Great to have Frank and Janet
with us. Ephesians 1, 4, according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world that we should be. And that's not future tense.
That's right now. That we should be holy. I've entitled this message chosen
to be holy. Question. Do you feel holy? I dare say that not one person
in this room said, yes, I feel holy. Next question. If God chose you to be holy,
can you be anything but holy? If God chose you to be holy,
You are holy. Present tense. Right now. David put it this way in Psalm
86 verses 1 and 2. Bow down thine ear O Lord hear
me for I am poor and needy. I'm poor. That means I don't
have anything to recommend me. And I'm needy. I have great needs. preserve my soul for I am holy."
That's the words of David. I am holy. If I'm a saint, that means I
am a holy one. That's what the word means, a
holy one. Now last week we considered the
spiritual blessing of election and today we're going or this
evening we're going to consider the spiritual blessing of being
holy. You know one of the slams against
believing in election is it's a great hindrance to holiness
and it prevents holiness when the fact of the matter is it's
the very fountain of holiness. according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
6. Isaiah says, In the year that
king Uzziah died, Now that's when Uzziah took upon himself
to do the work of a priest. He'd been a good king, but all
of a sudden he thought he could offer up incense to God without
the Levitical priesthood. And he came in to offer up incense,
and God turned him into a leper. And Isaiah said, when I saw that,
I saw also the Lord Sitting upon a throne. Sitting, his work finished,
upon a throne, a throne of absolute sovereignty, ruling and reigning
in complete control. If you ever, I ever see him,
that's precisely how we'll see him. High and lifted up. And his train, the skirts of
his garment, filled the temple. What filled the temple? The skirts
of his garment. You see, the heavens and the
heavens of heavens cannot contain him. But this temple was filled
with the skirts of his garment. Verse two, above it, this throne,
stood the seraphims. Now these were living creatures. Some have said they represent
gospel preaching. I don't know. I don't know. I almost don't want to give a
preacher that high a position. These are sitting around the
throne, above the throne. And these living creatures have
six wings. Now remember these living creatures
are sinless creatures. They are the ones who are closest
to the throne. I don't know if there's any difference
between a cherubim and a seraphim. They may be the same being I'm
not sure. You remember the cherubims that kept Adam and Eve out of
the garden after the fall and they had that sword that went
every way to keep them away. But they had six wings. Remember
they're sinless and with two they cover their face. Why? Holy, holy, holy. With two, they covered their
feet. They're ashamed of their walk. Well, how could they be
ashamed of their walk when they had not committed sin? They knew
they would commit sin if God didn't prevent it. They knew
they were mutable creatures. They knew they could commit sin,
and the only reason they didn't commit sin was because God prevented
it. They were ashamed of their walk.
And with two, they did fly, ready to obey his will and do his bidding. And what did they cry? Now, if you would ask the average
religious person, what is God's chief attribute, what would they
say? Love. Love, love, love. But that's not what these living
creatures say. Holy, holy, holy. And that's the only time in the
Bible that's repeated in Revelation Chapter 4 where the word holy
is repeated three times. Holy, holy, holy. It's the Lord
of hosts the whole earth is filled with his glory. Now holiness
means separate. It means other it means otherness holiness means he is utterly
unlike me and you. He's transcendent. He's above
anything we can even imagine. What is holiness? Well, whatever
it is, it always evokes a response toward those who see it. Look
at Isaiah's response. Verse 3, And one cried unto another,
and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole
earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke. Then said I, woe is me. I'm undone. I'm cut off. Now, whatever holiness is, anyone
who sees it, has this response, and the only ones who can see
it in the first place are those who are holy and have been given
a holy nature. They're the ones who recognize
this. Now, understand this. If you're a holy, you're gonna
see yourself as very sinful, very evil, and it takes a holy
nature to see that. A man without a holy nature doesn't
have any idea as to what sin is. That's why he has such a
high opinion of himself. But a man with a holy nature, when
he sees the holiness of God, there's only one response. Woe
is me. Picture's worth a thousand words.
And look at the men who saw his holiness. Job said, I've heard
of thee with the hearing of the ears, but now mine eye seeth
thee, wherefore I hate myself, and I repent in dust and ashes. David, the man after God's own
heart, said, I was as a beast before thee. Daniel. what a man Daniel was, and yet
he says, when I saw him, my comeliness turned to corruption. Now, I
know this, anyone who has any idea of the holiness of God,
this is how they will see themselves. When Peter found out who Christ
was, what did he say? Depart from me. I am a sinful man. You don't want to have anything
to do with the likes of me." What did Paul call himself? The
chief of sinners. And there are those who would
think, you wonder, wouldn't you reckon what he was doing that
made him think that about himself? That's just someone who has never
seen the holiness of God. Now, what is God's holiness? It's his chief attribute. Every
attribute is surrounded by his holiness. His love is a holy
love. His will is a holy will. His
wrath is a holy wrath. His goodness is a holy goodness. His sovereignty is a holy sovereignty. envelops every one of his attributes,
God's holiness. Now, what is God's holiness?
Now, I looked at a couple of systematic theologies, and this
was the definition that was given. Holiness is, let me read it. I want to read it just right.
It's been called his moral perfections. his moral perfections. I don't
like that at all. Let me tell you why. It almost
makes it for one thing you know the word moral is not in the
Bible. People like to use that word but it's not in the Bible.
But it almost makes it sound like God has some kind of standard
he's trying to live up to. Like there's a law over his head
that he has to reach this standard. There's no law over God's head.
God is who he is and whatever he does is holy and he doesn't
do it because it's holy, it's holy because he does it. That's
who God is, holy, holy, holy. God's not trying to live up to
some kind of standard. God's holiness is his infinite
purity. He cannot sin. Now that's God's holiness. He
cannot sin. He lacks the ability to sin. One thing I know about holiness,
holiness cannot sin. It lacks the ability to sin. If it can sin, It's not holy. It's mutable. It can change. Holiness cannot sin. It's his inability, God's holiness. He's a purer eyes than to behold
iniquity. He cannot sin. It is his inability
to accept anything that's not just like him. That is God's
holiness. His holiness is his wholeness. He's not made of parts that make
up the sun. He's whole. Holiness has something
to do with being whole. Now you think about the way the
scriptures present the character of the Lord. Even his name, if
I take it in vain, It's sin. That's how holy he is. To speak
his name without the proper reverence is a great sin. Holy and reverend is his name. Thus saith the high and lofty
one who inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy. He's called
the Holy One of Israel. Christ is called the Holy One
of God. God the Spirit is called the Holy Spirit. We read of the
holy scriptures and his holy covenant. I think the scripture
that speaks most of his holiness is found in Psalm 22. Would you
turn with me there? Now, I realize that David said
this and David felt like he'd been forsaken. But was he forsaken? No. You and I both know that
these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. And look what he
says in Psalm 22. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring Oh my God I cry in the daytime
but thou hearest not and in the night season and am not silent. Now this is the Lord Jesus crying
from the cross as he's made sin. He was really forsaken by God
his father who loved him so I could not possibly describe the love
between the father and the son. There's no love like this love
and yet God forsakes him. Why? Look in verse 3. But thou art holy. How holy is God? When sin is
found in his son. And sin was found in his son.
The sins of God's elect became his sin so that he became guilty
of them. God is so holy. How many times
have your children done something wrong and the easiest thing to
do was just to look away? You didn't really want to deal
with it. God's not like that. All sin must be punished. And
when my sin became his sin, God forsook him. Now his holiness
separates him from all others. Nobody's like him. None is as
holy as the Lord, and that's why idolatry is so evil. It's
the humanizing of God. I love that scripture in Psalm
50. Thou thoughtest I was altogether such a one as thyself. What's most like God? An angel
or a fly? Neither. He cannot be compared
to anything. That is his holiness. Now before time began he chose
a people that they should be holy. Look in Leviticus chapter
20. I don't remember ever seeing
this passage of scripture. I've read it but it didn't strike
me. Leviticus chapter 20 verse 26. And you shall be holy unto me,
for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people,
that you should be mine. That's election, isn't it? Same
thing. According as He has chosen us
in Him that we should be holy. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 5. Wherefore, when he cometh
into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. It's talking about the incarnation
of Christ. And burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come. In the volume of the book, it's
written of me. And that's not talking about
the scriptures. That's talking about the volume of that book
in Revelation chapter 5. Sealed with seven seals, all
the eternal purposes of God. In the volume of the book, it's
written of me to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said sacrifices
and offerings and burnt offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldest
not neither had pleasure which were offered by the law. Then
said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the
first, the first covenant of works, to take it away that he
may establish a second by the witch will, by God's will. We are sanctified. We're declared by God. holy through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. He willed the sanctification
of his people and they are perfectly sanctified. As a matter of fact,
with that word sanctified, notice that once for all, that's perfectly
completed, never to be repeated. Now, this being willed by God
to be sanctified came only through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ. Look what it says in verse 10.
By the witch will, by God's will, we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Now, for
God to sanctify me, something's going to have to be done. And
it was through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once
for all. Look in verse 14, for by one
offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. By his death on Christ, by Christ's
death on Calvary's tree, every believer was sanctified. Once for all. Perfect in Christ
Jesus. Ephesians 5, 25 through 27 says,
Husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of the water by the word, that he might present
it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish before
him. Colossians 1 20 through 22 having
made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile
all things to himself by him I say whether they be things
on earth or things in heaven and you that were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he in his
own flesh yet now in the body his flesh he has reconciled us
in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy And
this is a presentation that's already been made. This is not
something out here in the future. To present you holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in his sight. Second Thessalonians 2 13 we're
bound to thank God always for you brother and beloved of the
Lord because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit that's the sanctifying
work of God the Holy Spirit and belief of the truth and wherever
you have the sanctifying work of God the Holy Spirit you know
what you're going to have? You're going to have the belief of the truth
and whether you have the true belief of the truth you have
the sanctifying work of God the Holy Spirit. Now understand.
God chose me to be holy. Christ made me holy, declared
me to be holy by his work on the cross. And in the new birth,
God the Holy Spirit actually gives every believer a holy nature. A nature that cannot sin. I'm going to show you that from
the scriptures. But we read in Revelation chapter 20 verse 6,
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection."
What's the first resurrection? The new birth when you're raised
from from the dead and given life. Blessed, oh how blessed
that man is of God, and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection. On him the second death hath
no power. I love what Peter said in 1 Peter
1, verse 20, being born again, not of corruptible seed, not
of anything subject to corruption, but of incorruptible. By the
word of God that liveth and abideth Forever. Turn to 1 John chapter
3. I want you to read this with me. Verse 9. Whosoever is born of God, doth
not commit sin. Now, I've seen so many translations
that says, well, he doesn't practice sin. Sin's not his usual practice. Now that, this word will not
allow that. It's not that he doesn't practice
sin, all you gotta do is breathe and you practice sin as far as
you're old nature. It's not talking about that at
all. It's talking about that new nature that actually does
not commit sin. I love the way Peter calls it,
the hidden man of the heart that is not corruptible, the hidden
man. Somebody says, well, I can't
see where I have a nature that doesn't practice sin. Well, I
know it's hidden. It's hidden. It's not something you can see.
If you say, yeah, I didn't see in there, you've missed it all
together. It's the hidden man of the heart, the new man born
of God, born of the Spirit. Now look what it says, whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed, God's seed,
remains in him, and he cannot sin. He lacks the ability to
sin because he's born of God. That which is born of the Spirit
is holy. That which is born of the spirit
is spirit. It cannot sin. Somebody says I don't understand
this. Well whoever thought you could. Me either. But we believe
what God says in his word. Every believer is holy and it's
the holy nature that sees the sinfulness of the old nature.
People without a sense of two natures means they all have one. Now if you have two natures,
you know you have two natures. I don't need to talk into this.
You know you've got a nature that's completely evil and you've
got a nature that comes from God that causes you to believe
the gospel and you know that's the reason you believe the gospel. Hebrews 2.11, listen to this
scripture. Both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are
all of one. I'm holy because I'm united to
Christ. He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified,
are all of one. And the Lord gives us the best
illustration, the vine and the branches. The same stem going
through the vine goes through the branches. There's no connecting
point. The same stem that goes through
the vine, goes through the branches. And that is the holiness that
every believer possesses. Sanctified in Christ Jesus. First Corinthians 1.30 says he's
made unto us sanctification. Now when he says, be ye holy,
for I am holy, you can only be holy if you are holy. cannot become holy by something
you do, nor can you become more holy by something you do, nor
can you become less holy by something you do. Now, Don't you believe people
grow? Of course I do. There are degrees
of growth in grace. There's children, there's young
men, there's fathers. He did say grow in grace in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And there is growth
in the fruit of God the Holy Spirit. There's no doubt about
that. Living things grow. But you'll not be any more holy
in heaven than you are right now. You believe that? Now, let me remind you, this
shows just how much the flesh drags us down. But you'll be
no more holy in heaven than you are right now. Turn with me for
a moment to Isaiah 65. This is the only time in the
Bible we find the word holier. Isaiah 65. Verse 3, a people that provoketh
me to anger continually to my face, that sacrificeth in gardens,
and burneth incense upon altars of bricks, the practice of idolatrous
religion, which remain among the graves, and lodge in the
monuments. It's death, which eats swine flesh, and the broth
of abominable things is in their vessels. Now that sounds pretty
bad, doesn't it? Which say, stand by thyself,
come not near to me, For I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose,
God says, a fire that burneth all the day. Now that's the only
time the word holier is used. And you know, everybody uses
this. People in the world use this. Everybody hates a holier-than-thou
attitude. Well, God hates it worse than
anybody. And it's just not real. You know, there's only two kinds
of people in this world. Holier than thou and the chief
of sinners. That's the only two kinds. Holier
than thou. and the chief of sinners." When
we talk about holiness, I think, wherefore holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, all the elect are holy brethren,
chosen to be so. This is a very interesting fact.
There's only one time a holy man walked upon this earth without
a sinful nature. And you know who that is. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ, the holy man of God, had no sinful nature
like every other believer has had. He had no sinful nature.
He lived in perfection. He lived without sin. He lived
the perfect life, perfectly accepted to his father, and there's not
one person that could recognize it. You know what that lets me
know? The natural man does not have
a clue as to what holiness is. The one time holiness walked
upon this earth, nobody had a clue. And they ended up knelling to
a cross. They, natural man hate holiness when it comes right
down to it. But they certainly can't recognize
it. Now, when you're around somebody and you feel watched and judged
by them, everybody experiences that all the time. when you're around somebody and
you feel like they're watching you and judging you. and sizing
you up, it's because of one of two things. Number one, you just
feel guilty. And you're projecting what you
think upon that person because you feel guilty. Now, I've done
that I don't know how many times. I feel bad about something and
somebody looks at me and I think they're judging me. No, what
it is is I feel guilty and I'm just projecting that. Or it could
be that that person is holier than thou. And how often do you
have that attitude? Holier-than-thou, oh it's such
an offensive way, holier-than-thou. Look at that person. Anytime
somebody sits in judgment on you, here's what they're saying.
I've got the beams out of my eyes and I can see clearly to
help you get the splinters out of your own. Not. Not. That's just wrong as it
can be. Let me tell you something that
always comes with true holiness. Humility. Where there is no humility, No
believing yourself to be the chief of sinners. There is no
holiness where there is holiness. There is a genuine humility before
God and before men. Now holy God requires that his
holy people regard him as holy. Turn with me for a moment to
Leviticus chapter 10. Verse 3. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This
is that the Lord spake, saying, I'll be sanctified in them that
come nigh me, and before all the people I'll be glorified.
And Aaron held his peace. He didn't say anything. What
had happened? We'll look up at verse 1. And
Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his
censer, and put fire therein to offer up incense, and put
incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord,
which he commanded them not. Now what was that strange fire?
It was fire that was not off the altar. It was some other
kind of fire. I don't know why it was they
thought they couldn't get the fire off the altar. Maybe they
thought as long as we're sincere this will do. I mean the incense
is going to be burned even if this fire is not off the altar.
Now what's the altar for? The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And if I think that anything
about me can be accepted apart from the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ, all I'm doing is saying God is not holy. God is not to be regarded as
such. I'm trying to bring him down
to my level. And verse 2 says, And there went
out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, And they died before the
Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, oh,
I'm so sorry this happened. God's so harsh. No. Then this
is that that the Lord spake, saying, I'll be sanctified. I'll
be regarded as holy in them that come nigh me. And before all
the people, I'll be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. He
didn't say anything. He knew that what God did was
right. And let me tell you the only
way I regard him as holy is by looking wholly to Christ. That's the only way I truly regard
him as holy. If I bring anything else, it's
degrading to him. I'm trying to put him down on
my level, and he won't have it. He won't have it. There's only
one way to approach a holy God, the Lord Jesus Christ. No other
way. And that's the only way we dare
come. Peter said, sanctify, regard
as holy the Lord God in your heart. How do you regard him
as holy? By looking to Christ alone as your wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Now somebody that's holy, Somebody
that has a holy nature, that person will look holy to Christ
and nowhere else. And if you start thinking, well,
I'm holy, what you're talking about is
some kind of behavior in you that you think's improving you.
And that is an abomination. That's swine's flesh. That is
the abominable thing. I'm to look to Christ only. And I make no apology for saying
that. I'm glad it's that way, aren't
you? That's the only way I can come into a holy God's presence
is through the Holy One of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, and I
look nowhere else. Let me give you another couple
of scriptures, and this is just as important. Hebrews 12, 14 says,
follow peace with all men and holiness. without which no man
shall see the Lord." Now that word follow is pursue. Pursue
peace with all men. Pursue a peaceful relationship
and pursue holiness. Now if you are holy, you know
what you're going to do? You're going to pursue holiness. It
takes a holy nature to do this, but if you are holy, you will
follow after, pursue, make holiness your aim. And Peter said in first
Peter 1 15 as he which has called you as holy so be ye holy in
all manner of conversation or it's written be holy for I am
holy. Now if you are holy he made you
holy you are holy. That's not anything that becomes
holier or less holy. You're holy. Partakers of the
divine nature is what Peter called it. And I still love what Peter
said in 1 Peter 3 and 4. He called it the hidden man of
the heart which is not corruptible. It's not even subject to corruption
and I love the way he called it the hidden man. It's not something
you see. It's there. It's there. You're aware of it
but you don't see it. But it's what every believer
possesses and every believer is to pursue holiness. Pursue it and be holy in all
manner of conversation. Now what a blessing chosen that
we should be holy. Now the next time you hear somebody
talk about an election as if it's The enemy of holiness. You're talking to somebody who
doesn't know what holiness is in the first place. They don't
even have a clue. Let's pray. Holy Father. Holy Son. Holy Spirit. Father, we come in to thy presence
only in the name of the Holy One of Israel, thy Son. And Lord, we ask that we might
be found in him, united to him, chosen in him, redeemed by him,
made holy by his spirit. And Lord, we ask that you would
give us the grace to pursue holiness and to be holy in all manner
of conversation. Bless this word for Christ's
sake, in his name we pray, amen. You know, I'd like to sing as
a closing hymn. Holy, holy, holy. I think it's hymn number 70.
I think that's it. Is that it? 70, we'll stand and sing.