Holiness to the LORD
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
15 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a man of war;
the Lord is his name.
4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
8 At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
10 You blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 “Who? is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who? is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand;
the earth swallowed them.
13 “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed;
you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
14 The peoples have heard; they tremble;
pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;
trembling seizes the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
16 Terror and dread fall upon them;
because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone,
till your people, O Lord, pass by,
till the people pass by whom you have purchased.
17 You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain,
the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.
18 The Lord will reign forever and ever.”
The LORD has Risen! = He is risen indeed!
Christ is Seated at the Right Hand of God! = Amen!
Your God parted the Red Sea! = Amen!
Your God Created all things! = Amen!
As we look at the meaning of “Holiness to the LORD”, I want to pause and ask yourself, “What is it I think of as holy? How do I understand Holiness? And “Am I holy?”
When I was a young Christian, I often answered such questions in what I knew was an acceptable way. I would say “God is Holy”. How do I understand Holiness, “Through the Holiness of God.” Am I holy? “In Christ I am holy”. The scriptures tell us repeatedly about Holiness in relationship to the LORD. Scripture communicates in a way intended to bring us before Yahweh day by day in what the scriptures describe as the Beauty of Holiness which is found in fully in the LORD Christ Jesus and is the only hope of salvation. (; ; , )
What is Holiness?
What is Holiness?
In the simplest sense the word holiness means sanctified, set apart. Literally the word קדשׁ from v11 is the Hebrew word for “to cut” or “to separate”. When we speak or think of holiness concerning God it reflects who HE is. The Belgic Confession article 1 say God is:
..one only simple and spiritual Being, which we call God; and that He is eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, immutable, infinite, almighty, perfectly wise, just, good, and the overflowing fountain of all good.
We might look at the words of the WSC Q4:
God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
The holiness of God is defined by his incomprehensible nature. The One who’s infinite perfection is beyond all comprehension except to himself. He is forever distinct and separated from the Creation which he upholds. This is what many theologians call the Creator Creature Distinction.
When we first recognize the holiness of the LORD, we can begin to understand our own uncleanness, our impure thoughts, our inability to be holy or to come in holiness to the LORD in our own strength.
Holiness is never accomplished by the creature, thereby granting access to the Creator. HC Q6 teaches what tells us when it repeats 6 times it was good. Adam was created in the image of God in righteousness and true holiness, to love God, to live with, praise, and glorify God for all eternity and it was VERY GOOD.
Holiness to the LORD is the definition of being redeemed body and soul being set apart by God for his Glory and your blessing. Holiness to the LORD is commanded,
44 For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. 45 For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you
When we see passages about the Holiness of the LORD, they are designed to teach us what holiness is, to demonstrate the glory, honor and love which God requires of those whom he has chosen to be his holy people. Take some time to reread the Song of Moses from which our passage it taken.
The Song of Moses from if filled with awe and wonder. In a way the song of Moses is a developing theme of the Holy God of Israel. The verse we are looking at is one of the earliest verses to describe holiness using a rhetorical question.
11 “Who? is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who? is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
Covenantal Holiness
Covenantal Holiness
The story of children of Israel, the power and mercy which God demonstrated was done in such a way which you and I can only imagine. We have all the details of God acting on the covenant promises given to Abraham in , demonstrated his greatness through Pharaoh, though the bondage of the people of God, through they deliverance, hail that burned like fire on the ground, water turned to blood, and the Passover, where through the image of the death and blood of the Lamb of God, the first born of all Israel was redeemed, while the enemies of the LORD were rejected and consumed by death according to HIS Holiness.
The story of the Covenant and God’s Holiness is founded all the way back in . There the rest of the LORD was proclaimed and memorialized in the Holy Sabbath, which finds it completion in Christ. When it comes to holiness, we find over 800 instances where the word is used to describe what the LORD calls holy, how it is to be made holy, and how holiness is to be viewed. In Exodus, we have the “holy ground” (), a “holy assembly” (), a “holy sabbath” (), a “holy people” (), or a “holy place” (), or the written declaration “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” () which Aaron was commanded to wear and that is just 6 of the over 100x holiness is mentioned in Exodus. In Leviticus holiness is mentioned over 145x, in Numbers over 80x, and over 20x in Deuteronomy. Because the Law is Holy, Just and Good ().
Holiness in the Old Testament is designed to point us to Christ as the second Adam. The Law of God in the Pentateuch points to the necessity and dependence of fallen man upon the mercy, love and infinite justice of Yahweh as the only path to redemption. Where the Holy Sanctuary of the tabernacle, built with hands, is called holy (; ), Christ has come into the prefect tabernacle which is greater (), and thereby MOST HOLY! Where the holy priest entered year by year to offer blood sacrifices made holy by the ordinance of the LORD, Christ being the MOST HOLY priest after the order of Melchizedek (; ) entered once and offered himself and even now appear in the presence of God for you (-38)! Where the LORD called the children of Israel a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (), in Christ you beloved, the redeemed of Christ are a holy kingdom of priest, a holy nation unto to God (; ; ).
Living As the LORD’s Holy People
Living As the LORD’s Holy People
Beloved of the LORD. Holiness to the LORD is by your new birth in Christ Jesus, a fulfillment of all the promises of HOLINESS from Genesis through Revelation. The pictures of holiness in the Old Testament are an adornment of truth, pointing us to the incomprehensible God so we might know him in the only way we can, through his self-revelation to us as his people.
How often, if ever do, you take the time to EXPERIENCE, meditate, reflect, rejoice, get excited about, and tremble in Holiness to the LORD?
15 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a man of war;
the Lord is his name.
4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
8 At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
10 You blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 “Who? is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who? is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand;
the earth swallowed them.
13 “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed;
you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
14 The peoples have heard; they tremble;
pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;
trembling seizes the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
16 Terror and dread fall upon them;
because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone,
till your people, O Lord, pass by,
till the people pass by whom you have purchased.
17 You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain,
the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.
18 The Lord will reign forever and ever.”
The LORD has Risen! = He is risen indeed!
Christ is Seated at the Right Hand of God! = Amen!
Your God parted the Red Sea! = Amen!
Your God Created all things! = Amen!
As we look at the meaning of “Holiness to the LORD”, I want to pause and ask yourself, “What is it I think of as holy? How do I understand Holiness? And “Am I holy?”
When I was a young Christian, I often answered such questions in what I knew was an acceptable way. I would say “God is Holy”. How do I understand Holiness, “Through the Holiness of God.” Am I holy? “In Christ I am holy”. The scriptures tell us repeatedly about Holiness in relationship to the LORD. Scripture communicates in a way intended to bring us before Yahweh day by day in what the scriptures describe as the Beauty of Holiness which is found in fully in the LORD Christ Jesus and is the only hope of salvation. (; ; . 96:9)
What is holiness?
In the simplest sense the word holiness means sanctified, set apart. Literally the word קדשׁfrom v11 is the Hebrew word for “to cut” or “to separate”. When we speak or think of holiness concerning God it reflects who HE is. The Belgic Confession article 1 say God is:
..one only simple and spiritual Being, which we call God; and that He is eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, immutable, infinite, almighty, perfectly wise, just, good, and the overflowing fountain of all good.
We might look at the words of the WSC Q4:
God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
The holiness of God is defined by his incomprehensible nature. The One who’s infinite perfection is beyond all comprehension except to himself. He is forever distinct and separated from the Creation which he upholds. This is what many theologians call the Creator Creature Distinction.
When we first recognize the holiness of the LORD, we can begin to understand our own uncleanness, our impure thoughts, our inability to be holy or to come in holiness to the LORD in our own strength.
Holiness is never accomplished by the creature, thereby granting access to the Creator. HC Q6 teaches what tells us when it repeats 6 times it was good. Adam was created in the image of God in righteousness and true holiness, to love God, to live with, praise, and glorify God for all eternity and it was VERY GOOD.
Holiness to the LORD is the definition of being redeemed body and soul being set apart by God for his Glory and your blessing. Holiness to the LORD is commanded,
44 For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. 45 For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you
When we see passages about the Holiness of the LORD, they are designed to teach us what holiness is, to demonstrate the glory, honor and love which God requires of those whom he has chosen to be his holy people. Take some time to reread the Song of Moses from which our passage it taken.
The Song of Moses from if filled with awe and wonder. In a way the song of Moses is a developing theme of the Holy God of Israel. The verse we are looking at is one of the earliest verses to describe holiness using a rhetorical question.
11 “Who? is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who? is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
The story of children of Israel, the power and mercy which God demonstrated was done in such a way which you and I can only imagine. We have all the details of God acting on the covenant promises given to Abraham in , demonstrated his greatness through Pharaoh, though the bondage of the people of God, through they deliverance, hail that burned like fire on the ground, water turned to blood, and the Passover, where through the image of the death and blood of the Lamb of God, the first born of all Israel was redeemed, while the enemies of the LORD were rejected and consumed by death according to HIS Holiness.
The story of the Covenant and God’s Holiness is founded all the way back in . There the rest of the LORD was proclaimed and memorialized in the Holy Sabbath, which finds it completion in Christ. When it comes to holiness, we find over 800 instances where the word is used to describe what the LORD calls holy, how it is to be made holy, and how holiness is to be viewed. In Exodus, we have the “holy ground” (), a “holy assembly” (), a “holy sabbath” (), a “holy people” (), or a “holy place” (), or the written declaration “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” () which Aaron was commanded to wear and that is just 6 of the over 100x holiness is mentioned in Exodus. In Leviticus holiness is mentioned over 145x, in Numbers over 80x, and over 20x in Deuteronomy. Because the Law is Holy, Just and Good ().
Holiness in the Old Testament is designed to point us to Christ as the second Adam. The Law of God in the Pentateuch points to the necessity and dependence of fallen man upon the mercy, love and infinite justice of Yahweh as the only path to redemption. Where the Holy Sanctuary of the tabernacle, with hands, is called holy (; Lev 12:33-34), Christ has come into the prefect tabernacle which is greater (), and thereby MOST HOLY! Where the holy priest entered year by year to offer blood sacrifices made holy by the ordinance of the LORD, Christ being the MOST HOLY priest after the order of Melchizedek () entered once and offered himself and even now appear in the presence of God for you (-38)! Where the LORD called the children of Israel a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (), in Christ you beloved, the redeemed of Christ are a holy kingdom of priest, a holy nation unto to God (; ; ).
Beloved of the LORD. Holiness to the LORD is by your new birth in Christ Jesus, a fulfillment of all the promises of HOLINESS from Genesis through Revelation. The pictures of holiness in the Old Testament are an adornment of truth, pointing us to the incomprehensible God so we might know him in the only way we can, through his self-revelation to us as his people.
How often, if ever do, you take the time to experience, meditate, reflect, rejoice, get excited about, and tremble in Holiness to the LORD?
If I am honest with you then I have to say, my response to that question is a dismal “not often enough!” As Christians you confess and know intellectually when you pray, you come in the holiness of Christ, by his shed blood, into his presence, wither with praises or petitions. This is a form of practicing Holiness to the LORD.
Because beloved if you are a Christian then all your life is intended to reflect Holiness to the LORD.
Not just Sunday’s when you come to church.
Not just when you come to the Lord’s Table.
Not only when you pray.
Your life is bound up in Christ, you are made a HOLY PREISTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, IN CHRIST!
Someone heard me say a moment ago, how often do you take the time to EXPERIENCE the holiness of God. Beloved! Never fear the experience of God’s holiness! I am not saying let’s bust out in holy laughter, or roll around on the floor, or fake it until you make it. All of these practices are lies told to the deceived to keep their itching ears tingling.
The Song of Moses and the verse we used to begin our message are the kind of experience we can know, comprehend and recognize in our daily lives-
Holiness to the LORD molds the wonder and awe which is reflected in your hearts when we see a beautiful sunrise or sunset.
Holiness to the LORD is found in the special feeling you have when you realize what you asked in prayer has been granted.
Holiness to the LORD is experienced when the doctor says, we don’t know what else to do, and in your heart, you have the confidence, peace and comfort which the knowledge of YOUR HOLY LORD provides.
You experience Holiness to the LORD when you affirm The LORD has Risen! He is risen indeed!
You can experience, meditate, reflect, rejoice, get excited about, and tremble over the truth that-
Christ is Seated at the Right Hand of God! Amen!
God parted the Red Sea! Amen!
God has Created all things! Amen!
Beloved let us close with these words from the Apostle Paul,
For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
17Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
18and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.” EXPERIENCE, meditate, reflect, rejoice, get excited about, and tremble in Holiness to the LORD?
If I am honest with you then I have to say, my response to that question is a dismal “not often enough!” As Christians you confess and know intellectually when you pray, you come in the holiness of Christ, by his shed blood, into his presence, wither with praises or petitions. This is a form of practicing Holiness to the LORD.
Because beloved if you are a Christian then all your life is intended to reflect Holiness to the LORD.
Not just Sunday’s when you come to church.
Not just when you come to the Lord’s Table.
Not only when you pray.
Your life is bound up in Christ, you are made a HOLY PREISTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, IN CHRIST!
Someone heard me say a moment ago, how often do you take the time to EXPERIENCE the holiness of God. Beloved! Never fear the experience of God’s holiness! I am not saying let’s bust out in holy laughter, or roll around on the floor, or fake it until you make it. All of these practices are lies told to the deceived to keep their itching ears tingling.
The Song of Moses and the verse 11 we used to begin our message are the kind of experience we can know, comprehend and recognize in our daily lives-
Holiness to the LORD molds the wonder and awe which is reflected in your hearts when we see a beautiful sunrise or sunset.
Holiness to the LORD is found in the special feeling you have when you realize what you asked in prayer has been granted.
Holiness to the LORD is experienced when the doctor says, we don’t know what else to do, and in your heart, you have the confidence, peace and comfort which the knowledge of YOUR HOLY LORD provides.
You experience Holiness to the LORD when you affirm The LORD has Risen! He is risen indeed!
You can experience, meditate, reflect, rejoice, get excited about, and tremble over the truth that-
Christ is Seated at the Right Hand of God! Amen!
God parted the Red Sea! Amen!
God has Created all things! Amen!
Beloved let us close with these words from the Apostle Paul,
For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
17Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
18and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
