THE HOLINESS OF GOD

SUNDAY SERMON

(BASED ON THE PRESBYTERIAN ALMANAC)

[9TH FEBRUARY 2025]

Theme:

“THE HOLINESS OF GOD”

BIBLE READINGS:

1ST: ISA. 6: 1 – 13

2ND: 1 COR. 15: 1 – 11

3RD: LUKE 5: 1 – 11

INTRODUCTION

Today is Bible Sunday. It is important that we know and understand the nature of God as presented to us in the Bible. One important characteristic of God is His Holiness. The theme for today’s service is, “The Holiness of God”. We are called to worship God in the beauty of holiness; but if you have not experienced the holiness of God, we cannot worship Him as such. 

LET US PRAY!  

#1. I saw the Lord

Have you seen the Lord? Have you experienced the holy presence of God? if we don’t look at ourselves from the perspective of God’s holiness we cannot worship Him as He deserves. 

In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah tells us that, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”. 

It is important to understand that the prophet saw the Lord not because King Uzziah died. By the phrase, “In the year that King Uzziah died” the prophet was only giving a time clause; telling us when he received the vision of the Lord. Therefore, it will not take the death of a person for you to see God. Moreover, King Uzziah was a godly king (Ref. 2 Chron. 26)

When the prophet encountered the glory, majesty, holiness, and splendor of God, he realized his inadequacies and exclaimed, “Woe is me!” (Isa. 6:5). 

In the previous chapter, Isaiah was proclaiming woe unto the wicked and sinners. But as he looked at himself from the perspective of the holy God, he said, woe is me. 

The more we experience and encounter the holiness of God, the humbler and contrite we should be. Seeing the Lord and experiencing His holiness should produce the spirit of meekness and a hunger for righteousness in us. Isaiah saw the Lord, have you also seen the Lord? 

#2. Christ died for our sins to make us holy

God, through Christ, is sharing and bestowing His holiness upon us. The Bible tells us, “For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5: 21)

 

So Apostle Paul tells us in the second reading that, “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures . . . ” (1 Cor. 1: 3 – 5). Christ has died to take away our sins so we can walk in the holiness of God. Therefore, sin should no longer have dominion over us (Rom. 6: 14). We are to seek to be like Jesus in thoughts, words, and deeds.  

For if Paul, the persecutor of the Church, received grace to be a carrier of the gospel and a vessel for manifesting the glory and holiness of God, you too can receive the same. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is available and capable of making you holy.  Don’t just seek to be a good person or a moral person, strive to be holy unto the Lord. 

#3. Call others into holiness

After the encounter of Peter with Jesus and the miraculous great catch of fish, he realized his sinfulness and “fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5: 8). But because Jesus had come to die for our sins, He said to him “Do not be afraid, from now you will be fishers of men.” 

We have been called by Christ to also call others into the holiness of God. How involved are you in this ministry of calling to the life of holiness and love that Jesus Christ demonstrated to the world?

Challenge and Application

The Bible says “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 Pet. 1; 15 – 16). Therefore, “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness, no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12: 14 – 15).

Shalom

LET US PRAY!

Let us pray!

© Rev. Immanuel Wiafe 

NB: For Counselling and Prayer Support WhatsApp on 0243 284 790.