The Beauty of Holiness!

01 Oct The Beauty of Holiness!

The Beauty of Holiness!

September 30, 2024

Hebrew 12:14

Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

Isaiah 6:1-13

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

Revelation 4:8

And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

In his vision, Isaiah, the Prophet, received a revelation of God’s holiness for himself—the awesomeness of His splendor and power and the frailty of who he was and who we are in his presence. An awakening of the Lord God, the holy God of Israel, the perfect fear of the Lord, takes the most religious person to a realization that we are undone.

This past weekend, one of my dearest cousins passed away. When I entered the house, I went to the room where she was lying on the bed. The first thing that came to my mind, I asked the Lord do you want me to call her spirit back into her body? (I still believe God raises people from the dead.) but I didn’t hear anything. I walked out of the room, and when I moved into the next room, out of my mouth came the words Lord, you are holy, Lord, you are holy, you are Lord God Almighty,, and I also got an answer to my question. The funny thing is I started writing this message the day before at 5:09 am and got the three scriptures above during that meditation time. 

I approach the subject carefully and deliberately, knowing that only God is holy and that we are to pursue it, knowing it is the only way to come before God. When you see it, you know holiness in a person, a place, even things that are sanctified and set aside as holy to God. 

Isaiah saw it in his vision in one of our opening scriptures. in 2 Kings 4:9 a woman just talking to her husband said of Elijah “And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.” She discerned it: Elijah was not wearing a badge or sign. He did not have social media accounts or a podcast. He just carried the presence of God. Also, as we said, the holy can be seen and rest on things consecrated unto the Lord, like the ark of the covenant in 1 Samuel chapter 6. The Philistines had to return it as it plagued them until they did. Or Belshazzar, who brought the vessels from God’s house and used them at a party, he was dead that same night—holy means set apart sacred to God.

In Revelation 4:4 The scripture makes it personal. We should never leave the place of worship, not just songs and praise, but in everything we do, even our assignment in life, we are to do it as unto the Lord. In this passage, the four and 20 elders bow down, cast their crowns and say you are, worthy our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and praise you created all things and by you they were all created and have there being. The scripture says they rest not day or night crying, holy, holy.  Psalm 29:2 says “Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”

The fruit of Holiness

The fruit of holiness is the status of those who, by faith, have been joined to Christ, whose perfect righteousness is made over or given to us. The outward manifestation of our faith shows up in our character and behavior through the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer. Smith Wigglesworth says: “It is only as we are made righteous, pure, and holy through the precious blood of God’s Son that we can enter into a life of holiness and righteousness in the Son.”

The Benefit of Holiness

Let’s look at Romans 6:22AMP “But now since you have been set free from sin and have become [willing] slaves to God, you have your benefit, resulting in sanctification [being made holy and set apart for God’s purpose], and the outcome [of this] is eternal life. 

Where is Holiness?

Where is holiness today? At my age, I blush and cover my face at some things I see on TV, not just in the movies but in the commercials, too. What is being allowed/accepted in speech publicly and personally is alarming at times. It’s like our consciences have been seared with a hot iron. No sense of guilt, unable to discern right from wrong, morality is going out the windows. Let’s get involved personally, starting with keeping the standard of re-presenting God properly checking things at the door in those we have relationship with, the rule and authority over and influence over. Collectively, a good start would be 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 NLT “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place.”Many of these issues today I believe are not political or social; they are discipleship. 

Let end with 1 Peter 1:13-16 MSG “So roll up your sleeves, get your head in the game, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”💕

Theresa Woodard