Consider These Things

Q: What does the Bible say about the holiness of God?

The Bible reveals God's holiness as His chief attribute, emphasized in passages like Psalm 99 and Isaiah 6. The holiness of God is a fundamental aspect of His nature. Scripture such as Psalm 99 declares, 'Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His footstool; He is holy.' In Isaiah 6, the seraphim cry, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts,' underscoring the magnitude of His holiness. God's holiness is so profound that even the greatest of human beings, like Moses and Job, recognized their unworthiness in its presence. Understanding God’s holiness is crucial as it forms the foundation for all our theology and helps us comprehend the nature of our own sinfulness in relation to His perfection.

Q: How sinful is man according to the Bible?

The Bible asserts that man is sinful and that sin is defined in relation to God's holiness. In Scripture, the sinfulness of man is understood primarily in the light of God’s holiness. The Bible states in Psalm 14:2 that 'the Lord looked down from heaven to see if there were any who understood, who sought after God; they have all turned aside.' This highlights that every person has sinned and falls short of God's glory. True understanding of sin comes not from comparing ourselves with others, but in relation to God's perfect holiness. When we grasp the magnitude of God’s righteousness, we see our own hearts are filled with corruption, as even the best we can do is described as 'filthy rags' (Isaiah 64:6).

Q: How can man be justified before God?

Man can only be justified before God through faith in Christ, as true righteousness comes from Him alone. The Bible presents the answer to the question of how man can be justified before God by emphasizing that justification is not through our works but through faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 3:20-22 teaches that by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified, but righteousness is available through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. It is through His sacrificial death and obedient life that believers find redemption. The work of Christ serves as the source of forgiveness and reconciliation with God, highlighting that it is God's grace that saves, not our own efforts. This vital truth underlines the essence of the Gospel and is central to sovereign grace theology.

There's a passage of Scripture
in the book of Psalms, Psalm 130. Are you familiar with that
Psalm, Psalm 130, verse 3 and 4? It says, If thou, Lord, if
thou, Lord, who is Lord? If thou shouldest mark iniquities,
if thou shouldest charge men with all their iniquities. Oh
Lord, who shall stand? Who shall stand? But, here's good news, but there
is forgiveness with thee. There is forgiveness with thee
that thou mayest be feared. Now this message I'm going to
bring to you today, it's entitled, Let's consider these things. Consider these things. Let's
think a little bit and consider some mighty important things.
This message is a message I wish that I had heard many, many,
many, many years ago. I did hear it about 40 years
ago. I wish I'd heard it when I first
became interested in religion. I wish I had. This message is
the message that all the world really needs to hear, and it's
not hearing. No, it's just not, this message
is not being preached. And this message, if I had only
one message to preach, one, I thought about this a great deal, if I
only had one sermon left to preach, and my audience, was the whole
world. I believe this is the message
that I bring. I really believe this is the one that I bring.
It consists of three serious and yet simple questions. Three
important and yet simple questions. In fact, actually I use the word
vital. Three vital questions. And here
they are. The first one is just how holy
is God? How holy is God? The second question
is, well, how sinful is man? And the third question is born
of those two. If God is perfectly, immaculately
holy, and man is infinitely unchangeably wicked,
then how can man be just with God? How can he be clean that's
born of a woman? That's three good questions.
Well, the first one, you know the Word of God plainly declares
in Psalm 99, the Lord reigneth. Let the people tremble. Exalt
the Lord our God and worship at His footstool, for the Lord
our God is holy. God is holy. Habakkuk said, the Lord is in
his holy temple. He didn't say the Lord's in his
loving temple. He's in his holy temple. Let
all the earth keep silence before him. Zephaniah 1, 7 says, you
just hold your peace now at the presence of the Lord, for he's
holy. O man, who art thou that replies
against God? Holy, holy and reverend is his
name." How holy is God? Well, I wish I could answer that
question. I know that I can't. I can't. But if I could, well,
there wouldn't be any breath left in you or me, either one.
You know, Isaiah, when Isaiah saw the holiness of God, When
he literally beheld the holiness of God, he said, In the year
that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up.
His train filled the temple, and the cherubims and seraphims
around the throne cried, Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy is the
Lord of hosts. And he cried, I'm cut off. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean
lips. I'm surrounded by people of unclean
lips. John saw the holiness of God
on the Isle of Patmos, a 90-year-old disciple, and he said he heard
a voice, as the voice of many waters, and he turned to see
the voice that spake to him, and he saw and beheld the Son
of God in his glory, and he said, I fell at his feet as a dead
man. Job saw his holiness. He said,
Lord, I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear. Now mine
eye seeth thee, wherefore I hate myself. I abhor myself. I put my hand on my mouth. This
is Job, Job the righteous, Job the patient one. I put my hand
over my mouth. I've spoken about things that
are too wonderful for me. Holiness is God's chief attribute. If I were to ask you today in
one word, described God. In one word, described God. The
Bible does. Holy. Most people say God is
love. God's love is a holy love. His angels are called the holy
angel, not the loving angels. His temple is called not the
loving temple, it's the holy temple. The place of worship
is the holy of holies. His word is called His holy word. When the high priest went into
the Holy of Holies, he wore written on his mitre, not God is love,
holiness to the Lord. God's holy. How holy is God?
So holy even Moses couldn't look upon God and live. God is so holy that the sons
of Aaron, he had two boys and they offered strange fire And
God is so holy, he sent fire from heaven and consumed both
of them." How holy is God? He's so holy that Uzziah, you
know, when they were transporting the ark back to its rightful
place and he reached back to touch to keep the ark from falling
off the ox cart and God killed him for touching the ark of the
covenant. God is so holy, good king Uzziah
was smitten with leprosy. for trying to burn incense in
the presence of the Lord and usurping the office of the priest. He's so holy that the seraphims
around the throne cover their faces and their feet when they
are in his presence. He's so holy that he deserted
his own beloved son when he was hanging on that cross bearing
our sins. God is holy. I tell you, if you
would learn anything of the living God, learn first, God is holy. I'm telling you the truth. If
you would learn anything about the living God, learn first.
Let this be the first lesson. Come, my children, I'll teach
you the fear of the Lord. The beginning of wisdom. is not God is love. The scripture
says the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. God is holy. That's where you
start. That's kindergarten. Have I overestimated? Have I
exaggerated? No, still let me tell you something.
I've understated God's holiness. Paul said he went to the third
heaven He saw things, heard things, heard things. It's not possible
to put in human language. The holiness of heaven, the holiness
of God's presence is so majestic, so magnificent, no human words
can carry or convey what it is. And that's the holiness of God. Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit. We name Thee, while in essence
Thou art one. Living God, we praise Thee. Fill
the heaven with one accord. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord."
He's holy. All right, here's the second
question. How sinful is man? How sinful
is man? And I tell you, you know why
I asked that other question first? Everything starts with God. The
Bible starts with God, in the beginning God. But the reason
I ask the question first, how holy is the Lord, is because
a man's understanding of sin and the nature of the flesh depends
upon his understanding of the holiness of God. That's right. The more you understand... You've got to have something
with which to compare it. How sinful is man? Well, if you
compare yourself with me, you don't come out looking very bad.
You compare yourself with the fellow next to you, you don't lose much either. You
see what I'm talking about? Compare yourself with yourself.
But when you know what true holiness is, when you know who God is
and how holy God is, And then you start looking at your love
compared to His love, and your forgiveness compared to His,
and your morality compared to His, and your holiness compared
to His, you're in trouble. And I am too. You see what I'm
saying? Sin is only understood. Sin, you see, is against God.
Sin's against God. David said, against thee and
thee only have I sinned. Sin's against God. Sin is a transgression
of God's law. So if you want to know what sin
is, you've got to look at sin in the light of God's holiness. The blackness of sin is understood
in the light of God's holiness. The white burning light of God's
holiness reveals sin. Go through the scriptures. And
you'll see all of the prophets and the apostles realize their
sinfulness only after they saw God's holiness. I know there
are a lot of people today claiming to be holiness people and claiming
to have holy lives. And what they call holiness is
they don't read dirty books, and they don't smoke, and they
don't drink, and they don't go to the picture show maybe on
Sunday, and they don't go to the ballgame on Sunday, play
cards, and they don't play poker, and don't shoot pool, and these
things, you know. But Adam didn't do any of those
things either, and he fell. You see, sin has got to be seen
in the light of God's holiness, not in the light of do's and
don'ts and geographical requirements. And Job was an honest man among
men. God called him. He called him
a righteous man. Yet when Job saw God's holiness,
he saw his sinfulness. When Isaiah was a preacher, he
was a prophet. He, in Isaiah chapter 5, he was
really lambasting everybody. Five times he said, woe is you,
woe is you, woe is you, woe is them. And then in Isaiah 6, he
saw the Lord. And what did he say then? Oh,
woe is me. He thought he was a pretty good fellow until he
saw the Lord. He thought he was a pretty good fella in the light
of the fellas around him. And then when he saw the Lord,
he said, woe is me, I'm a man of unclean lips, and I do dwell
in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Daniel is another one,
a man of devotion and dedication, a man of prayer. But when he
saw the Lord, he said, when I saw the Lord, my comeliness, my strength
melted into corruption, is the word he used. What? corruption. Peter saw the power and holiness
of Christ. You know what he said when he
saw the power of Christ? He said, Lord, depart from me.
I'm a sinful man. You got no business being in
my presence. I'm not fit to be company, fit
company for you. Saul of Tarsus said when he saw
the holiness of God's love, he said, I died. I literally died. And that's the reason I say people
today only talk about their holiness because they've never seen God's
holiness. That's right. You take, he said,
you are not wise when you compare yourselves with yourselves. That's
not smart. That's like one worm comparing
himself to another worm. They're both worms. He may have
more legs. He may have more pretty spots,
but he's still a worm. He still was. We justify ourselves
before men, but God looks on the heart, and that which is
highly esteemed among men is an abomination to God. Here's
what God says about us. You want to know what God says
about us? I know what we think, but here's what God says. Every
imagination of man's heart is evil continually. Everything
we think is selfish, sinful, sensual, and keep on going. Psalm 14 verse 2, the Lord looked
down from heaven on the children of men to see if there was any
that didn't understand and seek God. He said, they're all gone
aside. They're all together become stinking
is the word. The word in the King James is
filthy, but the word is stinking. There's none that doeth good.
Man at his best state is altogether vanity. Listen, there's not a
just man on this earth that doeth good and sinneth not. And that
goes for all these so-called prima donna TV preachers to. We're all as an unclean thing,
like the leper of the Old Testament, unclean, unclean. Our righteousness
is a filthy rag. The best you can do before a
holy God is repulsive. What's the word? Repulsive. In
God's sight, the best you can do. We fade as the leaf. Our iniquities have separated
us. and our God. I heard a preacher
preach a sermon one time on God dwells in no man's land. That'd
shock a lot of folks, wouldn't it? God dwells in no man's land. Well, where'd he take his text
from? No man can look upon God and live. No man has seen God
at any time. No man knoweth the Father except
the Son. No man can come to me except
my Father draw him. and godly dwells in a light to
which no man can approach." That's no man's land. You see what the
Word of God is saying? God is infinitely, unchangeably,
incomprehensibly holy. Holy, holy, holy. And us, unchangeably
evil, sinful, at our best state. Can the Ethiopian change his
skin? That's what Jeremiah asked, can
he? Well, he said, no, it's his nature. Can the leopard change
his spots? He said, no, that's his nature.
God asked the next question, can you do good? Nope, that's not your nature.
Our nature is sin. That's the reason people have
to be born again. That's the reason you have to
be regenerated. That's the reason you have to have a recreation,
a new creature in Christ Jesus. I've not overstated this. If
at all, I've understated it. I haven't began to describe for you the wickedness
and sinfulness and evil of this human flesh. No man can please
God. In the flesh dwelleth no good
thing. That's right. All right. Third
question. Now for the third question. And this is asked repeatedly
in the book of Job, I think about four times. Well, how can man
be just with God? How can man be clean that's born
of a woman, born flesh? Why, he said the stars are not
pure in God's sight. He charges his angels with folly. Then how can man who drinks iniquity
like water, who is the very source and pit and fountain of evil,
how can he be clean? Lord, if thou shouldest mark
iniquity, who's going to stand? How can man be just with God?
Well, people have considered that question. I'm not the first
one. And some have turned to sacrifices. Some have turned
to ceremonies, ordinances, baptisms, things like that, only to find
that it's not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take
away sin. God said, your new moons and
your Sabbaths and your feasts are an abomination to me. You
see, we just add to our sin by trying to establish a righteousness
in sin. That just makes sin worse. And some have turned to Sinai
and the law only to find that by the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. The law can't forgive. The law
can't pardon. The law can only sentence. It
can't pardon you. Some have turned to religious
works only to find out it's not by works of righteousness which
we've done. Some have turned to religious
heritage, mamas and daddies, you know. Paul said that one
time. He said, I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. I was born a Hebrew,
a tribe of Benjamin. I got a good family tree, good
land back there. Well, he's not a Jew, which is
one outwardly. Circumcision is not in the flesh,
it's in the heart. Some have turned to the human
will only to find it's not of him that will, it's of God that
shows mercy. Some have turned to duties of
religion. That's what those people claimed in Matthew 7. They said,
we preached in your name. Can you imagine a man standing
in the judgment and finding out that he's damned? And he says,
I've preached for 35 years. I was a pastor for 30 years.
I did many wonderful works. I built buildings. I built orphanages. I did all these things. God,
wait a minute here now. I even cast out devils. And Christ
said, I never knew you. That's not the way to God. Works
is not the way to God. Good deeds won't take care of
your evil deeds. Good deeds won't put away sin. Well, is there an answer? Yes. How can he be clean as born of
a woman? How can man be just with God?
Is there an answer? Yes. It says, God, there's forgiveness
with thee. It's with him. It's not with
us. It's not with the church. It's not with the water. It's
not with the bread and the wine. There's forgiveness not in these
things, not in you, not in mom and daddy, the preacher, the
priest, the confessional booth, whomever. There's forgiveness
with God. That's where it's found. That's
the source of forgiveness. That's the fountain of grace.
Come, thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy praise. There's forgiveness with God.
Well, we better find out how we can receive it, hadn't we? Instead of running all over the
place trying to establish a righteousness of our own, trying to claim to
be what we're not, we're just liars and hypocrites, I'm good
and getting better all the time. That's not so. I'm satisfied
with my life. Well, God's not. Well, I'm doing
the best I can. You are not. You are not. And you're lying, and God knows
you're lying. There's forgiveness with God, though. Turn to Romans
3. Now, I want you to listen to
this. I'm going to just go down through here and show you some
things. have any intention of ever finding
the way to God, you listen. Romans 3, 19. Listen. Now we
know. Romans 3, 19. You got it? Listen.
Now we know that what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them
who are under the law. And that's you and me. We're
under God's law. We're subjects of God's universe,
and He's the King of kings and Lord of lords, and we're subject
to His law. We're under His law. That every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before
God. Is that clear? That's you and me. Shut your
mouth. Stop your mouth. Quit alibiing,
excusing, lying. Shut your mouth. You're guilty,
flat guilty, to offend in one point of God's laws to be guilty
of the whole thing. Therefore, verse 20, by the deeds
of the law, by the works of the flesh, shall no man be justified
in God's sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. The law can't save anybody. Is
that clear? But now, now come on, watch this,
but now, right this minute, the righteousness of God, the true
holiness of God, without the law, without our obedience, is
manifested, clearly manifested, being witnessed or testified
by the Word of God and by the prophets. What is it? Verse 22.
Listen. It is the righteousness of God
which is by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Oh, that's so
important. There's a holiness. It's not
in this pretended stuff. It's in Christ. It is by His
life. It is by His death. It is by
His person. It is by His work. It is through
His blood. There is a righteousness without
your works and obedience. It's by His faithfulness and
His obedience. Who's it for? It's unto all. It's upon all who believe. It's unto all and upon all who
trust in Him, who look to Him. There's no difference. Look at
that word, there is no difference, there's no exception. Well, I'll
find an exception, there's no difference. Jew or Gentile, bond
or free, male or female, old or young, black or white, there's
no difference. Verse 23 says, being justified then freely by
His grace, by God's grace, not by works, through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. Where is it? In Christ Jesus. Not in the church, not in the
altar. It's not in the front of the
church or in the preacher's hand. It's not in a profession. It's
not in your creed or catechism. The Westminster, Heidelberg,
London or Philadelphia, you won't find salvation there. It's in
Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation. a covering, a mercy seat, an
atonement for our sins to declare His righteousness, to declare
God's righteousness that He might be just and justify all who believe. There you have it, a just God,
a sinful man, and a justifying Savior, said Christ, by faith. I have two sermons on this tape. One is the true way to heaven.
And the other one is the message I just preached on. Let's consider
these things. Send two dollars and write for
it. Here's the address. We'll mail it to you. God bless
you.

Consider These Things

What does the Bible say about the holiness of God?

How sinful is man according to the Bible?

How can man be justified before God?

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About Henry Mahan

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Consider These Things

What does the Bible say about the holiness of God?

How sinful is man according to the Bible?

How can man be justified before God?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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