Amen.I cringe inside when I speak in churches about the holiness of God. I can anticipate the responses of the people. They leave the sanctuary convinced that they have just been in the presence of a holy man. Because they hear me preach about holiness, they assume I must be as holy as the message I preach. That's when I want to cry, "Woe is me."
It's dangerous to assume that because a person is drawn to holiness in his study that he is thereby a holy man. There is irony here. I am sure that the reason I have a deep hunger to learn of the holiness of God is precisely because I am not holy. I am a profane man--a man who spends more time out of the temple than in it. But I have had just enough of a taste of the majesty of God to want more.
--R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God
Should you come to CRF, it is my earnest prayer that you be overwhelmed by the holiness of God. But don't be surprised if you witness a great deal of my unrighteousness. As the great Richard Baxter said, "The best of men are men at best."
Yet, at the same time God's holiness is like Edmond's Turkish Delight: Once you get a taste of it, you will end up craving more.
1 comment:
So true Pastor. I personally desire a closer and closer walk with God , all the while knowing that it is He who is drawing me and that is of grace. As I draw closer I also have this sense of being further away from any holiness in myself. My sin seems ever more glaring. My blatant sins are extremely heavy but the cumulative effects of things I never thought as sin seem even more burdensome. Woe is me. But thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift, the Lord Jesus Christ. In him I have the forgiveness of sins, eternal life and a strong tower and my fortress. In Him I can be strong and courageous. In Him I stand. Sola Deo Gloria!!
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