Friday, August 26, 2011

August 26, 2011

“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory.” Psalm 24:1-10


As Wesleyans, we have a long legacy of holiness teaching, honoring holiness doctrine but unfortunately, not as much holy living as we would hope. I would love to see FredWes be used by God to restore the holiness movement to Wesleyanism.

Holiness means being all wrapped up in God. It means being totally consecrated, or set aside, to God. It means being sanctified or made holy by the cleansing of His blood and the infilling of His Spirit.

Over these next three days we will be studying the Psalmist's presentation of holiness in Psalms 24.

I. WRAP YOUR HEAD AROUND HIS WONDER, Vv. 1-2

In 1961 A.W. Tozer was given the opportunity to speak to a group of ministers on a subject of his choice. Not surprisingly he chose to speak to them about the holiness of God. During that talk he said the following words: “I believe we ought to have again the old biblical concept of God which makes God awful and makes men lie face down and cry, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. That would do more for the church than everything or anything else.”

The Wonder of a Sovereign Creator, V. 1-2

God is holy because He is sovereign. He is the beginning and the end and everything in between. He answers to no one and is worthy of wielding absolute power and authority because He is without sin, He has perfect wisdom, He has all-knowledge, and has perfect love. To say that God is sovereign is to say that God IS God!

The Wonder of a Supreme Controller, V. 1

This is, in a way, redundant, but also more specific to the application of God’s sovereignty. God could not be sovereign and not be in control. A couple of great verses referencing His control are Romans 8:28 and I Corinthians 10:13.

To say that God is in control refers to the ultimate outcome of eternity. He has given us a free will that allows you and me to be immediately in control of our choices and decisions.

Remember the first three Commandments. They have to do with the Sovereignty and the Supremacy of God:

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.   Exodus 20:3-7

The great Apostle Paul begins his incredible explanation to the Romans on the doctrine of salvation with this interesting reference:

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Romans 1:18-23

The great Apostle makes a direct link between sin and the refusal to recognize and live in wonder of the God of creation.

God is holy because He is the sovereign Creator and the Supreme Controller. Holiness is impossible without first acknowledging God as the Sovereign and Supreme ruler of the universe. There is no other god, therefore, He cannot tolerate worship or allegiance to any other god. Holiness is impossible until we acknowledge Him as the Sovereign and Supreme God.

God sets the standard for holiness because He has set Himself apart from any other! That is what sanctify means. God is holy because there is no one else like Him in power or in purity. The word “holy” and the word “God” are synonymous.

ARE YOU LIVING IN WONDER OF GOD?



For further study:

(Turn back to Psalm 19 – God’s holiness is directly linked to His Sovereignty, which is directly connected to Him as Creator - also, quickly to Psalm 8 – Our worthiness and out hope of holiness are tied to God as Creator and Controller! One more – look at Psalm 14 – Our sinfulness is tied to our refusal to recognize God as Sovereign Creator)