EVERYWHERE, EVERY MOMENT GOD IS HOLY!

 Dear God Seekers!

Are any of you mathematicians? Do any of you love making long lists of things? How many thrill at guessing the number of marbles poured into jars in those counting contests? I do!

So…you may be wondering, as I have in the past, how many attributes, descriptions, and names of God are there really? In Experiencing God, Blackaby lists close to 380 Bible descriptions and names of the Godhead.  Faber, a writer often quoted by Tozer, sang of “God of a thousand attributes…” Charles Wesley, writer of many great hymns, exclaimed, “Glad thine attributes confess, glorious all and numberless…”  (Never fear, these communiqués will NOT go on eternally from my computer to yours! My caboose will come!)

You may also have wondered with me, is one attribute more important than the rest? Bill Bright believed I AM to be God’s most important name, used over 6500 times in the Old Testament. He pointed out, “This name was so sacred and holy that the ancient rabbis would not allow anyone to say it aloud for fear that someone would inadvertently use it wrongly…Because I AM contains no adjective or qualifier that describes or limits its meaning, it signifies that God is complete.”

But Tozer took a little different angle when he said, “God is simple, uncomplex, one with Himself. The harmony of His being is the result not of a perfect balance of parts but of the absence of parts. Between His attributes no contradiction can exist. He need not suspend one to exercise another, for in Him all attributes are one. All of God does all that God does; He does not divide Himself to perform a work, but works in total unity of His being. An attribute, then, is not a part of God. It is HOW God is…and what God is….”

Grudem calls Tozer’s description: God’s Unity. He also says, “God is not divided into parts, yet we see different attributes of God emphasized at different times. God is not complex or composed of parts.” He is never God the Judge without being the God of mercy and love in your life. He is never Sovereign, Omnipotent God in my life without being the God of compassion.

As I have prayerfully started, week by week, to list these names, descriptions, and attributes there really has been a sense that any order would work, because HE NEVER STOPS BEING ONE TO BE ANOTHER…Each week then points us to a tiny part of HIS infinite WHOLE that we can TRY to glimpse.

That word WHOLE and Bright’s use of the word COMPLETE lead me quite naturally to invite you to meditate on God’s holiness this week. Not for a second, not anywhere does God stop being completely, wholly, totally, all-encompassing righteousness, purity, and the “set apart” reason for and center of ALL! “Acquaint now thyself with him and be at peace.” (Job 22:21 KJV)

 

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EVERYWHERE, EVERY MOMENT GOD IS HOLY!

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Webster’s Online Dictionary
HOLY- Deity
Adjective: almighty, holy, hallowed, sacred, divine, heavenly, celestial; sacrosanct; all-knowing, all-seeing, all-wise; omniscient.
HOLY - Piety
Adjective: pious, religious, devout, devoted, reverent, godly, heavenly-minded, humble, pure, holy, spiritual, pietistic; saintly, saint-like; seraphic, sacred, solemn.



Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms

HOLY: A biblical term generally meaning "to be set apart." The term is used widely in Scripture to refer to a variety of people and objects alike but ultimately points to God as the one who is qualitatively different or set apart from creation.



Holy may also be used to describe someone or something that God has "set apart" for special purposes. In the NT holiness takes on the sense of ethical purity or freedom from sin. The fullness of the biblical witness, then, testifies to God's holiness, understood as God's "otherness" and "purity", as well as to God's prerogative to set people and things apart for God's own purposes, together with the resulting godliness in the lives of those whom God declares to be holy.



Online Etymology Dictionary <http://dictionary.reference.com/help/etymon.html>
HOLY: source of the German salutation: heil
Antonym: corrupt

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The Bible says:

Exodus 3:5, 6 - Do not come any closer, God said, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Exodus 15:11 - Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you - majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

1 Samuel 2:2 - There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

Psalm 30:4 , 47:8, 48:1, 93:5, 99:3,5  - Sing to the Lord, you saints of his; praise his holy name...God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne…Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise in the city of our God, his holy mountain…Your statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O Lord…Let them praise your great and awesome name – he is holy. Exalt the Lord our god and worship at his footstool; he is holy.

Proverbs 9:10 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

1 Chronicles 16:10,11 - Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.

Isaiah 57:15 - For this is what the high and lofty One says- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: I live in a high and holy place but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Luke 1:49 - For the Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is his name.

John 17:11b - I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name – the name you gave me – that that they may be one as we are one.

1 Peter 1:15, 16 – But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written; Be holy, because I am holy.

1 John 1:5 - God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

Revelation 4:8 - Each of the four living creatures had eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.

Revelation 15:4 - Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.

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Words of Wisdom:

A. W. Tozer - Holy is the way God is. To be holy He does not conform to a standard. He is that standard. He is absolutely holy with an infinite, incomprehensible fullness of purity that is incapable of being other than it is. Because He is holy, His attributes are holy; that is, whatever we think of as belonging to God must be thought of as holy. God is holy and He has made holiness the moral condition necessary to the health of His universe. Sin's temporary presence in the world only accents this. Whatever is holy is healthy; evil is a moral sickness that must end ultimately in death. The formation of the language itself suggests this, the English word holy deriving from the Anglo-Saxon halig, hal, meaning, "well, whole."

Holy, holy, holy!
Though the darkness hide thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see
Only Thou art holy, there is none beside thee.
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.
Reginald Heber (1826)
(Based on Revelation 4:8-11)
 

Myrna Alexander - When holy is used in reference to God it refers to His total separation from evil. Not even a hint or a blemish could be found in our God; He is completely pure…Holiness may seem a strange, almost negative, concept to us because we have become conditioned all our lives to accept that which is marred by sin and is thus unholy. Since we live with unholiness daily, we are more shocked by purity.

A.W. Pink - Because God is holy, acceptance with Him on the ground of creature doings is utterly impossible. A fallen creature could sooner create a world than produce that which would meet the approval of infinite Purity. Can darkness dwell with Light? Can the Immaculate One take pleasure in ‘filthy rags’? (Isa 64:6). The best that sinful man brings forth is defiled. A corrupt tree cannot bear good fruit. God would deny Himself, vilify His perfections, were He to account as righteous and holy that which is not so in itself; and nothing is so which has the least stain upon it contrary to the nature of God. But blessed be His name, that which His holiness demanded His grace has provided in Christ Jesus our Lord. Every poor sinner who has fled to Him for refuge stands ‘accepted in the Beloved’. (Eph 1:6). Hallelujah!

The God who reigns on high, the great archangels sing,
And “holy, holy, holy!” cry, “Almighty King!”
Who was, and is, the same, and evermore shall be,
Jehovah, Lord, the Great I AM, we worship Thee!
Thomas Olivers (1770)
 

John Piper - When we say that God is holy we mean that, along with the immeasurableness of his greatness, his character is unimpeachable. He cannot be charged with any wrong. He has an infinite love for what is infinitely valuable and an infinite hate for what opposes the infinitely valuable. His delight in praiseworthy things is unbounded, and his abhorrence of what is blameworthy is perfect. As Habakkuk 1:13 says: "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and you cannot tolerate wrong." All the evil in the world is an offense against the holiness of God and is preparing this world for a cataclysm of divine vindication. The zeal of God burns for the holiness of his great name.

Bill Bright – Because God is holy, I will devote myself to Him in purity, worship, and service.
 

Babbie Mason –
Thine is the glory, God of grace,
Thine is the Kingdom, Ancient of Days,
The Sovereign One forever more
Holy, holy are You, Lord of Lords!

S. Charnock - God is oftener styled Holy than almighty, and set forth by this part of His dignity more than by any other. This is more fixed on as an epithet to His name than any other. You never find it expressed ‘His mighty name’ or ‘His wise name,’ but His great name, and most of all, His holy name. This is the greatest title of honour.

James M. Boice - Perhaps the greatest problem of all in regard to our neglect of God's holiness is that holiness is a standard against which human sin is exposed, which is why in Scripture exposure to God always produces feelings of shame, guilt, embarrassment and terror in the worshiper. These are all painful emotions, and we are doing everything possible in our culture to avoid them. One evidence of this is the way we have eliminated sin as a serious category for describing human actions.

Nicky Gumbel - What we see both in the Old Testament and the New Testament is that God is a holy God and a God of justice. Some of the principles of the legal system of Ancient Israel were specific to the time. Others are more generally applicable….But not everything in Ancient Israel is applicable to our condition. In Jesus Christ a new way has been established. The wrath of God that broke out upon the offender in the community has been visited once and for all upon the righteous representative, the Son of Man.

David F. Wells –

·      The holiness of God is the very cornerstone of Christian faith, for it is the foundation of reality.

·      Sin is defiance of God's holiness, the Cross is the outworking and victory of God's holiness, and faith is the recognition of God's holiness.

·      Knowing that God is holy is therefore the key to knowing life as it truly is, knowing Christ as he truly is, knowing why he came, and knowing how life will end.

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God used an e-mail “conversation” between two men receiving the communiqués…one in England and the other in Oregon…to direct me to focus on His Holiness this week. Thanks, guys!

They responded to my initial invitation a few weeks ago to contemplate the condition, whether broken down, needing repair, or firmly in place, of each of our “temple walls” for containing and then proclaiming GOD’S HOLY NAME.

Nehemiah spends his time rebuilding the walls. He is a type of the Holy Spirit, who as a comforter, rebuilds the broken walls of our lives making us a glorious temple as well. We too, led by the HS can be a part of rebuilding the broken hearts and lives of a hurting world.

Remember, before you try to rebuild the walls, make sure your heart weeps over the ruins.

(In response to that last phrase) So often so many of us do-ers try to get on with fixing things and planning things and all our do-ing that we don’t actually stop long enough just to be aware of WHY there’s so much to do, and what really needs to be done.

And when I actually pause and stop trying to achieve the next thing, and when I succeed in just be-ing in God’s space, there are almost always tears to cry, because the ruins are so deep and wide and stretch as far as the eye can see in every direction...  So I’m learning (slowly like the wilful child that I am) that it’s only when I’m able to control my own ambitions and get His perspective that I can enable my heart to weep over these ruins all around us, and begin to see His glorious agenda for rebuilding the walls!

To slightly divert Sue’s line, “Everywhere, every moment God is rebuilding the walls.”  I think the question he’s asking me is whether or not I will open my eyes to see, weep the tears that are the only possible response to the sight, and build with Him.  Maybe He’s asking you too?

Their international conversation urged me to STOP…LOOK AT GOD...LOOK AT HIS HOLINESS…STOP AGAIN…LOOK AT THE RUINS…LOOK AT THE UNHOLINESS OF MYSELF AND MY WORLD…STOP AGAIN…WEEP FOR MYSELF…WEEP FOR MY WORLD…and then…RUN TO HIM WHO IS HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

HE, MY RIGHTEOUS, PURE, POWERFUL, ALL-KNOWING GOD, ALONE IS ABLE TO BUILD EVERY BROKEN WALL, AS AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS IN JESUS’ POWERFUL NAME, I SURRENDER ALL! ONLY THROUGH THE BLOOD OF JESUS IS MY UNHOLINESS COVERED!

Join me in this prayer from Holy Trinity/Brompton -

Lord, it is amazing that you are all-powerful, holy and just, yet you call us into an intimate relationship with you.  Thank you for your mercy.  Thank you for your forgiveness.  Thank you that you speak to us in an intimate way.  Thank you that you are our God.  Lord, the only appropriate response is to ‘worship’ at your ‘holy mountain.

Falling down before Him,

Sue

P.S.

PONDERINGS ALONE OR WITH OTHERS:

1.    Which attribute have you normally considered most supreme? Do you feel the same after reading the above descriptions?

2.    Do you tend to think of God with one attribute more than another?

3.    How does the UNITY of God’s attributes change your view of Him?

4.    Where does the holiness of God make you the most uncomfortable in your own life?

5.    How does God’s holiness affect your reading the paper or watching the news? Is there a practical response to the world out there when you embrace His holiness? What? How?



If you have time here are two sermons on God’s holiness by John Piper to listen to and ponder:

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1984/419_Holy_Holy_Holy_Is_the_Lord_of_Hosts/ <http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1984/419_Holy_Holy_Holy_Is_the_Lord_of_Hosts/>

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1984/457_The_Lofty_One_Whose_Name_Is_Holy/ <http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1984/457_The_Lofty_One_Whose_Name_Is_Holy/>