There can only be one Superbowl Champion and the Philadelphia Eagles won it this year, but there is always only One who is Supreme in Holiness-God. Almost everyone has heard the hymn: HOLY, HOLY, HOLY. What does it mean for a man that God is Holy? How can this reality of God shape us in His image? There’s more to the Holiness of God than you may know! Join us at FORGE this week and we’ll talk about it!
GREAT MEN GREATER GOD SERIES
Knowing & Experiencing The God Who Is FORGES Men of Distinction
Talk 5
THE HOLINESS OF GOD
February 6,7,8, 2018
Week after the Superbowl
Announcements: Video for BME
Start 5 minutes of:
INTRODUCTION:
Hey guys welcome to FORGE! FORGE is about building great men as God defines greatness and we believe here at FORGE that only Jesus Christ can take a man to true greatness. Most of you guys are already Christ followers but FORGE is also a place for guys who are exploring belief in God and looking for more in their lives…more truth, more power, more purpose, more true manliness.
All of that is wrapped up with the idea of Greatness!
ILL Well Sunday Evening the Philadelphia Eagles won the Superbowl and they did demonstrate strength and dominance and greatness over the New England Patriots!
- Eagles first Superbowl ever- 41-33
- QB- Nick Foles-First Player in NFL history to throw and catch a touchdown pass-An overtly Christian man so that’s cool! Did you see his WWJD wrist band?
- But it was teamwork! Zach Ertz TD and Brandon Graham’s sack of Tom Brady sealed the win.
- Another record: NE Patriots logged more than 600 yards offense and still lost the game.
- Tide Advertisements might have been the best.
- Bud Light Dilly Dilly!
And then after a great win, Philadelphia demonstrated their ability to tear up and destroy their city in celebration! How about that sports fans!
- Tore down streetlights
- Tipped over at least one car
- Trashed a van
- Collapsed a covering at a hotel entrance
- Food fights in a convenience store.
If you saw any of the videos, what did you notice in the rioting and the food fighting? Most of the perpetrators were…WELL, LOOK, ALMOST ALL OF THEM WERE MEN!
Ok Rich…(Lawson) that’s your team and that’s your city… you’ve gotta go on some short term mission trips and fix the men in Philli! You prayed them into a Superbowl win now you have to pray them into true manhood!
Talking about our need for men to reach real greatness!!!!!
Well…
Our current series is all about greatness: GREAT MEN GREATER GOD…and the subtitle says it all: Knowing and Experiencing The God Who Is FORGES Men of Distinction.
You see..and this is crucial…what is causing American Culture to come apart at the seams is that we don’t hold as a culture to the God of the Bible and His truth! His good moral code based on the Gospel guides us to the best way to live!!!!!
So we’re in a series where we’re exploring deeper the God who is — now the God you may want is not necessarily the God Who is.
Repeat: the God we may want is not necessarily the God who is.
Accepting Reality is an important part of sanity as well as maturity.
Our Series Memory Verse says something very important about the God who is:
Slide Up:
Romans 1:20
“For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that are made, so they are without excuse.”
It says:
- God is-there is a God
- God has attributes, perfections, unique characteristics-He is personal, moral, not an invisible force field of some kind.
- God’s attributes are invisible b/c He is Spirit, but His invisible attributes/perfections always make a visible result in what we see around us every day in creation.
- The more we reflect on Creation Paul says in Romans 1:20, the more we see God’s eternal power and many other of His attributes. So…
- In this series we’ve talked about:
- God’s Self-Existence-that He didn’t come into being but is, because He is. God is the uncaused Causitive Factor of all that we see that is good.
- Because of His Self-Existence- He is No beginning, no end.
- Because He is Self-Existent He has no needs and so He is
- Because He is Self-Existent we have seen that He is necessarily Omnipotent! El Shaddai
- He is Omniscient-All Knowing
- He is Omnipresent! Everywhere and available for His sons.
Catch this: God has revealed Himself so blatantly in creation that He thinks it’s perfectly obvious that He exists!!!
God believes that creation proves that it has design and therefore a Designer and a Contractor/Builder/Creator.
We’re without excuse…Creation Screams every day THERE IS A GOD…DEAL WITH IT…WORSHIP HIM! Live Like He Lives!
Now…the sum total of these perfections/attributes of God that we’ve talked about and others that we will talk about leads us to what many thinkers call the supreme attribute of God that sort of encompasses all the other attributes of God—
That is: GOD’S HOLINESS- THE HOLINESS OF GOD…
In the OLD Testament:
Holiness : Hebrew word= QUODESH
Root idea= Separation= A person, place or thing set apart
I want us to look at 2 men who experienced the Holiness of God because to really understand the Holiness of God I think you have to experience it….
Turn in your Bibles to Exodus 3:1-9
- EXPERIENCING THE HOLINESS OF GOD
Now in this passage we see the first use of the word HOLY in the Bible…
Moses isn’t the first person to experience the Holiness of God…Adam and Eve were the first…But here we see Moses being encountered by God:
Exodus 3:1-9
3 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”
Up on Screen
Exodus 3:4-5
4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.”
Here we can see and experience clear evidence of :
- Omnipresence of God- He’s everywhere, He never goes on vacation, so God sees the Israelite’s slavery-He’s there with them in the midst of their suffering. 16: 13- Hagar- “You are a God who sees” El Roi
- Omniscience-He knows all!
- Love of God- He cares for the Israelites
- Faithfulness of God-He made a covenant with Israel and He’s going to keep it.
- Omnipotence of God- He’s going to set them free and He suspends His own laws of creation by creating fire to get Moses’ attention but the bush is not consumed. Only God can do that.
By the way, God can talk too. I hope that doesn’t surprise you, but He can. And He’s multilingual!
In all of this experience God says to Moses…this is Holy Ground…and Moses of Course is catching on real quick! He senses …and feels and knows that something is going on. Moses is experiencing THE HOLINESS OF GOD!
God’s Bigness…Separateness…Otherness…God’s Mystery
That’s the big idea of HOLINESS…that which is separated and because the separation gap is so great between God and man, man who is much, much, smaller, infinitely smaller than God…is in Awe of God’s Otherness…Holiness.
NOTICE: The Holiness of God produces in Moses: Fear AND A desire to hide his face…there is a desire to run away, and yet a strange attraction to this God who obviously cares for His people enough to call Moses to be a deliverer for them.
Now here’s a fascinating reality…
In the Bible there IS A lot that is called HOLY=separate:
Holy ground
Holy Sabbath
Holy Place- Temple
Holy Linen Coat- Priests
Holy Tithe
Holy Censers
Holy Bread
Holy Seed
Holy Covenant
Holy Convocation-Gathering
Holy Nation- Israel
Holy Anointing Oil
Holy Jubilee
Holy Field
Holy Water
Holy Ark
Holy City
Holy Word
Holy Ones
Holy of Holies- Again in the temple.
So many holy or set apart people, places and things!
Now catch this: All of these people, places and things are holy because of one thing they hold in common: God’s presence. If God is there, or if God declares it, these people, places and things are holy for He makes them holy by His presence and by His Decree.
God is the only One Who is Holy in Himself!
Catch this:
In Moses’ Song that he composes and sings right after the promised EXODUS is complete, we find these words:
“WHO IS LIKE THEE AMONG THE GODS,
O LORD?
WHO IS LIKE THEE, MAJESTIC IN HOLINESS,
AWESOME IN PRAISES, WORKING WONDERS?”
Exodus 15:11
Who is like God in Holiness? No one, no thing, no place.
God alone is Holy, Completely unique, completely set a part, completely perfect, completely pure, completely excellent.
Moses experienced the Holiness of God at the burning bush, and it stayed with him…after the Exodus…the holiness of God pours out of him in praise!
Now let me give you one more example of a man who EXPERIENCED THE HOLINESS OF GOD:
His name is Isaiah and he was of upper class blood in Israel around 600 years before Jesus was born:
Isaiah 6:1-8
6 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[a] of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”[b]
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Here we see that Isaiah has a similar response Moses has when he sees this vision of God:
- Views the Majesty of God as the Sovereign, Omnipotent, All Knowing One who sits on His Kingly Throne administering all He has created. Uzziah had been a pretty good king, but how he was dead and there was political chaos among God’s people. But God is the King!
- God’s Kingly Majesty is evidenced in His Royal Robe which fills the temple AS WELL AS the Angels called Seraphim who cover their feet to hide their creatureliness…and these Seraphim are calling out HOLY, HOLY, HOLY! This is called THE TRISAGION>>>Thrice Holy<<<…the Hebrew way to make a point…to be super emphatic…repetition. God is HOLY, truly separate from man and therefore also truly separate from all sin. God is Holy and therefore He is righteous in all His ways.
- No other attribute of God is ever put in this way as Holiness is put. You never find “love, love, love”, or “wrath, wrath, wrath”, spoken of about God, or “justice, justice, Justice.” Only, “Holy, holy, holy.”
- As the foundations of the temple shake, Isaiah knows that He is done. He’s a man of unclean lips b/c he’s a man of an unclean heart…He’s a sinner by nature and choice…He’s seen a vision of the Holy God…God who is completely set apart from man…completely perfect morally, who shines with Shekinah glory.
- Isaiah= “Woe is me”= “Curse me” Yiddish “OY VAY!”
How do you respond to the Holiness of God!!!?
- RESPONDING TO THE HOLINESS OF GOD
HOW DOES A MAN RESPOND TO THE HOLINESS OF GOD!!!!
I want you to see in Moses and Isaiah that the Holiness of God when it is truly experienced:
- The Holiness of God Radically wrecks a man! The true vision of God shows a man for what he is in the presence of God: truly small, and completely sinful. In a flash point of recognition Isaiah saw his sinfulness and bowed down and knew he deserved to be cursed and judged swiftly for his sinfulness.
Truth: If you’ve never trembled in the presence of God you’ve never been in the presence of God!
- Fear…a tendency to run because of the judgment one deserves to receive. We so often fear people but we should fear God more!
- Awe…realization that there is no one greater. There is an attractive wonder to God…Holy, Holy, Holy! It ought to lead to worship…but at this point Isaiah is too afraid to worship God. He sees only his badness and God’s justice coming down on him.
In the Holiness of God, there is also the
- Compelling Realization that we should be like Him!
In fact this is directly taught in the Bible!
Leviticus 11:44-45 (ESV)
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.”
But we can’t be like God!
We can’t be good enough long enough!
We can’t make ourselves perfectly holy or perfectly righteous!
We have our idols, addictions, temperamental tendencies that are so difficult to shake!
In the Holiness of God, we see the Law of God, the perfections of God and the Law of God shows us our need for something more powerful than ourselves to get right with God!
And that’s why we have to go back to Isaiah 6: 6-8:
After saying that he is deserving of being cursed, this happens:
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Think with me:
- Where did the burning coal come from? The altar
- What kind of altar? Altar of sacrifices.
- What did the animal sacrifices of the OT foretell? The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
- What happened when Isaiah was touched with the coal from the altar? He was cleansed completely…forgiven…graced…sin was gone…guilt was taken away…His sin was atoned for!” It’s done, it’s finished! There is no record of wrong. You’re not God’s enemy!
- What happens when a man receives Jesus Christ as His Savior and Lord?
Romans 3-justified by faith-declared not guilty
Romans 5:1-peace with God
Romans 8:1- no condemnation
Jeremiah 31:31-Law put on our hearts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the Grace and Good News of the Gospel in Jesus Christ!
- Now when Isaiah is cleansed with a foreshadowing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ…we hear this:
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
Ultimately the Holiness of God demanded the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf and when God’s wrath is poured out on His Son and we believe in His Son, then like Isaiah, we are completely forgiven and called.
When we men stay near to the only Holy God and drink in the full sacrifice of God in Christ, and that our guilt has been taken away in Jesus Christ, we become men no longer fearful of God’s wrath, but we become taken by HIS BEAUTY, Glory, and we allow His holiness to sink into us. We desire it…and then we go for Him.
Ultimately men who become great are possessed by God’s infinitely superior greatness and holiness.
They are so amazed at God’s grandeur, that they are free. Free to be like Him. Free to advance His cause to the utter unconcern from themselves.
YOU TALK ABOUT THAT AROUND YOUR TABLES!
The Essentials!
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