Holy is the Lord (Luke 18:9-14)
Gary McManus, 11/04/2018Part of the New Life series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
November 4, 2018 Luke 18:9-14 (p.1038 /p.1051)
All Saints, continued. . .
Saints=holy ones=God’s holy people (14X(NIV))
R.C. Sproul:
Holiness is the characteristic of God’s nature
that is at the very core of His being.
HOLY IS WHAT GOD IS!
But we are more and more secular:
denoting attitudes, activities,
or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis.
Is anything “holy” today in our society?
We are all sinful.
(Romans 3:10, 1Corinthians 15:22)
God is perfect and so was Jesus of Nazareth
who was the Messiah.
In Jesus’ day, the Jewish Elders wrestled with
the problem of sin and the coming of the Messiah.
How could the Messiah come to a sinful world?
What will the Messiah do with this sinful world?
How will Messiah himself deal with sin?
In Jesus’ day there were several different
interpretations of Judaism. . .
There were some common beliefs but there
were differences between the Pharisees,
the Sadducees, the Zealots, and the Essenes
(who lived out at the Dead Sea).
The Pharisees appear to be in the middle
of these other views.
So, Jesus tells his story. . .
The Pharisee believes that what he does
IS his relationship to God.
The Pharisee does good things so his relationship to God is good.
So, where do WE stand?
Are we with the Pharisee?
--Bible verses suggesting distance to maintain purity:
Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 3:17,
1 Corinthians 15:33 (See many versions.),
Ephesians 1:4
But we live IN the world (1 Corinthians 5:9).
Jesus risked it for us. He came to our world.
(Matthew 11:19). and Jesus said (Matthew 15:
11, 18-20).
See Jude 24& 25, Titus 2:11-14
Holiness is not following rules
except to obey God IN ORDER to
be a blessing which gives God glory!
As the book of Hebrews explains. . .
Jesus, the Messiah, came under the old
covenant to give us a new covenant. .
.Jesus WAS the sacrifice. . .
taking away sins that separate us from
a holy God so that we can be made holy
—not by what we do. . .but what we do
should prove what was done for us through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(See Hebrews 7:27, 10:24, 12:1-3)
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