Sermon Notes

Why we should talk about holiness before we talk about sin

I’m convinced that the main reason we have such a hard time convincing people of the gravity and danger of their own sin is because we have a weak view of the holiness of God.

We can show how sin leads to greater sin

We can show how sin leaves us worse off than when we started

We can show how sin can lead to health problems

We can show how sin can lead to legal problems

We can show the general unhappiness in the life of a sinner

We can show and unbeliever many of the problems of sin but this will all mean very little if they don’t see their sin in light of a holy God.

We must return to a gospel that clearly, and passionately communicates to the world around us a God who is holy beyond our imagination, a God who shines with the brightness of 10,000 suns and whose light penetrates to the deepest and darkest secrets of man’s sinful heart.

The holiness of God is like a beacon of light shining in the dead of night, you will either run from it fearing the truth it reveals and the sin it uncovers, or you will draw near and allow its healing rays to wash and cleanse and give you new life.

On the loss of holiness

The problem is that we live in a world that it seems is doing it’s best in every corner of our culture to eliminate the faintest idea of holiness! To eradicate any vestige of holiness that might remain from traditions of an era passed by.

Long past are days when sexual intimacy was thought to be holy aspect reserved for marriage

Long past are the days when marriage was thought to be a holy institution reserved for one man and one woman.

Today most people have wrong ideas about what holiness really is:

They think it means shunning anything that is fun

And scowling and anyone who looks like they’re having fun

Wearing clothes that are stiff and uncomfortable

And in general not fashionable

Sitting for long periods of time reading theological tomes

And all around just being a boring and stuffy person!

Please let me tell you that they are wrong!

Let us look together at what the holiness of God really is and how it relates to the Gospel message.

In order to do that I want to start with the first place in Scripture where we really see God’s holiness being emphasized and for good reason.

Exo 3:1-8

3:1  Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

2  And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.

3  And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”

4  When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

5  Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

6  And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

7  Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,

8  and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey,