- Br. Abraham Koshy
(Borivali Assembly, 28th February, 2018)
(Borivali Assembly, 28th February, 2018)
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Sermon Transcript
Shall We turn to Isaiah 6. Isaiah 6:3-5.
3. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory 4. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke 5. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Shall we also read from Exodus 15:11 onwards.
11. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? 12. Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them 13. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
Exodus 15:17 17. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
Shall we also look at Exodus 19:10-13 10. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11. And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. 12. And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: 13. There shall not a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
Exodus 19:16-18 16. And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. 17. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. 18. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
Exodus 19:20-25 20. And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. 21. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. 22. And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them. 23. And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. 24. And the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them. 25. So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.
Shall we pray, Father, we thank You, Lord, we praise You, for who You are. Lord, Father, we pray this evening, that you would be merciful unto us. In that, Father, we want to behold You. O Lord, Father, we would want to see the same glory and know who You are, the way Isaiah came to know You. And Father, we would like to come near You as You desire that you will lead us into Your Holy habitation. And so, Father, this is our prayer of father that we might see You. We might know You.
O Lord, we might understand Your Holiness. And Father, understand how You are separate and there's just none like You. O Father, we pray, O Father, that we might rejoice today. To have been brought close to You. O Father that we who are so far away from You might O Father experience nearness, because You have brought us to Yourself.
O Father, we pray, O Lord, through the study that You might bless us. And Lord, if it is not for Your spirit, how can we ever know You? How can we ever grasp Your holiness? O Father, how can this mind ever think about it? That's why Father, we pray, O Lord, that You might be merciful. You might be gracious. Father, that we might through Your spirit understand You and see you. And Father, worship you and bless Your holy name. And glorify You.
Father, we pray Lord, especially for myself, that You might put the right words in my mouth, that I might be able to convey everything that You have put in my mind. O Father, we pray for Your blessings in the name of Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Moses’ Cry for God’s Glory
We looked at the glory of God last time, and there are a couple of things that I couldn't cover last time. Maybe we can begin with that. We'll look at Psalms 90. And we'll read verse 16, and verse 17. Psalms 90:16-17. 16. Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. 17. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands, establish thou it.
This is the words of Moses and for a context these are his final words. His only Psalms and his final words. For forty years, he has seen people die, all of them sparing two souls. You can read it in verse 6 in the morning and flourishes and grows up. In the evening it is cut down and wither, and we are consumed by Your anger, by Your wrath.
So that's what he saw for forty years. He saw for forty years dead bodies falling every single day. He saw for forty years how God's glory and His Holiness was uncompromising. So uncompromising that he himself would eventually die. And for forty years, he and the people of Israel saw the glory of God. They saw it in the form of the pillar, they saw it in the form of manna falling every day, for forty years, every day, they saw the glory of God. And at the end of it, they rejected Him. And God's wrath would punish and destroy all of them. So, they have seen enough of God's glory, they lived around the tabernacle. But yet at the end of his life, his last and final prayer; He's almost going to die, but his last and final prayer for himself and for the children is, Lord, let Your work appear, and let Your glory appear unto the children. There is no doubt of what he was meaning on this verse, when he was looking into the future. And he's asking God, let your glory appear. He was no doubt looking into the ultimate revelation of God's glory, through the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what he was asking for that Lord, You would raise up one more Prophet, greater than me, for these people. And this one prophet would appear and show us God's glory, but it would ultimately result, in verse 17, that the beauty of God would be upon us. And that is what we are going to look at today. We look at God's glory.
Glory and Holiness is Inseparable
But how is God's beauty coming upon us? Or what is the beauty of the Lord? We're looking today at one more attribute, that is His Holiness, something that cannot be in separated. Glory of God, and the Holiness of God. Every time you hear about the glory of God, suddenly you hear about the Holiness of God. So, Isaiah saw the Glory of God then he heard people talking of Holy, Holy, Holy. How Glory and Holiness is unseparable is one thing we need to begin looking at.
So, let's look at Isaiah 6. We know the context of this. So, we'll directly go into verse 3. Isaiah 6:3. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
If you can see it clearly, it begins by saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, but then says the whole earth is full of God's glory, not full of God's holiness. Or in other words, the Holiness of God is the basis for God's glory to be represented or declared or revealed. So, when people see the Glory of God, they see light, they see radiance, they see power. You might study about God you might know about God; you might know a lot more about God. But ultimately, you're witnessing God's holiness. So, he saw great things. He saw the throne of God. He could have seen a lot of things about the power of God.
But at the end, when he looked into himself, he said I'm unclean. If he wanted to talk about something contrasting, he could say I'm weak, I'm frail, I'm fragile, I'm like a warm. When he was seeing God's power, and he was seeing God's omnipotence and how God was sovereign, and how people are gloriously worshiping God, he was convinced of his uncleanness, of his impurity. How?.. You see the glory of God; you cannot help but see the holiness of God. It is the holiness of God that springs forth God's glory.
God is Holy
You know, today we are seeing Holiness of God. We are seeing Holiness as an attribute. We can see lots of attributes. We can see His self-sufficiency, His exclusivity, His solitariness, His omnipotence...a lot of things. But holiness is not just one other attribute. Holiness is not just one other attribute of God, like love or mercy or grace. It's not just one more in the list. The word 'Holy' in the Bible is used like a synonym to God. It is used in general sense of God. In other words, you look at God and you find everything to be said, is Holy. So, God has love, but that love is called Holy. God has mercy; His mercy is called Holy. God has justice; His justice is called Holy.
God has a name, His name is called Holy, and the name is Holy. This place is holy. His Hill is holy. His habitation is Holy. His temple is Holy. His son is Holy. His Spirit is Holy. His Father is called Holy. Just about everything about God is Holy. And ultimately, His promises are Holy, His Word is Holy, and he will say, I will swear by My Holiness. So, you come to Holiness of God, and you are convinced that this is not just one more attribute in the list. This is how fundamental as fundamental God can ever get. It is the most fundamental attribute of God.
What is Holy?
So, if I were to ask you, Holy, just the word 'Holy', what do you think about the word? What are the things that can come up in your mind when you think of the word Holy? Well, you see, the point of asking a question is not just dialogue, because I know you all had a very long day at work. You already started yawning. So, try answering.
What comes into mind when you say Holy? God Himself, okay. Okay, but what does it come? If you say Holy, if you have any attributes or synonyms that you could use? Purity, sinless any other, yeah that's the most basic understanding of the word Holy. Right. It's all about cleanliness or being blameless beyond and above and without reproach that is Holiness.
But today we are going to see Holiness, not inclusive of just purity. Holiness of God is far more than just purity. It is far more than just He being blameless. Let's begin by looking at Exodus 15. We all know the context. I'm just directly going into a question that you can answer in Exodus 15:11. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in Holiness?
What makes Moses talk about the Holiness of God, when he has seen God destroying all the Egyptians. So, he has seen the Red Sea destroy every single Egyptian. The bodies are piling up on the bank. And he has seen a great deliverance. They are never going to see the Egyptians anymore. A great deliverance has been wrought in the midst of that deliverance what makes Moses think of the Holiness of God and not just Holiness, again, a connection between Glory and Holy. Glorious in Holiness.
Holy means Separate
So, why would Holiness come here? If Holiness is purity and refinement and blamelessness; how can Moses talk about the Holiness of God, after their great deliverance? Okay, a separation. It's very close because the word 'Holy' means 'Separate'. That's the root meaning of the word 'Separate'. So, when Moses saw God, he saw that God is separate from just about any other God he has ever known. So that's how he begins. Who is a God like you, who is like you? And when he talks about the exclusivity of God as to how God is so unique. He has to say God is Holy. See, that is what Isaiah confronted at the throne of God.
When Isaiah saw the throne of God and God being so Glorious and cherubs and seraphs, flying around God, incessantly crying out, Holy, Holy, Holy. He is not just seeing power and Glory and radiance and light. He is seeing someone so unique. He is seeing someone so separate; it is more than just blamelessness. More than just uncleanness. More than just sinlessness. He's saying that like You, there is no one, and You are so Glorious in that Holiness. You are so Glorious in being unique. You are so glorious in being Separate. So if you want to talk about the holiness of God as uncleanness and sinlessness, it's so easy.
God is separate. God is by Himself a class by Himself. It's not that there is none like God, there is none beside Him. So why is it that only God and only our God is Holy, or sinless? Why is only our God pure? You look at any other God, every other god is having some other fault. Some of them are known for violence and evil. Some of them have such a bad history. There is not a speck of Holiness in them. And you look at God, you know, there is not a speck of unholiness in Him. How is it that only our God is so Holy? So separate? So unclean?
You see, it's very simple. All the other gods are inventions of ours. We are imperfect. And our best invention will also be imperfect. So, you look at any god. And if you find a god, that's unholy, just because we created it. And that's why when you look at our God, and you look at our God being so pure, so set apart it's because God is self-existent, even before anything was created. He is God by Himself. He is God alone, before the time began. So, this God is Holy. He's separate.
And, again, a point had been raised about separation between Egyptians and Israel. So, let's read about that in the previous chapter in verse 24 (Exodus 24:14). And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians. That is God's reaction to the Egyptians.
Now we'll read Exodus 15:13. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. So through the pillar of fire God looked at the Egyptians, and He troubled them. He destroyed them. And through the pillar of fire he looked at the Israelites, and He led them into His Holy habitation.
So, it is the Holiness of God that troubled Egyptians. And in the same Holiness of God, God led and guided them. We can read again in Exodus 15:17. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
What Happened at the Holy Habitation?
You see, this is also a picture of our old and a new life. If God were to look at our old life, He can look at the way He looked at the Egyptians and destroy and judge because He's a Holy God. But God is Holy and is merciful. So, in His holiness, He will bring them to the Holy habitation. Now this sounds so nice. But the question is what actually happened? When God brought them to the Holy habitation when God brought them to the Mount of God, what happened?
So, we'll spend some time looking at that in chapter 19. Yeah. We'll look at three verses. Exodus 19:10. The Lord said unto Moses, go unto the people, and sanctify them or consecrate them, or make them holy, today and tomorrow, and let them wash, their close. Exodus 19:12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
Now let's keep a tab because we will be building up a thought over here. So in verse 10, the Lord would tell Moses to go down to the mount. And the main idea is, Moses has to come down to the mount, build up fences and borders and if anybody has to even touch the border, that person is dead.
So then after three days, in verse 16. And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that were in the camp trembled.
Verse 21. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. So, this is the second time the Lord is telling Moses, the same thing, go down. The first time was three days before the Glory of God appeared. Go down and make a boundary and make sure people don't come through it. Moses comes up on the third day. There's thick cloud, there's thunders, there's lightning and the whole mountain is shaking, and people are so afraid. And when Moses is come up with the Lord, the Lord tells Moses again, go down and tell them not to break through.
Now, I'm not sure what happened to Moses over here. Was he trying to assure the Lord over here? You can look at the reply, Moses said in verse 23, And Moses said unto the Lord, the people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds. Moses is trying to remind God, tell Him, God, Lord, You Yourself told to set a boundary, there is a boundary, and they are not going to come through. So, Moses is trying to assure the Lord, don't worry. It's as if Moses trying to say there's no need to go down. You already told to put a boundary, and people are not going to come through. And so, when the third time, the Lord would tell Moses, you can see a sense of rebuke.
In verse 24, the Lord said unto him Away, Quick, get down. And then the last part, last part of the words, and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them. That despite His glory, despite how threatening and fatal His Glory is, the Lord is saying that the people can still come through. You see, this happened with Moses Himself. When he was in Midian, he saw a bush burning and when he saw something so phenomenal, and the bushes burning, but not being consumed, he turned around, and immediately the Lord said, Don't come near.
You see if there's one lesson we can learn from here; three times, the Lord is telling Moses, Go down, Go down, Go down, make sure nobody touches the boundary is because God is taking His Holiness very seriously. God takes His Holiness very seriously. You see what you get to see is Glory, His radiance, His power, His light, and lightnings and thundering’s. But ultimately, what puts man at a distance from God is his Holiness. And God would take it so seriously that despite giving a commandment, despite being boundaries there, God wants Moses to go down and make sure that people don't come through.
You see, God knows that his holiness can consume people, but he doesn't want that to happen. So, He knows that His Holiness is so great, and that Holiness is repugnant to us. And His Holiness is repulsive to us. We are repugnant to that holiness of God, that God is going all lengths and saying three times Go down and tell them not to come through. God doesn't want anybody to be destroyed, because of His Holiness. So, three times there is one commandment saying, stand away, don't come through, don't come near. See, that is the Holiness of God. It doesn't sound pleasant. If there's anything that you can see the Holiness of God, you will, you will read and say, I'm unclean, a man done. It's like saying, Lord, I can't come close to You, and that depart from me.
Just think about this commandment that the Lord would tell Moses, go down. It's such a simple commandment. But it's so important. I would want to imagine it this way. Every time, the Lord would make sure people don't come close to Him. Even if they can, they can just come one person once a year. That's the closest anybody could get to the Holiness of God. Everybody is at arm's distance, if not more. And every time God is making sure people don't gaze through, that His Holiness should not break through. And yet it has happened. There are many instances when they would open the Ark of the Covenant and His Holiness would destroy them.
Many times, a person would just touch the ark, and he would die. And God doesn't want anybody to die just because of Holiness. People would touch the Ark, open the ark, and the whole city would die. Thousands of people would die. And that's why it's so important for the Lord to tell Moses, go down. But you know, this is what eventually happened, when that time was fulfilled, when the fullness of time happened in sinners abounded as much as it could. And the Lord had exhausted all the line of prophets he had ever sent down. He looked at his own Son.
Repulsive Holiness Accessible in Jesus Christ
He looked at the very bosom of Himself, His Son, on whom He daily rejoiced. His delight was on His Son every day, you looked at His Son, who was the spitting image of His personality. Does the glory of His splendour, He looked at Him, and said, Go down. And not like Moses, not to charge them don't come, not like Moses, don't come here. He said, Go down. And what would His Son reply, His Son would say, just like, Son would always have said, Here I am, I come in the volume of the book it is written of Me and I delight to do Your will. And the Son would come down to this earth, for what? To make that repugnant, Holiness, that repulsive Holiness, accessible.
So, for the first time in history, this Holiness that was inaccessible, became accessible, became tangible, became approachable, became appreciable, and became something that you could be appropriate for yourself. This Holiness of God that was so invisible, became visible, all in the form of a helpless babe. You see, it's the same commandment when the father would tell His Son Go down. And His Son would say, You have opened My years, and I've not rebelled against You. I will go down. I come and I delight to do Your will.
And unlike Moses, he would not charge them people don't come near God, but he would say, Come unto me, all who are we can labor and are heavy laden common to me. And eventually he will say that when the Son of God is raised up on the cross, He will draw all men unto Himself, just the very opposite of what we read Here. And He would die on the cross, He would, by the reason of us, deliver those that are appointed to death, and who for the lifetime have been in bondage, and that He would deliver them and lead them captive and lead the captivity captive, unto the throne of God. He would bring us up unto the Holy habitation of God. You see, all what happened in Exodus 15 was just a prayer that only Christ would answer.
So, it was a prayer, Lord, you will lead us to the Holy habitation, but who can ascend unto the Holy hill of God? Who can approach Him, who can stand before Him? Are you the one who was in the bosom of the Father He has revealed us, revealed Him to us, and He has brought us unto the Father. This was His last prayer before He went to get so many that Lord, this is My desire that they be with Me, and they will see My Glory. That was His prayer.
Be Holy, for I am Holy
This is Christ, and Moses, the true Holiness of God that can throw us away. And Christ who through His blood and sacrifice would make that Holiness accessible, not just about being accessible. But He would call us saints, and the word Saint means 'Holy one'. It means He has made us Holy. He has sanctified us; He has separated us like our God. So just like our God, there is none like Him. We have been made unique, that Peter would say that our conversation or conduct and behavior should be Holy and sanctified, separate from everyone else. See, our Holiness is not this prayer for us. Holiness for us is purposed in us that we should be Holy.
God is omnipotent, but God has never said told us to become omnipotent. He has never told us to become immutable. He has never told us to become like any of those attributes, but he is holy. And he has told us to be Holy. This is the one attribute that He has converted into a commandment be Holy, for I am Holy.
Standards of Holiness
Let's read Leviticus 10:3. The context is Nadab and Abihu they are killed. And then verse 3. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.
There is another translation that reads like this, that the phrase day that I will be sanctified. It's read like this, that among those who approach Me, I will show Myself only in the sight of all the people I will be honored or glorified.
So Nadab and Abihu came to God, they came to God in their own terms. They came to God with their own ideas. They came to God with their own self and bought in a strange fire, and they were destroyed. The Lord says among all those who will approach Me, I will show Myself Holy. God can be approached only in God's terms, and that He's holy. He is never compromising on that. So, the people of Israel eventually came to a place called Kaddesh. The meaning of that word is Holy, and there they murmured for water. The Lord told Moses, Go speak unto the rock. And Moses struck the rock.
For that one sin, despite all the greatness of Moses, for that one sin, he was not allowed to go to Canaan. And what was the Lord would tell Moses that you have not set Me Holy in the sight of the people. You see, this is how uncompromising and the standards of His Holiness are. That despite all what Moses did just for this one sin, God would not compromise. For this one sin, he would miss out of Canaan. This is the sin that happened in Eden in Genesis 3. This is why the punishment of the wages of sin is so high. It's so big, because God is Holy. His standards are Holy.
Holiness of Christ
Let's, for a moment, look at the Holiness of Christ. As to how Christ was Holy. And how did He bring up? How did He portray the Holiness of God? You see, at His birth, it was written that at His birth, Gabriel came to Mary, and said, that the Holy Ghost will overshadow you, and the offspring that will be brought bought from you, which is called the Holy offspring. What is the significance of that is because He was the only person to be born Holy?
In the Scripture, where it is littered all over the place as to how we are born sinners. For the first time somebody was born Holy, Christ was holy, right at His birth. He was Holy before His birth, because He was called the Holy One of Israel. And at the birth, just because He became man, He took the form of man. He did not take the sin of man. He was made like unto man, except for sin. He was called the Holy offspring, the Son of God.
And then we look at His life. We look at His life, and we realize of His Holiness, because what happened to Isaiah happened to Peter. Peter saw the Lord Jesus bringing a load of fish into the boat, and Peter at the end says, Depart from me, for I'm a sinner. Does it even make any connection? You see God performing a wonder. God, taking fishes and doing a phenomenal wonder in your life. And at the end, you see, I'm a sinner. You see, this is again, I'm going to come back to the same thing, when you see the Glory of God, you can't but help see His. So when Peter saw something that he couldn't have ever seen his whole life, when the ships were even sinking, he looked at the one who did it. And he said, Depart from me, Lord, for I'm a sinner. That is the response of a vision of the Holiness of God.
You see, to see the holiness of God, you do not need to go to heaven. You do not need to be like Isaiah or like Paul, taken up to the third heaven and see Him. Peter saw it in the Son, and said, Depart from me, for you are so Holy. These were the words not of Peter, these were the words of everybody. Nicodemus came to Christ and said that the things you do, nobody can do, except it be from God. People who say that no one spoke like Him, no one did like Him again, talking of His uniqueness, again talking of His Holiness. And again, it will be written that in Him is no sin, He did no sin, And He knew no sin, speaking of His Holiness. Ultimately, that holy life made Him the perfect sacrifice. And there has never been a place where the Holiness of God was so displayed, like it was displayed in His death.
The person who would betray Him would say He's innocent blood. Pilot before giving up, declaring Him as worthy of death would three times say He has done no wrong. Pilot's wife would come and say that He's a just man. Herod would say he wrong. The thief on the cross was numbered with Him would say, He's not like us. The centurion, who would certify Him as dead, would say, He's the son of God. There was never a place where that Holiness of God became so evident and so beautiful. You see, this is how somebody would say that the power of God is His arm. The duration of God is His time. You can attribute all the attributes of God to some other body part.
Beauty of Holiness
But when you look at this Holiness, you see that the Holiness of God is His beauty. And that's why we've been asked to worship God in the beauty of the Holiness. Where was the place where God's beauty was so declared, except at the costs? And He died a Holy death, and then we see He was buried. And where do we see the Holiness of God in His resurrection. The Psalmist would say that God would not allow the Holy One to see corruption. His resurrection proved His Holiness, from eternity past to His eternity future, Christ showed the Holiness of God and made it accessible.
In conclusion, I just want to read a couple of verses from Ezekiel 20:40-42. 40. For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. 41. I will accept you with your sweet savor, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. 42. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted mine hand to give it to your fathers.
It's very clear over here in verse 40 For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them.
This is the contrast to Mount Sinai, and this is Mount Zion. This is where we are all heading to. A place where we are all accepted, and where we can all serve Him with no hesitation, or no sinfulness.
Ultimately, God has raised us up, and He has, and He has in Christ brought us to the throne of God, and presented us unto the Father, beyond blame, beyond reproof, spotless and cleansed us and given us a robe that His bride will adorn on that day. So this is the hope in the Holiness as we are hoping that we become Holy, like we are today positionally Holy. Today we are called saints. We are called Holy ones. We are positionally Holy, but our hope is we become Holy, like our Lord.
May God bless these words.
3. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory 4. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke 5. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Shall we also read from Exodus 15:11 onwards.
11. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? 12. Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them 13. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
Exodus 15:17 17. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
Shall we also look at Exodus 19:10-13 10. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11. And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. 12. And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: 13. There shall not a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
Exodus 19:16-18 16. And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. 17. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. 18. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
Exodus 19:20-25 20. And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. 21. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. 22. And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them. 23. And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. 24. And the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them. 25. So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.
Shall we pray, Father, we thank You, Lord, we praise You, for who You are. Lord, Father, we pray this evening, that you would be merciful unto us. In that, Father, we want to behold You. O Lord, Father, we would want to see the same glory and know who You are, the way Isaiah came to know You. And Father, we would like to come near You as You desire that you will lead us into Your Holy habitation. And so, Father, this is our prayer of father that we might see You. We might know You.
O Lord, we might understand Your Holiness. And Father, understand how You are separate and there's just none like You. O Father, we pray, O Father, that we might rejoice today. To have been brought close to You. O Father that we who are so far away from You might O Father experience nearness, because You have brought us to Yourself.
O Father, we pray, O Lord, through the study that You might bless us. And Lord, if it is not for Your spirit, how can we ever know You? How can we ever grasp Your holiness? O Father, how can this mind ever think about it? That's why Father, we pray, O Lord, that You might be merciful. You might be gracious. Father, that we might through Your spirit understand You and see you. And Father, worship you and bless Your holy name. And glorify You.
Father, we pray Lord, especially for myself, that You might put the right words in my mouth, that I might be able to convey everything that You have put in my mind. O Father, we pray for Your blessings in the name of Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Moses’ Cry for God’s Glory
We looked at the glory of God last time, and there are a couple of things that I couldn't cover last time. Maybe we can begin with that. We'll look at Psalms 90. And we'll read verse 16, and verse 17. Psalms 90:16-17. 16. Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. 17. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands, establish thou it.
This is the words of Moses and for a context these are his final words. His only Psalms and his final words. For forty years, he has seen people die, all of them sparing two souls. You can read it in verse 6 in the morning and flourishes and grows up. In the evening it is cut down and wither, and we are consumed by Your anger, by Your wrath.
So that's what he saw for forty years. He saw for forty years dead bodies falling every single day. He saw for forty years how God's glory and His Holiness was uncompromising. So uncompromising that he himself would eventually die. And for forty years, he and the people of Israel saw the glory of God. They saw it in the form of the pillar, they saw it in the form of manna falling every day, for forty years, every day, they saw the glory of God. And at the end of it, they rejected Him. And God's wrath would punish and destroy all of them. So, they have seen enough of God's glory, they lived around the tabernacle. But yet at the end of his life, his last and final prayer; He's almost going to die, but his last and final prayer for himself and for the children is, Lord, let Your work appear, and let Your glory appear unto the children. There is no doubt of what he was meaning on this verse, when he was looking into the future. And he's asking God, let your glory appear. He was no doubt looking into the ultimate revelation of God's glory, through the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what he was asking for that Lord, You would raise up one more Prophet, greater than me, for these people. And this one prophet would appear and show us God's glory, but it would ultimately result, in verse 17, that the beauty of God would be upon us. And that is what we are going to look at today. We look at God's glory.
Glory and Holiness is Inseparable
But how is God's beauty coming upon us? Or what is the beauty of the Lord? We're looking today at one more attribute, that is His Holiness, something that cannot be in separated. Glory of God, and the Holiness of God. Every time you hear about the glory of God, suddenly you hear about the Holiness of God. So, Isaiah saw the Glory of God then he heard people talking of Holy, Holy, Holy. How Glory and Holiness is unseparable is one thing we need to begin looking at.
So, let's look at Isaiah 6. We know the context of this. So, we'll directly go into verse 3. Isaiah 6:3. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
If you can see it clearly, it begins by saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, but then says the whole earth is full of God's glory, not full of God's holiness. Or in other words, the Holiness of God is the basis for God's glory to be represented or declared or revealed. So, when people see the Glory of God, they see light, they see radiance, they see power. You might study about God you might know about God; you might know a lot more about God. But ultimately, you're witnessing God's holiness. So, he saw great things. He saw the throne of God. He could have seen a lot of things about the power of God.
But at the end, when he looked into himself, he said I'm unclean. If he wanted to talk about something contrasting, he could say I'm weak, I'm frail, I'm fragile, I'm like a warm. When he was seeing God's power, and he was seeing God's omnipotence and how God was sovereign, and how people are gloriously worshiping God, he was convinced of his uncleanness, of his impurity. How?.. You see the glory of God; you cannot help but see the holiness of God. It is the holiness of God that springs forth God's glory.
God is Holy
You know, today we are seeing Holiness of God. We are seeing Holiness as an attribute. We can see lots of attributes. We can see His self-sufficiency, His exclusivity, His solitariness, His omnipotence...a lot of things. But holiness is not just one other attribute. Holiness is not just one other attribute of God, like love or mercy or grace. It's not just one more in the list. The word 'Holy' in the Bible is used like a synonym to God. It is used in general sense of God. In other words, you look at God and you find everything to be said, is Holy. So, God has love, but that love is called Holy. God has mercy; His mercy is called Holy. God has justice; His justice is called Holy.
God has a name, His name is called Holy, and the name is Holy. This place is holy. His Hill is holy. His habitation is Holy. His temple is Holy. His son is Holy. His Spirit is Holy. His Father is called Holy. Just about everything about God is Holy. And ultimately, His promises are Holy, His Word is Holy, and he will say, I will swear by My Holiness. So, you come to Holiness of God, and you are convinced that this is not just one more attribute in the list. This is how fundamental as fundamental God can ever get. It is the most fundamental attribute of God.
What is Holy?
So, if I were to ask you, Holy, just the word 'Holy', what do you think about the word? What are the things that can come up in your mind when you think of the word Holy? Well, you see, the point of asking a question is not just dialogue, because I know you all had a very long day at work. You already started yawning. So, try answering.
What comes into mind when you say Holy? God Himself, okay. Okay, but what does it come? If you say Holy, if you have any attributes or synonyms that you could use? Purity, sinless any other, yeah that's the most basic understanding of the word Holy. Right. It's all about cleanliness or being blameless beyond and above and without reproach that is Holiness.
But today we are going to see Holiness, not inclusive of just purity. Holiness of God is far more than just purity. It is far more than just He being blameless. Let's begin by looking at Exodus 15. We all know the context. I'm just directly going into a question that you can answer in Exodus 15:11. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in Holiness?
What makes Moses talk about the Holiness of God, when he has seen God destroying all the Egyptians. So, he has seen the Red Sea destroy every single Egyptian. The bodies are piling up on the bank. And he has seen a great deliverance. They are never going to see the Egyptians anymore. A great deliverance has been wrought in the midst of that deliverance what makes Moses think of the Holiness of God and not just Holiness, again, a connection between Glory and Holy. Glorious in Holiness.
Holy means Separate
So, why would Holiness come here? If Holiness is purity and refinement and blamelessness; how can Moses talk about the Holiness of God, after their great deliverance? Okay, a separation. It's very close because the word 'Holy' means 'Separate'. That's the root meaning of the word 'Separate'. So, when Moses saw God, he saw that God is separate from just about any other God he has ever known. So that's how he begins. Who is a God like you, who is like you? And when he talks about the exclusivity of God as to how God is so unique. He has to say God is Holy. See, that is what Isaiah confronted at the throne of God.
When Isaiah saw the throne of God and God being so Glorious and cherubs and seraphs, flying around God, incessantly crying out, Holy, Holy, Holy. He is not just seeing power and Glory and radiance and light. He is seeing someone so unique. He is seeing someone so separate; it is more than just blamelessness. More than just uncleanness. More than just sinlessness. He's saying that like You, there is no one, and You are so Glorious in that Holiness. You are so Glorious in being unique. You are so glorious in being Separate. So if you want to talk about the holiness of God as uncleanness and sinlessness, it's so easy.
God is separate. God is by Himself a class by Himself. It's not that there is none like God, there is none beside Him. So why is it that only God and only our God is Holy, or sinless? Why is only our God pure? You look at any other God, every other god is having some other fault. Some of them are known for violence and evil. Some of them have such a bad history. There is not a speck of Holiness in them. And you look at God, you know, there is not a speck of unholiness in Him. How is it that only our God is so Holy? So separate? So unclean?
You see, it's very simple. All the other gods are inventions of ours. We are imperfect. And our best invention will also be imperfect. So, you look at any god. And if you find a god, that's unholy, just because we created it. And that's why when you look at our God, and you look at our God being so pure, so set apart it's because God is self-existent, even before anything was created. He is God by Himself. He is God alone, before the time began. So, this God is Holy. He's separate.
And, again, a point had been raised about separation between Egyptians and Israel. So, let's read about that in the previous chapter in verse 24 (Exodus 24:14). And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians. That is God's reaction to the Egyptians.
Now we'll read Exodus 15:13. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. So through the pillar of fire God looked at the Egyptians, and He troubled them. He destroyed them. And through the pillar of fire he looked at the Israelites, and He led them into His Holy habitation.
So, it is the Holiness of God that troubled Egyptians. And in the same Holiness of God, God led and guided them. We can read again in Exodus 15:17. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
What Happened at the Holy Habitation?
You see, this is also a picture of our old and a new life. If God were to look at our old life, He can look at the way He looked at the Egyptians and destroy and judge because He's a Holy God. But God is Holy and is merciful. So, in His holiness, He will bring them to the Holy habitation. Now this sounds so nice. But the question is what actually happened? When God brought them to the Holy habitation when God brought them to the Mount of God, what happened?
So, we'll spend some time looking at that in chapter 19. Yeah. We'll look at three verses. Exodus 19:10. The Lord said unto Moses, go unto the people, and sanctify them or consecrate them, or make them holy, today and tomorrow, and let them wash, their close. Exodus 19:12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
Now let's keep a tab because we will be building up a thought over here. So in verse 10, the Lord would tell Moses to go down to the mount. And the main idea is, Moses has to come down to the mount, build up fences and borders and if anybody has to even touch the border, that person is dead.
So then after three days, in verse 16. And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that were in the camp trembled.
Verse 21. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. So, this is the second time the Lord is telling Moses, the same thing, go down. The first time was three days before the Glory of God appeared. Go down and make a boundary and make sure people don't come through it. Moses comes up on the third day. There's thick cloud, there's thunders, there's lightning and the whole mountain is shaking, and people are so afraid. And when Moses is come up with the Lord, the Lord tells Moses again, go down and tell them not to break through.
Now, I'm not sure what happened to Moses over here. Was he trying to assure the Lord over here? You can look at the reply, Moses said in verse 23, And Moses said unto the Lord, the people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds. Moses is trying to remind God, tell Him, God, Lord, You Yourself told to set a boundary, there is a boundary, and they are not going to come through. So, Moses is trying to assure the Lord, don't worry. It's as if Moses trying to say there's no need to go down. You already told to put a boundary, and people are not going to come through. And so, when the third time, the Lord would tell Moses, you can see a sense of rebuke.
In verse 24, the Lord said unto him Away, Quick, get down. And then the last part, last part of the words, and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them. That despite His glory, despite how threatening and fatal His Glory is, the Lord is saying that the people can still come through. You see, this happened with Moses Himself. When he was in Midian, he saw a bush burning and when he saw something so phenomenal, and the bushes burning, but not being consumed, he turned around, and immediately the Lord said, Don't come near.
You see if there's one lesson we can learn from here; three times, the Lord is telling Moses, Go down, Go down, Go down, make sure nobody touches the boundary is because God is taking His Holiness very seriously. God takes His Holiness very seriously. You see what you get to see is Glory, His radiance, His power, His light, and lightnings and thundering’s. But ultimately, what puts man at a distance from God is his Holiness. And God would take it so seriously that despite giving a commandment, despite being boundaries there, God wants Moses to go down and make sure that people don't come through.
You see, God knows that his holiness can consume people, but he doesn't want that to happen. So, He knows that His Holiness is so great, and that Holiness is repugnant to us. And His Holiness is repulsive to us. We are repugnant to that holiness of God, that God is going all lengths and saying three times Go down and tell them not to come through. God doesn't want anybody to be destroyed, because of His Holiness. So, three times there is one commandment saying, stand away, don't come through, don't come near. See, that is the Holiness of God. It doesn't sound pleasant. If there's anything that you can see the Holiness of God, you will, you will read and say, I'm unclean, a man done. It's like saying, Lord, I can't come close to You, and that depart from me.
Just think about this commandment that the Lord would tell Moses, go down. It's such a simple commandment. But it's so important. I would want to imagine it this way. Every time, the Lord would make sure people don't come close to Him. Even if they can, they can just come one person once a year. That's the closest anybody could get to the Holiness of God. Everybody is at arm's distance, if not more. And every time God is making sure people don't gaze through, that His Holiness should not break through. And yet it has happened. There are many instances when they would open the Ark of the Covenant and His Holiness would destroy them.
Many times, a person would just touch the ark, and he would die. And God doesn't want anybody to die just because of Holiness. People would touch the Ark, open the ark, and the whole city would die. Thousands of people would die. And that's why it's so important for the Lord to tell Moses, go down. But you know, this is what eventually happened, when that time was fulfilled, when the fullness of time happened in sinners abounded as much as it could. And the Lord had exhausted all the line of prophets he had ever sent down. He looked at his own Son.
Repulsive Holiness Accessible in Jesus Christ
He looked at the very bosom of Himself, His Son, on whom He daily rejoiced. His delight was on His Son every day, you looked at His Son, who was the spitting image of His personality. Does the glory of His splendour, He looked at Him, and said, Go down. And not like Moses, not to charge them don't come, not like Moses, don't come here. He said, Go down. And what would His Son reply, His Son would say, just like, Son would always have said, Here I am, I come in the volume of the book it is written of Me and I delight to do Your will. And the Son would come down to this earth, for what? To make that repugnant, Holiness, that repulsive Holiness, accessible.
So, for the first time in history, this Holiness that was inaccessible, became accessible, became tangible, became approachable, became appreciable, and became something that you could be appropriate for yourself. This Holiness of God that was so invisible, became visible, all in the form of a helpless babe. You see, it's the same commandment when the father would tell His Son Go down. And His Son would say, You have opened My years, and I've not rebelled against You. I will go down. I come and I delight to do Your will.
And unlike Moses, he would not charge them people don't come near God, but he would say, Come unto me, all who are we can labor and are heavy laden common to me. And eventually he will say that when the Son of God is raised up on the cross, He will draw all men unto Himself, just the very opposite of what we read Here. And He would die on the cross, He would, by the reason of us, deliver those that are appointed to death, and who for the lifetime have been in bondage, and that He would deliver them and lead them captive and lead the captivity captive, unto the throne of God. He would bring us up unto the Holy habitation of God. You see, all what happened in Exodus 15 was just a prayer that only Christ would answer.
So, it was a prayer, Lord, you will lead us to the Holy habitation, but who can ascend unto the Holy hill of God? Who can approach Him, who can stand before Him? Are you the one who was in the bosom of the Father He has revealed us, revealed Him to us, and He has brought us unto the Father. This was His last prayer before He went to get so many that Lord, this is My desire that they be with Me, and they will see My Glory. That was His prayer.
Be Holy, for I am Holy
This is Christ, and Moses, the true Holiness of God that can throw us away. And Christ who through His blood and sacrifice would make that Holiness accessible, not just about being accessible. But He would call us saints, and the word Saint means 'Holy one'. It means He has made us Holy. He has sanctified us; He has separated us like our God. So just like our God, there is none like Him. We have been made unique, that Peter would say that our conversation or conduct and behavior should be Holy and sanctified, separate from everyone else. See, our Holiness is not this prayer for us. Holiness for us is purposed in us that we should be Holy.
God is omnipotent, but God has never said told us to become omnipotent. He has never told us to become immutable. He has never told us to become like any of those attributes, but he is holy. And he has told us to be Holy. This is the one attribute that He has converted into a commandment be Holy, for I am Holy.
Standards of Holiness
Let's read Leviticus 10:3. The context is Nadab and Abihu they are killed. And then verse 3. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.
There is another translation that reads like this, that the phrase day that I will be sanctified. It's read like this, that among those who approach Me, I will show Myself only in the sight of all the people I will be honored or glorified.
So Nadab and Abihu came to God, they came to God in their own terms. They came to God with their own ideas. They came to God with their own self and bought in a strange fire, and they were destroyed. The Lord says among all those who will approach Me, I will show Myself Holy. God can be approached only in God's terms, and that He's holy. He is never compromising on that. So, the people of Israel eventually came to a place called Kaddesh. The meaning of that word is Holy, and there they murmured for water. The Lord told Moses, Go speak unto the rock. And Moses struck the rock.
For that one sin, despite all the greatness of Moses, for that one sin, he was not allowed to go to Canaan. And what was the Lord would tell Moses that you have not set Me Holy in the sight of the people. You see, this is how uncompromising and the standards of His Holiness are. That despite all what Moses did just for this one sin, God would not compromise. For this one sin, he would miss out of Canaan. This is the sin that happened in Eden in Genesis 3. This is why the punishment of the wages of sin is so high. It's so big, because God is Holy. His standards are Holy.
Holiness of Christ
Let's, for a moment, look at the Holiness of Christ. As to how Christ was Holy. And how did He bring up? How did He portray the Holiness of God? You see, at His birth, it was written that at His birth, Gabriel came to Mary, and said, that the Holy Ghost will overshadow you, and the offspring that will be brought bought from you, which is called the Holy offspring. What is the significance of that is because He was the only person to be born Holy?
In the Scripture, where it is littered all over the place as to how we are born sinners. For the first time somebody was born Holy, Christ was holy, right at His birth. He was Holy before His birth, because He was called the Holy One of Israel. And at the birth, just because He became man, He took the form of man. He did not take the sin of man. He was made like unto man, except for sin. He was called the Holy offspring, the Son of God.
And then we look at His life. We look at His life, and we realize of His Holiness, because what happened to Isaiah happened to Peter. Peter saw the Lord Jesus bringing a load of fish into the boat, and Peter at the end says, Depart from me, for I'm a sinner. Does it even make any connection? You see God performing a wonder. God, taking fishes and doing a phenomenal wonder in your life. And at the end, you see, I'm a sinner. You see, this is again, I'm going to come back to the same thing, when you see the Glory of God, you can't but help see His. So when Peter saw something that he couldn't have ever seen his whole life, when the ships were even sinking, he looked at the one who did it. And he said, Depart from me, Lord, for I'm a sinner. That is the response of a vision of the Holiness of God.
You see, to see the holiness of God, you do not need to go to heaven. You do not need to be like Isaiah or like Paul, taken up to the third heaven and see Him. Peter saw it in the Son, and said, Depart from me, for you are so Holy. These were the words not of Peter, these were the words of everybody. Nicodemus came to Christ and said that the things you do, nobody can do, except it be from God. People who say that no one spoke like Him, no one did like Him again, talking of His uniqueness, again talking of His Holiness. And again, it will be written that in Him is no sin, He did no sin, And He knew no sin, speaking of His Holiness. Ultimately, that holy life made Him the perfect sacrifice. And there has never been a place where the Holiness of God was so displayed, like it was displayed in His death.
The person who would betray Him would say He's innocent blood. Pilot before giving up, declaring Him as worthy of death would three times say He has done no wrong. Pilot's wife would come and say that He's a just man. Herod would say he wrong. The thief on the cross was numbered with Him would say, He's not like us. The centurion, who would certify Him as dead, would say, He's the son of God. There was never a place where that Holiness of God became so evident and so beautiful. You see, this is how somebody would say that the power of God is His arm. The duration of God is His time. You can attribute all the attributes of God to some other body part.
Beauty of Holiness
But when you look at this Holiness, you see that the Holiness of God is His beauty. And that's why we've been asked to worship God in the beauty of the Holiness. Where was the place where God's beauty was so declared, except at the costs? And He died a Holy death, and then we see He was buried. And where do we see the Holiness of God in His resurrection. The Psalmist would say that God would not allow the Holy One to see corruption. His resurrection proved His Holiness, from eternity past to His eternity future, Christ showed the Holiness of God and made it accessible.
In conclusion, I just want to read a couple of verses from Ezekiel 20:40-42. 40. For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. 41. I will accept you with your sweet savor, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. 42. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted mine hand to give it to your fathers.
It's very clear over here in verse 40 For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them.
This is the contrast to Mount Sinai, and this is Mount Zion. This is where we are all heading to. A place where we are all accepted, and where we can all serve Him with no hesitation, or no sinfulness.
Ultimately, God has raised us up, and He has, and He has in Christ brought us to the throne of God, and presented us unto the Father, beyond blame, beyond reproof, spotless and cleansed us and given us a robe that His bride will adorn on that day. So this is the hope in the Holiness as we are hoping that we become Holy, like we are today positionally Holy. Today we are called saints. We are called Holy ones. We are positionally Holy, but our hope is we become Holy, like our Lord.
May God bless these words.
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