s what they are. And so they’re crying holy, holy, holy, and then they’re giving glory and praise and honor. Notice the term glory. They’re giving glory to him.

And then you see the 24 elders representative of the church and they are also giving glory to to he he that is on the throne. They’re praising him. You know, obviously, he, they’re giving worship and glory to the one that is on the throne because he alone is worthy of it. Okay. You still with me? Now go to chapter five verse number 12 or let’s go back to verse 11.

And I beheld and heard, I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands. So here’s notice who is speaking now in heaven. This is the continuation from chapter four.

Many angels, the beasts, and the elders. Alright, see these these are everyone that we’ve met in Revelation in this heavenly scene. There’s all the angels, the beast which I think are the Seraphim, and then the 24 elders. All of them are there.

They’re more than can be numbered. Verse 12, here’s what they’re saying, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them heard I saying, blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the lamb forever. Now in chapter four, we saw the one sitting on the throne is almighty God.

And of course he is he is the one that’s being praised with the holy holy holy, the thrice holy, and he’s also being given glory and honor by every creature in heaven. You see that? And then in chapter five he shares that same praise, which I think although not explicitly stated includes the holy holy holy in chapter four because the beasts are the ones saying it. And here in chapter five, the beasts, the same ones are giving the same praise, sharing the very same praise and glory to the lamb as they do to the one who’s sitting on the throne.

Now if you know your Old Testament, you know that God shared does never ever shares his glory with anyone. That’s a part of his holiness. Because he stands alone, absolutely alone. That’s what holy means. None is like him. He stands by himself. And yet here in Revelation, he is sharing that with the lamb. There’s only one reason that can be.

It’s because the lamb is one with and equal to the one sitting on the throne and he is. And therefore, the lamb deserves the same praise, the same glory, and as you’ve probably heard before, and this is not novel, there’s one holy for the father, there’s one holy for the son, and there’s one holy for the holy spirit, three holies. Does the bible say that? No. But seeing how there is a trinity and seeing how we see two of them together sharing the same glory, two of those holies are taken up. The only ones left are the Holy Spirit.

And so the Lord Jesus enjoys and deserves all the praise and all the glory that He as the Holy One deserves. He deserves it all. Let’s pray.