Last night we began our study of the
attributes of God.
We were thinking something of the greatness of
God, and we had this little definition behind
us.
Who is God or what is God?
And we borrowed this from the catechism.
God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable
in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness,
and truth.
It's impossible really to think about the Lord
without thinking about these attributes.
And we also mentioned last night that as
we contemplate the attributes of God, they're designed
to lead us to worship, trust, service, and
conformity to him.
Now, this morning we'd just like to start
and take up one of the attributes of
God, or at least begin with one of
them, and that attribute of God is known
as his holiness, the holiness of God.
What do we mean by the holiness of
God?
We mean that God is morally perfect in
his thoughts, deeds, motives, and in every other
way.
He's free from all sin and defilement.
He cannot be more holy than he is.
Let's just go over that once again.
I'm sorry that those at the back can't
see this.
I can hardly see it myself.
But the holiness of God teaches us that
God is morally perfect in his thoughts, deeds,
motives, and in every other way.
He is free from all sin and defilement.
God cannot be more holy than he is.
Now, let's look up a few scriptures that
bear on this subject.
Actually, the Bible is filled with them, and
all we can do is just select two
or three scriptures this morning that teach this.
First of all, back in Leviticus chapter 19,
verse 2.
Leviticus chapter 19, verse 2, I
think Leviticus 19 is one of the greatest
chapters in the Bible on the holiness of
God.
In that chapter, over and over again, God
mentions the fact, I am the Lord your
God, I am the Lord, I am holy,
you shall be holy.
And of course, that is echoed in 1
Peter chapter 1, verse 16.
Peter quotes that verse in the New Testament,
reminding us that the will of God is
that we should be holy.
Habakkuk chapter 1, verses 12 and 13.
It says, O Lord my God, mine holy
one, thou art of purer eyes than to
behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.
Just think of it.
O Lord my God, mine holy one, thou
art of purer eyes than to behold evil,
and canst not look on iniquity.
That doesn't mean that God can't see sin.
God sees every sin that's ever committed.
But when it says he can't behold it,
it means he can't behold it with any
measure of approval at all.
He cannot look on iniquity with anything that
might simulate countenancing it.
But he sees it.
There's no sin he doesn't see.
And then finally, I'm sure the verse that
many of you are thinking of as we
speak about the holiness of God, Revelation chapter
4 and verse 8.
Revelation chapter 4 and verse 8.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was
and is and is to come.
There the holiness of God is repeated three
times.
Why?
Why do you think the Spirit of God
says there, holy, holy, holy?
Why didn't he say holy once and let
it go with it?
I would suggest that the emphasis, the repetition
is for emphasis to express the inexpressible.
The holiness of God is absolutely inexpressible.
So one of the great attributes of God
is his holiness.
But what does holiness mean?
How can, how can the great God in
heaven convey to this dull mind of mine
the fact that he is holy?
Well, I can see him in the Old
Testament seeking to do it by object lessons.
For instance, he set up a priesthood.
What did the priesthood say?
The priesthood said that sin had come in,
that man had fallen into sin, and that
sin creates distance between man and God.
And so God set up a priesthood as
a means of mediating between man and God.
How can he come into the presence of
a holy God?
God set up that priesthood, and not only
the priesthood, but the whole sacrificial system by
which God was saying that a holy God
can only be approached by sinful men on
the ground of shed blood.
Now that was a very potent object lesson.
Many of us are so used to it,
we just take it for granted.
But you can't come with your vegetables.
You can't come with your fruit as Cain
sought to do.
You've got to come with the blood of
a sacrificial victim.
The wages of sin is death, and the
penalty must be paid.
And if it isn't paid by you, it
must be paid by the blood of a
sacrifice.
And then coming over to the New Testament,
I think I see a tremendous glimpse into
the holiness of God in the Garden of
Gethsemane, when the Lord Jesus is there and
the cross is not far away, and he's
going to take upon himself your sins and
my sins.
And the very thought, not the very act,
the very thought of becoming identified with our
sins causes him to sweat, as it were,
great drops of blood.
But dear friends, it pains you and me
to resist temptation.
It pained him to even think of coming
in contact with sin.
That's the difference between a holy God and
a sinful person.
You might say it causes us to sweat,
as it were, great drops of blood to
resist sin.
But just the very thought of coming in
contact with sin caused him the keenest suffering.
And then, of course, if you want to
see the holiness of God in all its
grandeur, you have to go to the cross
of Calvary, don't you?
Because there, the Lamb of God, the holy,
sinless Son of God, takes our sins upon
him.
And now, what will a holy God do
when he looks down and sees his only
beloved Son as the sin-bearer?
Will he make an exception?
You know the answer.
But I know the answer today.
Jehovah lifted up his sword.
Oh, Christ, it fell on me.
And when God looked down and saw sin,
my sin, on his own beloved Son, he
did not hold back the sword.
God is morally perfect in his thoughts, deeds,
motives, and in every other way.
He's absolutely free from sin and defilement.
Even the stars are not pure in his
sight.
But really, the idea of the holiness of
God beggars human description.
Now, what should this, what practical effect should
this have in my life?
You know, it's an interesting thing to me
that in the study of the Word of
God, every doctrine has practical implications connected with
it.
God never intended me to study the Bible
and fill my head with doctrinal facts and
stop there.
Somebody has said it this way, every indicative
gradually becomes an imperative.
I like that.
Every statement of fact merges into a command.
Every indicative gradually becomes an imperative in the
Scripture.
That's true with the holiness of God.
I contemplate in the Word of God the
holiness of God, and I'll tell you one
of the things it should do is create
in my heart a profound sense of reverence.
Reverence, one of the missing keys in the
evangelical church today.
Put off thy shoes from off thy feet,
for the ground whereon thou standest is holy
ground.
And dear friends, if we could just immerse
ourselves in these grand attributes of God, I
tell you, it would make different people out
of us, wouldn't it?
It would make us more reverent.
And then, of course, another thing that it
should teach us is conformity to Him.
Ye shall be holy, for I, the Lord
your God, am holy.
If I'm going to walk in fellowship with
God, I have to be holy.
Because how can two walk together except they
be agreed?
God is light, and in Him is no
darkness at all.
And if there's anything hidden under the counter
in my life, I can't walk with God,
because He's not that kind of a God.
And the higher my thoughts of God in
connection with His holiness, the greater will be
my abhorrence of sin in my life.
It's when I forget the holiness of God
that I fall and commit sin.
And dear friends, there are some today who
suggest that the Lord Jesus could have sinned
when He was here on earth.
That He didn't sin, but that He could
have sinned.
And this teaching is quite common today.
I'd like to suggest to you that the
Lord Jesus cannot be God and have anything
less than the full attributes of God.
And if the Lord Jesus is God as
a man here on earth, He's absolutely holy.
And the idea of His sinning is absolutely
impossible.
You see, we judge Him by ourselves.
We want to say, well, He was perfectly
human.
Yes, that's exactly the point.
He was perfect human.
We're not.
We judge humanity by ourselves, but we're fallen
humanity.
If you want to see perfect and absolutely
pure humanity, look at the Lord Jesus.
And as one of the brothers suggested last
night at the close of the meeting, if
the Lord Jesus could have sinned as a
man on earth, why couldn't He sin as
a man in heaven today?
And if He could, what kind of a
savior do we have?
No, no.
The Lord Jesus is holy, spotless, pure.
He knew no sin, no sin in Him.
He did no sin.
He could say, the prince of this world
cometh and findeth nothing in me.
There was nothing in that sacred being to
respond to any temptation that Satan might bring
to him.
People say, well, the temptation wasn't real if
he couldn't have sinned.
That's a human imagination.
It's not divine truth when you speak like
that.
The purpose of the temptation was not to
show that He could sin, but to prove
that He couldn't sin.
And so, we believe that the Lord Jesus
was absolutely holy, absolutely holy.
And we bow and we worship at His
feet, the holiness of God.
Tozer says, before the uncreated fire of God's
holiness, angels veil their faces.
Yea, the heavens are not clean, and the
stars are not pure in His sight.
I wonder if we could pause here.
Is there some brother that would just like
to get up and give thanks to the
Lord for His holiness?
Is there someone?
While we bow our heads.
Anybody?
Our God and Father, in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, we just thank Thee
for the pureness of our God today, and
that He is to be held in reverence
by all men that go above Him.
We just thank Thee for His presence in
this chamber at this time.
We just pray our Father that Thou speak
to us through Thy word, that Thy word
is true.
And we just thank Thee for the pureness
of our God and the holiness of Thy
Son.
And we just pray to cleanse our lives
as we're here through this one.
In Jesus' precious name, we pray.
Amen.
Another attribute of God is what we speak
of as the righteousness of God.
And the righteousness of God means that God
always acts with fairness and equity.
He invariably does what is right.
When you think of the righteousness of God,
just take the first letters, right, and you
have the idea.
God always acts with fairness and with equity.
He invariably does what is right.
Let's look at a few verses of scripture.
Daniel chapter 9, Daniel chapter 9, verses 7
and 14.
Daniel 9, verses 7 and 14.
O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee, but unto
us confusion of faces as at this day,
to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, to all Israel that are near
and far off, through all the countries where
Thou hast driven them, because of their trespass
that they have trespassed against Thee.
Verse 14.
It says, Therefore hath the Lord watched upon
the evil and brought it upon us, for
the Lord our God is righteous in all
his works which he doeth, for we obeyed
not his voice.
Here's Daniel vindicating the Lord in all that
he had done, and some of it wasn't
too pleasant either, in saying, Lord, you're righteous,
you've acted with fairness and equity, we just
really received what we deserved.
And then Isaiah chapter 45, the lovely expression
there, Isaiah chapter 45 and verse 21.
It says, Tell ye and bring them near,
yea, let them take counsel together.
Who hath declared this from ancient times?
Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I, the Lord, and there is
no God else beside me.
Notice, a just God and a Savior.
Just.
Just is a synonym here for righteous.
It says the same thing, a just God
and a Savior.
There is none beside me.
And then of course that lovely verse in
Romans chapter 3 and verse 26.
And then of course that lovely verse in
Romans chapter 3 and verse 26.
To declare, I say, at this time his
righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.
Wonderful.
Once again, to see the righteousness of God
in all its glory, we look at the
cross.
The cross was a wonderful display of the
attributes of God, wasn't it?
Things in a very special way they met
there.
Righteousness, mercy, peace, all met at the cross.
The righteousness of God was there.
How can God be a holy God and
still save ungodly sinners?
How can he do that?
Well, the cross tells us how he could
do it.
The cross declares the righteousness of God in
saving guilty sinners because a substitute has died
in their place.
The perfect righteousness of God is witnessed in
the Savior's blood.
It is in the cross of Christ we
see how God can save, yet righteous be.
God could not pass the sinner by, that
wouldn't be righteous.
God could not pass the sinner by, the
law demands that he must die.
But in the cross of Christ we trace
his righteousness, yet wondrous grace.
The sin alights on Jesus' head, because in
his blood sin's debt is paid.
Stern justice can demand no more, and mercy
can dispense her store.
The sinner who believes is free, can say,
the Savior died for me, can point to
the atoning blood and say, that made my
peace with God.
Yes, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
declares the righteousness of God.
It shows us how he can be just
and the justifier of him who believes in
Jesus.
The righteousness of God is designed to have
practical influence in our own lives as well.
We should be righteous.
That means we should be impartial.
God is impartial.
He makes his son to shine on the
just and the unjust.
We should be that way too.
We should not judge by appearances.
We should judge righteous judgment.
I think one of the greatest mistakes we
make in life is judging according to appearances.
Do you do that?
Dobson has an interesting book, Hide or Seek,
and he says, he has a chapter in
there that's called, Beauty, the golden coin of
human worth.
We judge people by whether they're handsome or
homely, and we appraise them on that basis.
Beauty, the golden coin of human worth.
You know, I believe that's why the Lord
Jesus came into the world and there was
no beauty about him that we should desire.
I think it was one of the great
tests of fallen humanity.
And dear friends, he still comes to us
in very humble guys.
I was telling some of the friends about
a servant of the Lord years ago.
Some of you might've known him actually.
And he went to a certain city in
the east.
He was a, he was a good brother,
had a message from the Lord.
He was not pre-possessing in his appearance
and he really didn't have what you'd call
charisma today in the worldly sense.
He wasn't dynamic on the platform.
And he went to this assembly and they
didn't want him.
And they suggested that he go down to
an assembly down in the ghetto.
And he did.
And while he was there, the Lord took
him home.
Just in that next week, the Lord took
him home.
And it seemed as if the Lord was
saying, if you don't want him, I do.
In as much as he had done it
unto one of the least of these, my
brethren, he had done it unto me.
God wants us to be righteous in our
judgments and not judge according to appearance.
He wants us to be righteous in all
our ways.
That means not breaking the traffic laws.
That means not fudging on income taxes.
That means being careful with those expense accounts
and absolutely honest.
Means being absolutely righteous with our examinations that
we have to take.
Means avoiding anything in the way of a
bribe or a payoff or anything that would
influence righteous judgment.
That means not trying to evade building codes,
you know, when you have to do that
construction.
I'll tell you, there are so many temptations
to compromise in the Christian life today.
God wants us to be righteous.
We say of a man, his word is
the law.
His word is the law.
His word is his bond.
He's righteous.
He says it.
He'll do it.
That's the way God wants us to be.
The righteousness of God.
Well, another attribute of God, if I can
get this down, is the sovereignty of God.
The sovereignty of God.
And what do we mean by the sovereignty
of God?
We mean that God is the supreme ruler
and that he can do as he pleases
and that what he pleases will always be
right.
I'll tell you, there's a pillow to lay
your head on.
God is the supreme ruler.
He can do as he pleases and what
he pleases will always be right.
I like that.
I personally delight in the doctrine of the
sovereignty of God.
The doctrine of the sovereignty of God is
the teaching that allows God to be God.
Doesn't insist on bringing him down to our
human level.
Doesn't insist on fettering him with the bond
that tie us here.
No.
God is overall.
He is supreme.
He can do whatever he wants, but what
he wants will always be absolutely perfect.
Let's look at some scriptures that teach the
sovereignty of God.
Ephesians chapter one, verse 11.
In whom we have obtained an inheritance being
predestinated, notice, according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of
his own will.
That's the sovereignty of God.
Him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will.
Ephesians one, 11.
Second, Isaiah chapter 46 and verse 10.
Isaiah chapter 46 and verse 10.
Says, declaring the end from the beginning and
from ancient times the things that are not
yet done.
Saying, my counsel shall stand and I will
do all my pleasure.
That's our God.
My counsel shall stand and I will do
all my pleasure.
And then perhaps one more verse.
Daniel chapter four and verse 35.
Says, and all the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing.
And he doeth according to his will in
the army of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth.
And none can stay his hand or say
unto him, what doest thou?
This is wonderful, really.
God is sovereign.
And for me, this solves an awful lot
of problems in the Christian life.
To know that God is over all, that
he does as he pleases and what he
pleases is always best.
As for God, his way is perfect.
People have problems with election, predestination and foreknowledge
and all the rest.
I don't have problems.
I don't pretend to understand them.
I don't have problems with them.
I like what Erdman says in his little
commentary on Romans.
This has helped me a lot.
He said, the sovereignty of God is never
exercised in condemning men who ought to be
saved, but it is exercised in saving men
who ought to be condemned.
The sovereignty of God is never exercised in
condemning men who ought to be saved.
Why is that?
Because nobody ought to be saved.
Nobody who deserves to be saved.
Ah, but it is exercised in saving men
who ought to be condemned.
That gives me great thoughts of God.
Great thoughts of God.
It keeps me from complaining against God or,
you know, questioning God and the dealings of
God.
I'll tell you, God's trains run on perfect
schedule.
They really do.
And God is working out his purposes.
And although it seems today as we're here
at Corona's that truth is forever on the
scaffold and wrong forever on the throne.
God in his sovereign wisdom makes the wrath
of man to praise him and what won't
praise him he restrains.
Isn't it true?
God's overload.
Oh, you say, yes, but they took, they
took John Huss and they burned him at
the stake.
I know they did.
And they threw his ashes in the river
and everywhere the river went, the gospel went
shortly afterwards.
And they take the Bible and they tear
it up and they throw it into the
wind.
And somebody takes a stray random page from
the Bible and reads it and gets gloriously
saved because God is sovereign.
Because God is sovereign and God will have
the last word.
What a comfort to our hearts.
Maybe there's somebody here today with a, with
a heavy heart.
I'll tell you the sovereignty of God should
speak great comfort to our hearts today.
God's overall God's in control.
He's the ruler.
And I'll tell you, if you're on his
side, you can't lose the Lord before us
who can be against us successfully.
And the answer is no one.
I quoted that, um, him last night.
I think God moves in a mysterious way,
his wonders to perform.
He plants his footsteps in the sea and
rides upon the storm.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take.
The clouds you so much dread are rich
with blessing, are rich with mercy and shall
break in blessing on your head.
Isn't that wonderful?
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take.
The clouds you so much dread are rich
with mercy and shall break in blessing on
your head because God is sovereign.
God is the potter.
We are the clay.
Paul brings out in Romans that the ridiculous
situation of the, of the clay speaking back
to the potter.
Now our proper attitude is mold me and
make me after thy will.
While I am waiting, yielded and still, isn't
that a lovely attribute of God, the sovereignty
of God.
Don't ever be afraid of it.
Rest in it, enjoy it and allow God
to be God.
Perhaps we could just think for a moment.
Um, the next one, which is the omniscience
of God, the omniscience of God.
And what do we mean by that?
Well, we mean that God has perfect knowledge
of everything.
He has never learned and can never learn.
Just think of it.
God has perfect.
It doesn't mean that he could have perfect
knowledge of everything.
If he wanted to, it means he has.
And God has never learned anything.
He never will learn anything because he always
has perfect knowledge of everything.
Now in that connection, we might turn to
Psalm 139 verses one through six, Psalm 139
verses one through six.
We won't be able to finish this, but
at least we can start and then go
on.
In fact, I think I'll just read these
and then leave it with you to be
thinking about the omniscience of God.
And the next time we'll go into it
further.
Psalm 139 verses one through six.
Oh Lord, thou has searched me and known
me.
Thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising.
Thou understandest my thought afar off.
Thou compassest my path and my lying down
and art acquainted with all my ways.
For there's not a word in my tongue,
but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
Thou hast beset me behind and before and
laid thine hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.
It's high.
I cannot attain unto it.
Well, I should say we can't.
For there are limited little intellects and we're
told that we don't even use a fraction
of the minds that God has given us.
But here is one whose knowledge is absolutely
perfect and nothing can be hidden from him.
Shall we look to him in prayer?
Father, we come into your presence today and
we worship you for your great holiness.
Father, how we see that holiness shining out
throughout the Old Testament and how it comes
to its noonday splendor when we come to
Calvary.
Lord, we bless and praise you for it
today.
We praise you too for your righteousness, Lord.
So many question marks in this world of
ours.
Why does God do it this way?
We thank you that we can rest in
the fact that you're a righteous God.
You always do what is right, fair, equitable.
You never make a mistake.
Father, we rejoice in your righteousness today and
we rest in your sovereignty.
What a comfort to know that you are
in complete control, that you do as you
please and what you please is for our
very best good, for your glory and for
our greatest interests.
Lord, we just feel your arms thrown about
us today.
Father, we thank you for your omniscience today,
the fact that you know all things.
You know heavy hearts that are here, broken
hearts that are here.
You know all about us and we're dear
to you.
When we think of your greatness and then
when we think that you did not spare
your son but deliver him up for us
all, what can we do but pour out
our hearts in love and adoration and worship
today in the Savior's name.