Our Gloriously Holy God (38mb)

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This sermon is the seventh in a ten-part series on the attributes of God. This message begins to discuss the category of attributes that some theologians refer to as the "Moral Attributes" of God. The topic covered in this message is the holiness of God including His righteousness and justice.

Written Excerpts:

Exodus 15:11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Introduction:

Remember that I stated at the outset of this series that we were going to be learning more about God so that the knowledge we gain will lead us to a personal and intimate knowledge of God.

In order for that to happen, it will require for us to do some thinking, meditating, and studying on our own. It will require us to spend time dwelling on His perfections and then worshiping and adoring Him as He is.

Today we are going to begin talking about a new category of attributes – Moral Attributes.

III.       Moral Attributes

Moral Attributes are those qualities that are not only true about Him, but they are qualities that He shares, in some degree, with mankind, who was made in His image. They are qualities that refer to God’s governance over free and intelligent moral beings.

A. Holiness, Righteousness and Justice.

It appears that these qualities are very closely related to each other, so we will consider them together.

1. Definitions of the terms.

Holiness – Supreme moral excellence; the absolute exclusion of every conceivable principle of moral evil, and the possession, in an unlimited degree, of every conceivable principle of moral good.

Exodus 15:11 “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?”

Righteousness – God’s attribute of holiness considered as the standard for all His actions.

Ps. 145:17 “The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.”

Justice – The administration of God’s holiness in the form of rewards and punishments.

Ps. 9:7-8 “The LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.”

2. Important Observations from Scripture.

a. The holiness of God is underived.

In other words, just as we said previously about other attributes of God, He does not conform to some outside standard of holiness; He IS the standard of holiness.

Exodus 15:11 “Who is like you O Lord…glorious in holiness….”

Lev. 11:44 “…You shall be holy; for I am holy.”

In the Exodus passage, the implication is that God stands alone in regards to holiness, just as He stands alone in all of His divine perfections. There is no one or nothing that measures up to His holiness.

“Glorious in holiness” – has been translated by some scholars as “glorified in holiness.” I understand that to mean that God’s holiness, moral perfection, or infinite purity is the thing that causes His name to be exalted, glorified and adored by the hosts of heaven and the entire creation.

In the Leviticus passage, God is telling the people of Israel that the underlying reason they need to be holy is because He is holy; He is the standard. (I’ll have more to say about that later.)

b. God’s holiness is the principle for His own activity.

Everything He does is ultimately an expression of His holiness.

Ps. 145:17 “The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.”

God has manifested his holiness in various ways throughout the history of mankind as recorded in scripture.

For example:

·          The giving of the Law; including the content of the Law, as well as all the circumstances surrounding that event. (Fire, smoke, thunder, warnings of sudden death, etc.)

·          In the various ways that God punished the wickedness and evil of the heathen as well as the unfaithfulness and rebellion of His own children (Israel). (Uzzah and the Ark of the Covenant)

·          In the death of His own Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross.

c. God’s holiness is the standard for His children.

Peter quotes the passage we referenced earlier in Leviticus when he says, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (1 Pe. 1:15-16)

Please notice and understand, dear friends, that God did not say, “Be holy because the world is so wicked.” That statement would imply that the world’s wickedness is the standard that we should measure ourselves by, and as long as we are better than the rest of the world, then we are doing quite well.

No. God said we are to be holy because He is holy. HE is the standard by which we must constantly measure ourselves.

If we keep comparing ourselves with ourselves, then our attitudes, behaviors and lifestyles will eventually become as corrupt and immoral as the “wicked” people were a decade or two ago,.

Why is this trend inevitable? Because we tend to become desensitized and accustomed to evil the longer we are around it.

We are a lot like the wicked that God addresses in Psalms 50:21 “These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.”

It’s no wonder that Isaiah’s experience is described the way that it is in Isaiah 6. After he had a revelation of God “high and lifted up,” and the angels crying “Holy, Holy, Holy;” his response was a passionate “Woe is me!”

For many people today, whether in the church or out, when they are asked about their conduct or their attitudes, they are apt to reply that they are as good as (or better than) most other people. Well, dear friends, that is the problem. We must not compare ourselves with other people. The real question is, how do we measure up with the holiness of God?

We may be tempted to feel like there is no hope; there is no use trying; we can never measure up. That certainly would be true if we were left to our own efforts. But God has provided a remedy! The plan of redemption is adequate!

1 John 3:8b “For this purpose was the Son of God manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

I’m not implying that we will be or can be absolutely perfect, or reach the point where we never make mistakes or can never succumb to a temptation. I am saying that the remedy for sin and impurity that was accomplished through the shed blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient for the problem we have.

That means we must not make excuses for sin! We must not justify it, nor condone it.

To be holy, means that we are repulsed by sin just like He is. It means that our supreme desire in life is to be like Jesus.

d. God’s justice is based on His holiness and is administered in truth.

Again, we have become so accustomed to perverted justice in our courts and governments. Sometimes the innocent are convicted and the guilty go free. This will never happen with God.

The Psalmist says His judgments are “true and righteous altogether.” (19b)

The justice of God knows all things and judges all things not according to our perspectives and our “excuses,” but according to His truth and especially according to His provisions that He has made to overcome all sin.

We might have an excuse when we stand before God, if there was no Calvary. We might have an excuse, if there was no empty tomb. We might have an excuse if there was no Pentecost; no Holy Spirit to bring God Himself into our very own hearts and lives.

But there is a cross and an empty tomb that testify God has done everything that is needed for us to be redeemed, forgiven, cleansed and delivered by His blood and power of His resurrection.

He has given us His Holy Spirit to live within our hearts and lives enabling us to be holy and righteous before God.

Conclusion:

I hope that your heart has not only been convicted this morning, but inspired and challenged to seek after God.

I hope that the Holy Spirit has created within your spirit a discontent for living according to the status quo of this world and its standards.

I hope that He has inspired a passionate desire in the depths of your soul to constantly seek and exemplify the holiness of Christ in attitudes and in conduct.

The next sermon in this series is: Oh How He Loves You and Me (link available in the blog archive on the right)