Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Mighty Men Be Holy


Without Holiness no one will see the Lord. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Triumph of Christ by Gustave Dore, 1868
 

Women are sometimes judged as more readily knowing holiness. Truth is, God called all who serve him to be holy, Men and Women. On the great mountain, Mt. Horeb, God called Moses and the whole nation of Hebrews to be holy. (No, I don't use the other name, Mt. Sinai, because it's not located on the Sinai Peninsula; it's located in Midian right where the Bible says it is.) Whenever I see photos of the mountain, my spirit jumps for joy. There, God gave Moses the world moral code, the Ten Commandments, and there, he called us to be holy.

But the world is still in denial.

And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine (Lev 20:26 NKJV).

What about other world believers? Paul clarified it to the Early Church when writing the Ephesians.
Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love (Eph 1:4 NKJV).

Peter backed it up. And you know Peter does not act too hastily. So, hear him.
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" (1 Pet 1: 15-16 NKJV).

You could pray and minister like Jesus in a prayer shawl, the Tallit. It means more than you think. The major point is God did give men the Tallit in the scripture. It was used from Moses' time to Elijah and Elisha, to Jesus and the Apostles, on to modern Jews and Christians today. It's often translated as garment or outer tunic in many verses.

Do men need to be reminded?

And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry (sexual temptation) to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God (Num 15: 39-41 NKJV).

With what kind of man, does God actually relate?
For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, (also) With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isa 57:15 NKJV).

The learned writer of Hebrews gives us the ultimate warning.
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14 NKJV).

Without holiness no one will see the Lord.

How do we get holiness?
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts (Rom 13:14 NKJV).

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Bill Hunt
World in Christ

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