Our God is a holy God! 8/31/14

8/31/14

How can we love a holy God? We cannot! Loving a holy God is beyond our moral power. Unless we are born of the Spirit of God, unless God sheds His holy love in our hearts, unless He stoops in His grace to changes our hearts, we will not love Him. He is the one who takes the initiative to restore our souls. Without Him we would be doomed to everlasting alienation from His holiness. We can love Him only because He first loved us. To love a holy God requires grace, grace strong enough to pierce our hardened hearts and awaken our moribund souls.

Rom 9:16  So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

Our God is a holy God! 8/30/14

8/30/14

Augustinianism sees grace as central to it theology. When we understand the character of God, when we grasp something of His holiness, then we begin to understand the radical character of our sin and helplessness. Helpless sinners can survive only by grace. Our strength is futile in itself; we are spiritually impotent without the assistance of a merciful God.

Eph 2:8  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Our God is a holy God! 8/29/14

I am convinced that most of the Evangelical, Semi-Pelagians has a glaring defect in its understanding of God Though it salutes the holiness of God and protests loudly that it believes in God’s sovereignty, it still entertains delusions about our ability to incline ourselves to God, to make “decisions” to be born again. It declares that fallen people, who are at enmity with God, can be persuaded to be reconciled even before their sinful hearts are changed. It has people who not born again seeing a kingdom Christ declared could not be seen and entering a kingdom that cannot be entered without rebirth. Evangelicals today have unconverted sinners who are dead in trespasses and sin bringing themselves to life by choosing to be born again. Christ made it clear that dead people cannot choose anything, that the flesh counts for nothing, and that we must be born of the Spirit before we can even see the kingdom of God, let alone enter it. The failure of modern evangelicalism is the failure to understand the holiness of God. If that one point were grasped, there would be no more talk of mortal enemies of Christ coming to Jesus by their own power.

Joh 1:12  But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

Joh 1:13  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Php 2:13  for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Our God is a holy God! 8/28/14

8/28/14

We spend most of our days not feeling holy or set apart. We are so caught up in making a living and making a home for our families that we never think of ourselves has a saint. But the Christians in the New Testament were called “saints.”

In the past children were thought the Westminster Catechism, and the first question reads: “What is the chief end of man?” The answer is: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”

We seem to have a hard time with the enjoyment part. We tend to think that to glorify God has some part of keeping His laws and we find that is a bit restricting so we find it hard to enjoy. We want to substitute joy with pleasure. Sin never brings joy, it may bring pleasure. I am not saying that all pleasure is sinful, no! There is much pleasure in righteousness. And there is no true joy in sin.

Even when we understand this we are still tempted to sin. It just seems silly that anyone who knows that true joy, the joy, and peace, and happiness that comes from the Lord would trade it for some fleeting pleasure of sin.

May we seek to be a holy people!

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,

Gal 5:20  idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

Gal 5:21  envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Gal 5:23  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Our God is a holy God! 8/27/14

8/27/14

The bible calls us “holy ones.” We are holy because we have been consecrated to God. We have been set apart. We have been called to a life that is different. The Christian life is a life of non-conformity.

Rom 12:1  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Rom 12:2  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

This world belongs to God! 9/20/14

Our God is a holy God! 8/26/14

8/26/14

1Sa 2:2  "There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.

No one is like the Holy God of Scripture.

Our God is a holy God! 8/25/14

8/25/14

Dan 9:24  "Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city

Because only God is holy, any people or objects that are said to be holy are described in this manner because God has made them holy, or set them apart. Therefore the term holy is applied to persons or objects that have some type of relationship with the Lord - they are set apart for His service.

Our God is a holy God! 8/24/14

8/24/14

Isa 57:15  For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

The Bible teaches that God is a holy God. The idea behind the concept of holiness is "separation." It comes from a word meaning "to separate or cut off." God is separate, or cut off, from everything that is sinful and evil-He cannot tolerate sin.

To say that God is holy means there is no trace of evil in his character.

Holy is God! 8/23/14

8/23/14

Some time back, when Gerald Ford was the president, a pro golfer was invited to play in a foursome with President Ford, Jack Nicklaus, and Billy Graham. The golfer was especially in awe of playing with Ford and Billy Graham (he had played often played with Nicklaus).

    After the round of golf was over, one of the other golfers came up to the guy and asked, “Hey, what was it like playing with the president and Billy Graham?”

    The pro unleashed a torrent of cursing, and in a disgusted manner said, “I don’t need Billy Graham stuffing religion down my throat.” With that he turned on his heels and stormed off, heading for the practice tee.

    His friend followed the angry pro to the practice tee. The pro took out his driver and started to beat out balls in fury. His neck was crimson, and it looked as if steam was coming from his ears. His friend said nothing. He sat on a bench and watched. After a few minutes the anger of the pro was spent. He settled down. His friend said quietly, “Was Billy a little rough on you out there?”

    The pro was embarrassed and said, “No, he didn’t even mention religion. I just had a bad round.”

Pro 28:1  The wicked flee when no one pursues,

Holy is our God 8/22/14

8/22/14

For the most part we appreciate moral excellence, as long as it is removed a safe distance from us. The Jews honored the prophets, from a distance. The world honors Christ, from a distance. Peter wanted to be close to Jesus, until he got too close. Then Peter cried, “Please leave.”

Luk 5:8  But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

Holy is our God! 8/21/14

8/21/14

Luk 5:4  And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."

Luk 5:5  And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets."

Luk 5:6  And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

Luk 5:7  They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

Luk 5:8  But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

"Depart from me, for I am a sinful man!” Someone said that’s not the reaction you would expect. He said that he would have wanted Jesus to come once a month and then he would have the best fishing business on the lake. But when you get next to the holy, you, like Peter, will know how sinful you are!

Our God is a Holy God 8/20/14

8/20/14

Mar 4:35  On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."

Mar 4:36  And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.

Mar 4:37  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.

Mar 4:38  But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"

Mar 4:39  And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Mar 4:40  He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?"

Mar 4:41  And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

Some people say that man has invented God, and that one of the reasons man has invented God is out of fear of nature and sickness. God has power over these thing and we can plead with Him to save us from the destructive forces of nature. We are not able to bargain with earthquakes, negotiate with floods or plead with cancer. So they say we invent God to help us deal with these scary things. But take note of our story here. The fear of the disciples increased after the threat of the storm was passed. The storm had brought fear on them but when they encountered the HOLY there fear was greater!  “they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this?” He was a stranger, a foreigner, He was HOLY.

Our God is Holy! 8/19/14

8/19/14

The Sea of Galilee was, and still is, a most dangerous place to sail on. It is 5 or 600 feet below sea level and has mountains around it so the wind can come in without any notice and the calm sea can become a raging tempest instantly. Even with today’s technology some people refuse to sail on it.

The disciples when out with Jesus for a night crossing of the Sea of Galilee when a great tempest came up and Jesus was sleeping. Most of the time when someone next to you is calm enough to sleep in a panic situation you just want to wake them and say, “don’t you even care that we are going to die?!” My wife was on a flight once that was very, very rough, they had to wear their seat belts for most of the flight. It got rougher and rougher, and then she saw the server reach for the microphone with great difficulty because it was to rough to grab it. My wife knew the announcement would be, “we are going down!” but instead it was, “we will be serving drinks in just a few minutes.”  My wife said she was sure they were going down.

Mar 4:35  On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."

Mar 4:36  And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.

Mar 4:37  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.

Mar 4:38  But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"

Mar 4:39  And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Mar 4:40  He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?"

Mar 4:41  And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"