Sermon Transcript — January 28, 2006
I appreciate Mr. Welty giving me the opportunity to speak this afternoon. I look forward to this. It's a subject that is near and dear to me, and I think you will find that it will be something very helpful for us. I hope you will find it thought-provoking as we go through it.
Several years ago my wife and I had the privilege of attending the Feast of Tabernacles in Israel; and it was a wonderful experience, being able to visit places that you read about in scripture but have never had the opportunity to see. My wife used to put it as, it was like getting up every morning and stepping into the Bible—a good description of what it was like.
One day as we were headed from Jerusalem down to Jericho, traveling along, and our guide pointed out on the side of the road a little building; and she said, "There's the inn of the good Samaritan." And I remember thinking at the time, "Well, I wonder why they put it way out here. That seems kind of strange." When I got back to the room, I began to look up the exact story of the good Samaritan; and I found out that, as a matter of fact, it says it took place on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho. But I had never noticed that because I had never seen Jerusalem or Jericho and the road in between; and, therefore, it's one of those details about the scripture that a lot of times you just read right past and you don't stop and think about what it means. You just keep going because that part didn't mean anything to you.
Several years ago I saw a production done by some evangelical group that was basically trying to say, "Don't believe the book of Revelation." I mean, that wasn't what they said they were trying to teach, but that's what it really was. They were talking about the prophecies about gathering together a great army at Megiddo; and they said, "Now, if you've ever seen Megiddo, it's a little tiny "tel," mound; and if you put all of those people it says there in that spot, all they could do is scratch each other." And when we were there, we stood on the tel of Megiddo and looked out over a vast plain where you could easily put millions of people. After all, the prophecy doesn't say they're in Megiddo. It says "at Megiddo." And there is a great gathering place there. There's no problem with that. But seeing it made it come alive, and we found that in many different situations that we faced.
It's not only true of place names. There are other things that we read in scripture and we just read right past them. Several years ago I was discussing something with my sister-in-law...and I love her dearly. She's a very sweet person, but they are very devout in their evangelical church. And as we were discussing one particular thing, I made some comment about a holy day or something like that; and I remember she said, "Well, I don't know anything about holy days, but we derive what we do from the scripture where it says, 'They came together on the first day of the week to break bread.'" Well, I didn't want to argue with her about it; but, nonetheless, when you look at that chapter, Acts, chapter 20, in verse 6, the apostle Paul is gathered with a group of gentiles in a gentile city keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread. When you go through this account and you come to verse 16, Paul says, "I must by all means keep the Feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem." So she knows nothing about holy days, but the one section that she knows is teaching her what to do is bracketed by holy days. Now, why didn't she see that? Well, basically the same reason many of us didn't see it for a lot of years either. We read through those same things and we didn't see it either. You see it when the holy days become important to you. Then they begin to leap out at you and you go through passages of scripture and say, "Oh, that's what that's talking about!" Whereas, otherwise you can go right past it and not even realize it's there.
There are other words that fit into that category as well. There are many places where God uses words that I think we read right past without really considering. For example, the word therefore. Therefore is the logical conclusion to what's gone before. And, yet, very often we read past it as if it's just an interjection that's thrown in to kind of fill space. It means, "stop and think about this for a minute. Look at this."
Another one that I think comes to mind...the word therefore, by the way, just in case you're wondering, is used over 1,300 times in the translation that we normally use. We're told, "Stop and think about something." Another word which comes to my mind, and I think we look right over it—again, because, in this case, we normally don't use it in our local, our regular day-to-day conversation—is the word behold. I know several times in scripture it tells you to behold something, but you and I don't normally say, "Behold, the sun is shining." It doesn't fit. We don't do it that way. But, in actuality, it's not just an interjection; it's not just something thrown in. In many cases, it is an invitation from the author to look at a situation through somebody else's eyes. Probably the most famous behold in scripture is in Genesis 29, where Jacob is referred to when he wakes up in the morning after marrying Rachel and, "Behold, it was Leah." Now, it's not just saying, "Look, it's Leah." It's saying, "Look at this through the eyes of Jacob, the guy who got his blessings by taking advantage of his father's inability to see. Look at it through those eyes." And it adds a bit of a dimension to it that you might not think of.
In the book of II Corinthians...Paul had been very corrective in I Corinthians to the congregation, and it is obvious in II Corinthians they were very concerned about what he said; and Paul wanted them to know, "Look, you've repented. I know that." But they couldn't see that, so in chapter 7, the old King James puts it this way—I like it a little bit better—it says, "Behold this self same thing..." in verse 11 of chapter 7. In essence he says, "I want you to look at this through my eyes instead of yours, because in doing that, you're going to see it differently."
So the word behold is very helpful in that way. Would you believe it's used nearly 600 times in scripture? We're told to behold something. And, yet, I would say many times most of us just read right past, as if there were no word there.
Likewise, there are words which we may have a basic idea what they mean; but, because of that, we just kind of gloss over them rather quickly. We probably couldn't define them if somebody asked us to, but we have kind of an idea. Today we're going to focus on one of those words. We're going to look at it briefly as we move along, but it's an important word. It's a word that really tells us a great deal about the way we should live our lives. It's a very small word; and, yet, in many ways, I think we'll see it's a very, very important word. The word is holy. What does that mean? What does that tell you? What is the significance of holy?
We're going to look at the word holy and some of the words that are related very closely to it and begin to see what God tells us as we read that word. You'll read it hundreds of times in scripture. What's it telling you? It's not just an adjective. There's a meaning to it, and you and I are supposed to derive that meaning as we study through those scriptures.
Holy is a word that is thrown around very commonly in our world around us. I grew up in St. Louis listening to Harry Caray broadcast the Cardinals baseball games, and every one of them had a "holy cow" somewhere in it. We're in Ohio, and we have a "holy city," right? Toledo. At least that's the way it's said much of the time, and we can kind of overlook some of those things; but, quite honestly, in our society it's becoming at times where holiness is almost used, or the term is almost used in a way that is blasphemous. The most popular comedy series on television is one called Everybody Loves Raymond. And on that program, one of the lead characters in virtually every session, every program that's there, every one, he connects the word holy with a rather crude, coarse term for excrement. It is a blasphemous term, and yet it is considered funny today.
There are many things in scripture that God calls holy, and we can only touch on a few of them today, which we will. But in the process, our hope is that, though we can't cover all of them by any means, we can at least begin to gain an understanding of holiness in such a way that as we study on our own and we read the word, it can begin to mean something a little bit different to us. But why should we really be concerned in the first place? First of all, holiness is a positive command from God. We'll go back in Leviticus, chapter 11. Now, if you think ahead, you probably remember Leviticus 11 is one of the two chapters we often turn to, to examine what foods are appropriate and which ones are not; but holiness is very critical in this chapter. Leviticus, chapter 11, and let's begin in verse 43:
Lev. 11:43-45 "You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps; nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them. For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy."
In other words, God says, "You are My representatives on this earth. You are My ambassadors. You represent Me. I am holy and, therefore, I require of you that you be holy in the way that you live your life." Now, we could look at many other examples, and we'll see one a little bit later on, where God repeats this instruction, "Be holy because I'm holy."
We should also be concerned because scripture shows us that a lack of holiness will exclude a person from being a part of the Kingdom of God. In Hebrews, chapter 12, we begin here in verse 12, we read:
Heb. 12:12-14 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord...
Seeing Jesus Christ in His Kingdom and when He returns is very important. You won't see Him if you are not an individual possessing holiness in the way that God intends us to. So it's a serious matter for us.
One of the great condemnations of ancient Israel and it's leaders, especially its religious leaders, was that they failed to teach people the difference between the holy and the profane. Are the religious leaders of today doing a better job of that? How many people do you know who could tell you clearly the difference between what's holy and profane and understand it and show it in the way that they live their lives? Last week—I forget exactly when it came up—I was watching something on television, and I came across—you know how fellows are, we surf, so I was surfing—and I came across some fellow who was actually a fairly decent preacher. And he was giving his message and he was standing there wearing a suit and a T-shirt and jogging shoes. It just looked ridiculous. I mentioned it to Mr. Register and he said, yeah, he'd seen one that was there in just his plain jogging outfit, a sweat suit. He's up giving his message. Is that conveying holiness to people? Are people able to understand holiness because of the messages they're getting? Where have you heard anybody defining it? Where have you heard anyone even concerned about the subject of holiness?
In Jeremiah 23, God makes a very powerful statement. Jeremiah 23, two verses I want to note here in this chapter, verse 11 ...he says:
Jer. 23:11 "For both prophet and priest are profane; yes, in My house I have found their wickedness," says the Lord.
The prophet is one who is to speak under the inspiration of God. The priest is the one who is to represent God in a religious way, and He says, "I have found them profane."
Verse 15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets: "Behold, I will feed them with wormwood..." There's that "behold" again. "...I will feed them with wormwood and make them drink the water of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem profaneness has gone out into all the land.'"
God lays the responsibility for this at the feet of those who are supposed to teach the difference and who fail to do so. "Profaneness fills the land." Now, that was certainly true in Jeremiah's day, but I think most of us would understand it is true in our day as well. Profaneness fills the land. We are in training to become priests and kings, and it will be our responsibility to teach mankind the right principles of what's holy and what is not.
What does it mean to be "holy for our God is holy"? What does that mean? First of all, we need to define, at least in a very general way, two terms— holy and profane— so that we understand what the scripture is telling us about it. The Hebrew and the Greek words for holy have very similar meanings. The Hebrew word is essentially qadash. It can be qadowsh or various other variations of that, but essentially qadash. You may remember one particular location in the tabernacle or the temple which has a unique name, called the "holy of holies," qadash qadashim. It literally is, "that which is holy out of all the holy things." So it is separated out in a unique way. It stands separate from even all the holy things. It is even more holy. There is a principle involved here that I want you to keep in mind because we'll come back to it later. It is possible, in a sense, for holiness to be amplified, when something holy is isolated out of all the other holy things as being holy. We'll note that a little bit later on.
The Greek word that is often translated holy is the word hagios, and it takes various forms; but that's the root word. In English, both of those words can be translated as holy or hallow, which is the verb form of it, which means "to make something or hold something as holy," saint or sanctify or sanctification. All of these come from this root word hagios that refer to holiness. A saint is one who is holy. Sanctification has to do with being made holy. The basic meaning of the term holy is separated or set apart. That concept is the basic concept of it. But I want to break it down just a little further because there are a couple of other things that we need to keep in mind. We'll come back to this over and over, but I'm going to give you three fundamental elements of holiness. If you remember nothing else from the whole sermon, please remember those because those three will enable you, as you read the scripture and you see something is holy, to consider, "How should I approach this?"
1. It means to set apart from all other items that may be similar. Holiness has to do with something being set apart from other things.
2. It is set apart for; there is a reason for it being set apart. It is set apart for a specific purpose.
3. For it to be holy, God must be intimately and actively involved in the setting apart. In a sense, it is God's active presence which does the setting apart or separating.
Without turning back to it, you remember the passage in Exodus, chapter 3, where Moses sees a bush burning on the hillside. He goes up to see it and a voice speaks out to him and says, "Take off your sandals. The place where you stand is holy ground." The ground around that bush, that burning bush, was set apart from all the other ground. Where Moses was, down the hill with the sheep, was not holy ground. It wasn't set apart. But right here it was. It was set apart for a purpose, for God to speak to Moses. And what made it holy was the presence of God. If you were to go to that exact spot of ground today, it still exists; but it's not holy because God's presence isn't there. God's presence is what sets it apart and makes it holy.
Notice very quickly, I want to go all the way back to the book of Revelation for one brief passage. Revelation 15 makes a statement that is very important for us. We'll build it as we go further. Revelation 15, verse 4. It says:
Rev. 15:4 Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy.
God alone is holy. Therefore, only God can impart holiness. Human beings don't have the power to impart holiness. We are not able to impart holiness in that way. God alone is holy. Any holiness that may come to us is simply bestowed upon us from God. God is the one who is holy and has the ability to make something holy.
Now, let me illustrate this in a very simple way. I kid my wife about something that she does. She makes this wonderful apple pie with this whole wheat crust, and she's embarrassed by it because she says it's ugly. It's not flaky like you're supposed to have this wonderful pie crust; but when you touch it, it just crumbles. Now, you may be able to tell by looking at me that I'm not overly worried about how it looks. I intend to alter it's appearance as soon as I can get a fork in my hand anyway, OK? So...suppose I come home from work and my wife has made one of these wonderful apple pies. OK, I see it, smell it, say, "All right!" And I head for the drawer that has the forks; and my wife says, "Wait a minute. If you're hungry, you can have anything you want, that's fine; but I made the pie for a pot luck meal this Sabbath." Hmm. "You can have anything else, but I made the pie for that." OK. The pie is set apart from everything else that I have access to. It is set apart for a purpose. Is it holy? No. Because God didn't set it apart; my wife did. If I know what's good for me, I'll treat it that way; but, nonetheless, it's not holy, OK? Humans don't have that ability to do that. So it is set apart from and for; but for it to be holy, God must be involved.
All right, let's briefly look at the word profane. What do we mean by that? We think of profanity, for example, in our culture; and it's an evil thing. It's a negative thing. We don't want that. But in the biblical sense, the word doesn't carry negativity with it. It's not intended to convey something evil or wrong or defiled; but, basically, what it means in the biblical sense, it's the opposite of holy. As holy is set apart, profane means it's not set apart. It's just normal, common, everyday.
The Hebrew root word for profane is chalal, and it often means something which is defiled or stained or torn; but according to Gesenius, the primary idea behind the verb is simply to lay open or give access to. In other words, to say that you have profaned something that is holy means, here is something that is set apart, it's supposed to be protected and kept up; and, instead, you have allowed access to it, so it becomes defiled in that sense. So it's that sense of giving access in that way, treating it as ordinary.
The Greek word is bebelos. It has a similar meaning. The root word is belos, which refers to the threshold of a doorway. Now, if I were to ask you when you came into services today, did you step on the threshold or across it? Probably you have no idea because it doesn't matter. See, it's perfectly all right to step on it, so you don't worry about stepping on it; and that's the concept of the word profane in the biblical sense. It's common, it's ordinary, it's not set apart, so you really don't have to be all that concerned with how you use it. It is the opposite of that which is set apart in a very special way.
Now, let's take these basic concepts and apply them to some of the elements or some of the ways in which God describes things as being holy. The first thing that we'll look at...we'll look at seven of them today, assuming I have enough time; and since I forgot to look at the clock when I got up here, I have enough time!
OK, the first thing we can see is, God is holy.
1. God is holy.
Now, what do we mean by that? Let's apply those three descriptors that we had of holiness. How is God set apart from all other gods? Well, when you begin to study the history of mankind and you see the way that man looked at his gods, you see that the true God is vastly different. The way He describes Himself, the relationship He has with His people is totally different. The pagan gods that the pagans came up with were many times very capricious. They were cruel. The main function, it seemed, to be under paganism was, "How do we at least placate this god and keep him from cursing us? Maybe we can bribe him some way and get him to do something good for us," but certainly the gods were not looked upon as somebody who cared about mankind.
Maybe you remember the one in the Greek mythology where one of the goddesses fell in love with a human being and went to Zeus and said, "Oh, I don't want this man to die. Please let him live forever." And Zeus says, "OK, fine. He can live forever." But she forgot to say, "Don't let him get any older." So he just kept aging and aging and aging and getting worse and worse, and old Zeus got a real chuckle out of that one. That's the kind of gods that they developed, that man developed for himself. These were not caring and loving gods. Nowhere will you find in paganism a god who looked upon his people and considered them his children and entered into a special relationship, a loving relationship in that way. It didn't exist. The true God was entirely different from that, and He sets Himself apart from all of those.
He is set apart for a very special relationship with His people—the relationship of a father and a child, a father to His children. It's a unique and special relationship, and obviously God is the one who, by His perfect unchangeable character, sets Himself apart. So He is holy. He meets those three criteria. One of the titles that God takes to Himself in the book of Isaiah is the "Holy One of Israel." He wanted them to understand that He was unique, different, special.
Let's go back to Leviticus, chapter 22, and notice here another instruction from God that relates directly to the concept that God Himself is holy. Leviticus, chapter 22, and let's notice here, verse 32:
Lev. 22:32 "You shall not profane," again, treat as common or ordinary or everyday, "My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctifies you," or literally, as another translation puts it, "I am the Lord who makes you holy."
God's name describes His character; and we are, therefore, told not to abuse that name. The third commandment tells us not to take God's name carelessly because that name describes God; and there are many different titles that God takes to Himself in that way. We call Him the Almighty, the Eternal; all of those have a special meaning for us. One of my favorites is from the Greek— kardiognostes, the Heart Knower. What a beautiful description of God, the God who knows the heart. You won't find anyone describing Dagan or Baal or some of the others in that way, but our God knows our hearts. A beautiful description. We don't want to take God's name carelessly because, in essence, that is taking God carelessly. That is profaning God.
You may remember as well a passage that we've use—we don't seem to read it as much anymore—but from the old King James, in Psalm 111, verses 9-10, we find the passage that says, Holy and reverend is [God's] name. Ministers of the Church of God will not allow themselves to be called "reverend." In essence, it means worthy of worship; and none of us are, so we don't do that. We don't allow that kind of thing. Instead, we let little old ladies pick hairs out of our heads, and things like that. We don't expect to be treated as holy. That's not what we are. God is. Newer translations say, Holy and awesome is His name. God's name, when we understand what it tells us about our Father, should produce a sense of awe in us and respect. So we begin with the concept that God Himself is holy.
2. God's word is holy.
God's word is holy. Again, we apply those three descriptors to it. It is set apart from all other words that people have ever written. It is unique and set apart in a way that is different and distinct from any other writing that has ever come forward.
Before the translation of the Septuagint version of the Bible, the Greek librarians went to the Jewish community in Alexandria; and they said, "We have copies of the holy books of all these other different nations, etc., and we're able to read them in Greek. But yours is all in Hebrew, and we don't read Hebrew. Can't you give us a copy in Greek?" And they debated long and hard whether that would be acceptable or not, and finally they put together a group of seventy scholars who very carefully and cautiously translated from Hebrew to Greek, doing the best that they could. Then they brought their translation to those librarians, and they gave them to them and said, "Now, we want you to understand something. This book was inspired by God." And the librarians said, "Yeah." And they said, "No, no. You don't understand. We mean God inspired these words." And they said, "Yeah, we know." And the Jews walked away shaking their heads. "This is amazing. It's a miracle. They understand that God inspired it." Unfortunately, what they didn't understand is that in the Greek way of thinking, all books are inspired by some god. "If you want to say your god inspired yours, OK, fine, no problem. We agree with you." They didn't understand the uniqueness of it. The Jews did. This is unique. This isn't like any other book.
This book is set apart for a very special purpose—to instruct God's people in His way, to show mankind how to live. In II Timothy, chapter 3, the apostle Paul refers to this in giving Timothy his instructions, and he refers to Timothy's background. He says in II Timothy 3 and verse 15:
II Tim. 3:15...and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures... it just means, "the holy writings." ...you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. "When you couple those things, Timothy," he says, "that were written a thousand years ago, coupled with the faith of Jesus Christ, they're able to make you wise for salvation. They're able to lead you to salvation. And those words are still true today." Two thousand years further down the line, those words today are able to lead you and me to salvation.
What other book can you find that stands the test of time for over 3,000 years? I think back to the time when I was in college and we had various books that we had to read. I remember one that was assigned to us. It was very exciting at the time. It was probably about 1968, 69, somewhere in there. Maybe even before that. It was a book written by two brothers—William and Paul Paddock. The title of the book was Famine 1975, America's Decision, Who Will Survive? It was pretty exciting. Some of you may have read it, but how long has it been since you've referred back to that book? 1975 came and went. No famine, no decision, just came and went. Time goes on. That book, in essence, died the day it was completed. All value that it had ended right there. It has, in essence, no value for us today. But do you realize that the Bible, the Holy Scripture, makes a unique claim for itself?
In Hebrews, chapter 4, in verse 12, he says:
Heb. 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Very often we refer to certain aspects of this, but I simply want to note the very first part of it—the word of God is alive. It's living. It's not dead words. The words that were given 3,000 years ago have as much applicability in life today as they did the day they were written. Could you find another book of which that's true? What could you write—unless you wrote something out of scripture—what could you write that would be applicable advice on how to live life 3,000 years from now? You couldn't do it, nor could I.
I was thinking this morning—Mr. McClain mentioned Ben Franklin—I was thinking about some of the things Ben Franklin said. "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." In an agrarian society, probably so; today, basically, what it means is you missed Jay Leno. I mean, in our society today, going to bed early, getting up early is almost meaningless because we're kind of a twenty-four-hour-a-day society. And if you are one of those who is getting to bed early and up early, you may be wondering when this wealth thing kicks in. I mean, it was wonderful advice 200 years ago, but it isn't quite the same today.
The Bible is alive. It is intended to be viewed as a living counselor. In other words, as you and I face the challenges and the questions of life, we're supposed to open up this book and turn to it just as we would turn to a trusted counselor and ask him, "How should I approach this? What should I do?" This book tells us how. What was written 3,000 years ago tells me how to live my life today. No other book can say that. This is a unique collection of writings. It's alive. It lives. Why? It's set apart from all others. It is set apart for the purpose of communicating the mind and the heart of God to us, and God is actively involved in this book. He doesn't just tell us what happened. He tells us what is happening and what will happen. He says, "When you live this way, here's what will happen in your life," and He is actively a part of it. God makes this book holy. So it is right that we look upon it as holy.
3. The law of God is holy.
The law of God is holy. Again, looking at our example, it is unlike any other law. It is set apart from any other law you can name. When you compare the law of God to the laws of man, what do you find? Let's make it simple. We won't make it a big complicated thing. How about comparing the law of God to the IRS regulations? You not only have to be a genius to understand the IRS regulations, you need to be an insane genius to understand them. Man writes this law...it should be a simple taxation law, writes this..."Oh, but we have to have an exception...," and then, "My friend wants this and I certainly don't want to get taxed here, so I'd better do this," and we have this huge volume of things and nobody understands it. I mean, you realize when you call the IRS for advice on your taxes, one of the things that you are told, or at least is understood, "We are not responsible for whether we get it right or not." Isn't that encouraging? "We may still penalize you for doing what we told you to do." That's man's law.
God's law was created at creation. It comes from there. It comes forward from there. For 6,000 years this law has not had to have any revisions. You notice God never issued Ten Commandments B. You know, we're not in Law 1.1 now. We're still at Law 1.0 . It's where it's always been. It was true then. It's still true now. It applies down through the ages. God's law is unique. It's set apart from man's laws. It is set apart for the purpose of protecting you and me, of communicating to us a way of life that protects us from the damages that could be if we don't know those laws.
Romans, chapter 7, the apostle Paul says in Romans 7, verse 7:
Rom. 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet."
Paul says, "I wouldn't have realized that it was harmful to me, to my relationship with others, to my relationship with God, for me to covet. I wouldn't have figured that out; but God told me in His law, 'Coveting is harmful. Don't do it.' And now I can look at it and say, 'Oh, I understand. I see.' But I wouldn't have figured it out on my own."
The same is probably true for you and me. There are things we would not have figured out. Could you have figured that from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday is holy time unless God revealed that? I wouldn't have figured it out. I went quite a few years without figuring it out. It didn't seem different, didn't feel different, didn't sound different, didn't smell different. I used all five of my senses. I couldn't figure out it was different; but it was different, and God revealed that. And through that process, He protects us from the damage that comes from transgressing those laws; and, therefore, in verse 12, Paul said:
Verse 12 Therefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
Each of those words is worth thinking about a great deal. It's holy, it's just, it's good. God is in that law. The values, the standards, the character of God are revealed in that law. It is a holy law. It's not just man's idea. It's not just something similar to the ancient Babylonian laws of Nebuchadnezzar. No. It's entirely different.
4. The weekly and the annual Sabbaths are holy.
The weekly and the annual Sabbaths are holy. They are set apart from all other times. They are set apart for a purpose. The annual Sabbaths obviously convey to us God's plan. I mean, when we stop and think about it, what would you understand about God's plan if you did not keep the annual holy days? I dare say that most of us wouldn't be able to remember the plan if it weren't for the fact that year after year we go through those days; and God is the one who sets them apart.
Consider the weekly Sabbath. When we apply those three descriptors of holiness to the weekly Sabbath, we have one day of the week that is set apart from all other days. Did you ever encounter one of those religious types where you say something about the Sabbath and they say, "Oh, well, we keep every day holy." Do you realize what an oxymoron that is? What it says is that they have no idea what holiness means because you can't hold as separate every day! Every day set apart for a special purpose means NO day is set apart for a special purpose. It's self contradictory. It's impossible. You can't do such a thing. God sets apart the weekly Sabbath for a special purpose. We come together before God and talk with Him, worship Him.
We understand that man cannot make anything holy, including time. Only God has the power to do that. Scripture shows us that holy time exists. If man can't make it holy, who did? Now, that's the way I wrote the sentence initially; but as I was going over it this morning, I had to change it because there's something I think that's vital to understand there. It's not, "If holy time exists, who did make it?" It's, "If holy time exists, who does make it?" It isn't something that happened one time. It happens every week. It is created every week. God makes time holy, Sabbath after Sabbath.
Notice in Genesis, chapter 2, where the Sabbath is introduced to us, where we find the very first Sabbath. You will note that God does two things every Sabbath day. Genesis, chapter 2, verse 1:
Gen. 2:1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, or made it holy, because in it He rested from all His work which He had created and made.
God did two things—He blessed the day and He made it holy. Now, there are those who would say, "Oh, well, that's just referring to that first day of creation." OK, let's go up over a thousand years. Let's go up to Exodus, chapter 20, where we find the Ten Commandments given, and let's read what it says here about the Sabbath day. Exodus, chapter 20, beginning in verse 8:
Ex. 20:8-11 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy... You know, I kept the Sabbath for I don't know how many years, probably a couple of decades virtually, before I ever understood what the verse said. I always thought what it said was, "When the Sabbath comes, you'd better remember to keep it holy." But, you know, if that's true, then this is a one-day-a-week commandment. That's not what it's saying. It's saying, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." In other words, I'd better remember on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday that the Sabbath is coming so that I get everything done and taken care of so that when the Sabbath comes I'm able to keep it holy. So this is a seven-day-a-week commandment. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
He did two things. He blessed it and He made it holy. We've talked about the holiness aspect of it. I think that most of us also recognize that there is a blessing in this day. It is a unique blessing. When several years ago people began to say, "You don't need to keep the Sabbath. Don't worry about that," I remember the thought that I had, and probably many of you had a similar thought. I did not think, "Oh, don't take the law away from me." What I thought was, "The Sabbath is an incredible blessing. I don't want you to take that blessing away." What a joy the Sabbath is for us as we keep it each week. We receive God's blessing. We see that He blesses it. You don't understand that if you don't keep the Sabbath. God blesses it and He makes it holy.
A few pages further up in chapter 31, Exodus 31, verse 12:
Ex. 31:12-15 The Lord spoke to Moses saying, "Speak also to the children of Israel saying, 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you, who makes you holy. I am the God who makes YOU holy. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you." You and I are told that we should view it as holy. It should be holy to us. "Everyone who profanes it," and, again, that doesn't mean treat it in an evil way. It simply means you treat the Sabbath as if it's an ordinary day, as if it's just like any other day when you go to work and do your own things. "He who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord." It isn't just holy to us. It's holy to God as well, holy to the Lord. "Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, He shall surely be put to death."
In Isaiah, chapter 58, we referred to this a little bit earlier, but notice again. I'd like to look at it from a couple of different translations. Isaiah 58, starting in verse 13, which, again, Isaiah is speaking about the Sabbath and the way that we should approach it. Isaiah 58, verse 13. First of all, I'm going to read this section from the New International Version. Sometimes it gets off base; but in some places, it captures the sense quite well. He says:
Isa. 58:13-14 (NIV) If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath... Remember, we talked about the threshold of the door? There's that description. Don't step on the Sabbath. (The New Revised Standard Version says, If you refrain from trampling the Sabbath...) ...and from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob..." And, then, this last phrase we sometimes skip over, The mouth of the Lord has spoken.
God is saying, "I will make this come true. I will be the One who produces this result. When you honor My Sabbath day, I will produce the joy in your life."
5. Within the Sabbath day, there is a holy convocation.
A holy convocation. Leviticus, chapter 23, beginning in verse 1:
Lev. 23:1-3 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it. It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.'"
That phrase "in all your dwellings" reminds the people of Israel that wherever you go, whatever situation you find yourself in, wherever you are around this great world, in your dwelling, when that Sabbath comes, it is holy time. It is for you to observe and to keep in that way. But He says there is in this holy day a holy convocation. Now, I wanted to understand convocation a little bit better, so I went to the dictionary and I looked up convocation. It was so helpful. It said that a convocation is that which is convoked. OK, what does that mean? Well, you look up convoke, and it means to call together by authority. It is to summon. In other words, in a convocation, you are summoned, not invited. If you have your doorbell ring and you go to it and there's a marshal standing there and he hands you a summons, you don't turn around to your family and say, "Oh, look, I've been invited to court." No, you've been summoned. You're going to be there. And that is, in essence, what we are told about this holy convocation. We are not invited to the Sabbath services; we are summoned, like a court summons; and because the convocation is holy, we are reminded that the one sending out the summons is God.
This convocation that we come to is unique. We said there were three descriptors of holiness. How is this convocation holy? It is set apart from all other meetings. It is a meeting that is set apart from all others. It's not like any others. It's distinct and unique. It's not a social. It's not a picnic. It's not a social get together. We may after services have a potluck, and that's fine; but that's not holy. We may do any number of things and it's perfectly all right, but this meeting is set apart, unlike any others. It is set apart for a special purpose. Part of that purpose is that you and I be instructed in the way that we are to live our lives. Part of it is because we worship God.
It was mentioned even in the opening prayer that we come together to worship God. Did you ever ask yourself why we worship God? Why do we worship God? Why is that important? Is God sitting on His throne and kind of has a, you know, an identity crisis? He just needs us to kind of pat Him on the back and say, "Oh, yeah, yeah, OK, you're God. Sure, we're with you." Does God need the encouragement? Is that why we worship Him? We worship God because it benefits us, because as we stand or kneel or come before God and worship with our songs and our prayers and our assembly before Him, we are reminded of who this is that we are called to serve. We're reminded of the greatness of this being so that when we leave this holy convocation and we go out and face our lives and we face the challenges and the trials that we face day after day, we are reminded we're not looking to Dr. Phil. We're not looking to Opra. We're looking to this incredible being who has this great power and love for us; and when we face those trials, He knows about it and He cares about it and we can trust Him. We worship God because it benefits us, not because He needs it. So we come together at this holy convocation and we're instructed. We worship God. This convocation is unlike any other meeting anywhere. It is set apart for a special purpose, and we have invited God's presence. In our opening prayer, we ask His presence. We ask His guidance. And when we close the service, we thank Him for answering that opening prayer and being with us through His Spirit and what He accomplishes.
If we understand that...remember, we talked about qadash qadashim, the holy of holies, that here was one thing holy, isolated out from all the other holy things and how this amplifies its importance? Well, here is a holy convocation in a holy day. This whole day is holy, but this convocation is isolated out in a special way. God sets it apart. If we understand that, should that not have a profound impact upon the way we approach this service, from the way we dress to the way we talk to the way we conduct ourselves while we're here?
I'd like to share with you a quote. Some of you are familiar with The DaVinci Code and the claim that it makes that, though it is fiction, it is based upon fact. Recently we received a book here at the home office and Mr. Kilough let me read it. It was by Erwin Lutzer, Dr. Erwin Lutzer, who was the pastor of the Moody Bible Church in Chicago. His book is a short little book called The DaVinci Deception, and it's got some very good points in it and it basically completely debunks The DaVinci Code ; but I'd like to share with you a quote that doesn't relate so much to that, but Dr. Lutzer captures the sense quite well, as he talks about the way most people approach churches today. He says:
We must come to the right God in the right way. Cain and Abel both came to the right God, but one brought an offering that was accepted, while the other's was rejected. The New Testament speaks of those who have "gone in the way of Cain" in Jude 1, verse 11; that is, those who think they can come to God in their own way and on their own terms. Nadab and Abihu were Aaron's sons and Moses' nephews. They were consecrated to God. One day they offered to the Lord unauthorized fire, and God replied in kind; so fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord (Lev. 10:2). We're tempted to charge God with overreacting. These were young men who deserved a second chance. Furthermore, they were the sons of Aaron, the high priest. We would expect a bit of leeway; but right there at the altar of God, Nadab and Abihu faced immediate annihilation—no trial, no second chance. Why did God do this? He Himself explained. "Among those who approach Me, I will show Myself holy. In the sight of all the people, I will be honored." (Lev. 10:3) The mistake of these men was not that they came to the wrong God, but that they came in the wrong way. They learned the hard way that not just any way will do.
I think that's a powerful quote that says something about the way mankind tends to approach religion today. I used to drive by a church on Sunday mornings and watch the people coming and going; and oftentimes it looked like they were on their way to the gym. It was just so disrespectful. What about us? How do we approach church services that we come to? Not just in dress, but in all that we do. This is a holy convocation. The fact that God is most concerned about what's in our hearts doesn't mean that nothing else matters. It's very easy to convince yourself that your heart's right. Anybody can do that. If it's truly right, it will guide your decisions and your conduct into a godly way. It will guide us to ask not, "How little can I get by with?" or "How much must I do to be accepted?" Instead, a heart that's right with God will ask, "What more can I do to help myself and my brethren come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Jesus Christ?"
Should the knowledge that we are coming into the presence of a holy God in a holy convocation during holy time have an impact on the way that we appear? Shouldn't that impress us very deeply?
I think of another example of the service in something that happened quite a number of years ago at the Feast in Mount Pocono . The pianist and her husband we sitting right behind my wife and I, and she had done a fine job playing hymns. She was an excellent pianist, and they gave the announcements for the first holy day. They gave the announcements and then they introduced the special music. It was a lady playing a flute solo, and the pianist was again going to accompany her. So when they introduced it, she got up, went up and accompanied; and it was a Beethoven piece. It was beautifully done, just absolutely beautiful.
A couple days later they were sitting behind us again, and I turned to her husband and said, "You know, I forgot to tell your wife the other day, but I really enjoyed that special music. That was just so beautifully done." And he said, "Well, there was a little more to it than what you might know, because, you see, until the minister announced her as accompanying this lady, she didn't know anything about it. She was called up cold." Now, if anyone has ever tried to accompany, you know that accompanying is a lot harder than just playing. She had to accompany, and she went up and played and she had never seen this piece of music. She did it beautifully. I mean, it was almost flawless. As far as I was concerned, it was flawless, beautifully done. There was no question in her mind, as good a pianist as she was, that she didn't go up there and sight read Beethoven on her own. She was helped. God helped her. Now, that taught me two things that I think are very important: Number one, special music is important to God. It is not a musical interlude to accompany our going to the bathroom. It is important to God. He inspired it. And, second, it also taught me, in a broader sense, God is concerned with what takes place in this service. We invite His presence and He's concerned about what takes place here, and He inspires. This is a holy convocation, and it should be very special to you and me, and that ought to affect the way we approach it.
Quickly, just a couple more examples.
6. God's tithe is holy.
In Leviticus, chapter 27, we're just a couple pages from that. Leviticus 27 and verse 30. It says:
Lev. 27:30 All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's. It is holy to the Lord.
Now, we apply our three descriptors again. How is it holy? Well, the tithe is set apart from all the other funds that we have. It is not like anything else. It is set apart in a unique way. It is set apart for a special purpose, for accomplishing God's work, for doing what He wants done; and God is involved in the setting apart. Now, you and I know that by experience. We know that we tithe faithfully and God blesses what remains. You can't prove it on paper. I mean, you just can't go and show someone on paper how you take 10 percent of your income and send it away and you're better off. The only possible explanation is that God steps in and does something special because of the tithe. There is no other explanation of it. That's it. So we understand that that tithe is holy.
If someone spends tithe money for the normal living expenses, then what they have done is to profane what God says is holy. They've used what God says is holy in a common, ordinary, everyday way. So God has set this apart.
Now, sometimes the question comes up, "Well, what about second tithe? Is it holy?" There is no scripture that specifically says the second tithe is holy, OK? So let's look at our descriptors. Is it set apart from all the rest of your funds? Yeah, it is. It's unique; it's set apart. It's not like anything else. It's not like first tithe. It's not like the other funds you live by. Yes, it's unique. Is it set apart for a special purpose? Yes, it sure is, for keeping the Feast. Is God involved in it? Well, yes, as a matter of fact, He is. Now, I'm not going to establish doctrine for the church here today, OK? I'm not going to stand up here and say, "Oh, it doesn't say it in scripture, but I'm saying it," because that wouldn't mean a thing; but I will say this: If it walks like a duck, swims like a duck, quacks like a duck, it might be a duck! OK? If the second tithe is holy to God, would that affect the way you and I were to use it and save it, the way we would deal with it? And, again, I would think we would have to say, yeah, it would have a profound affect upon us, wouldn't it?
One more example:
7. God's church is holy.
The church is set apart from all other groups. It is a unique and special group. It is set apart for the purpose of accomplishing God's will—not just doing the work, but the work is greater than simply getting a message out there. Yes, that's a part of it; but the ultimate work is the work of transforming humans into the children of God for eternity. The church is set apart for that purpose, and God is in the midst. The reason we are holy is because of God's presence in the midst, His Spirit that sets His people apart. Those who are a part of the church are called saints. Again, our same Greek word, set apart by God. You and I are set apart from all others. We may sometimes wonder about that, but we are. We're set apart for God's purpose, not for our own. God's Spirit dwelling in us is what sets us apart.
Paul said in I Corinthians 3 and verse 17...I won't turn back to that one because I have a couple more I'd like you to turn to as we finish...in I Corinthians 3, verse 17, he says:
I Cor. 3:17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
The temple of God is holy, set apart. It's unique, special.
You could look through many other examples of things that the scripture says are holy. God gives us His Holy Spirit. Our calling is called a holy calling. Our children are holy. Now, that doesn't mean they're perfect. If you've been around them very much, you know. No, they're not perfect; but if you don't think they're different, if you don't think they're set apart, I wish there were some way you could attend our camp program sometime. Did you ever wonder why it is that all these old ministers...I mean, I'm not sixty, but I'm knocking on the door, OK? And I love camp. I mean, next to the Feast of Tabernacles, that's the greatest thing in the world, going to camp each year. I try to tell somebody, "I'm looking forward, I'm going to go spend a week in the woods with 150 teenagers," and they think you're crazy. But for those of us who are involved, we love it. These young people are not like the world. They're unique; they're special; they're set apart. There's no question about it as you deal with them.
We need to learn to apply those principles to the way we conduct our lives as Christians. In I Peter, chapter 1, starting in verse 13, Peter writes:
I Pet. 1:13-16 Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy for I am holy."
You and I are told to conduct our lives with the recognition that we are to live a holy life. Ultimately we look forward to a very special reward; and, though again, I don't want to turn to this one right now...if you want to be turning back to Ezekiel, chapter 44, because I'll be quoting from there, but I want to just refer to Revelation, chapter 20, and verse 6. This is, again, a verse that you've heard many times. Remember what it says:
Rev. 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him for a thousand years.
Those in the first resurrection, which is our hope, are blessed and holy, set apart. Set apart by God, set apart for a special purpose. God dwells within His people. Prophecy shows that those who are faithful to the holy calling that we have been given, will teach the knowledge of the holy and the profane in the world to come.
In Ezekiel 44, starting in verse 21:
Eze. 44:21-24 "No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. They shall not take as a wife a widow or a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel or widows of priests. And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the unholy and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. In controversy they shall stand as judges and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes and all My appointed meetings, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths."
This is our heritage. It's what we look forward to.
There is another side to this; and, though I certainly don't want to end on a negative note, I think it's important for us to understand how important this concept is before God. In Ezekiel 22, Ezekiel, chapter 22, there's a very powerful statement from God about the need for His people to be holy as He is holy. Ezekiel, chapter 22, and notice verse 26:
Eze. 22:26 "Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things. They have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them."
When the people of God fail to live a holy life, we are not the only ones affected. God is profaned. That's a very powerful and sobering statement for all of us. I hope that as you go forward and you study in your own Bible, as you're going along and you come across the word holy that it will have a new meaning, that you can stop and think, "What is this telling me?" You can apply those three descriptors and you can see, "This is what God is showing me. There's something special here, and I need to make sure that I'm living my life in holiness."