5.November.23

Also, as stewards of God’s church, we make plans to fulfil God’s will by making and reminding ourselves of our commitment and dedication for His Kingdom work.

What is it that God is expecting and desiring from us?
Leviticus 11:44–45 (NASB95) — 44 ‘For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. 45 ‘For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’”
Leviticus 19:2 (NASB95) — 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
Leviticus 20:7 (NASB95) — 7 ‘You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 20:26 (NASB95) — 26 ‘Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.
Exodus 19:5–6 (NASB95) — 5 ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
1 Thessalonians 4:7 (NASB95) — 7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.
Leviticus 21:8 (NASB95) — 8 ‘You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctifies you, am holy.

God wants us to be holy for He is holy. This is the ultimate command and commission for us. However, it is impossible for us to become holy. Hence, with the command, God is giving us the promise that He will make it possible. He will make us holy. What we need to do is to remain in His Word and follow. That needs to become our goal and purpose. Because holiness is the qualification to receive all the blessings (heavenly and earthly) of God.

Numbers 6:22–27 (NASB95) — 22 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: 24 The LORD bless you, and keep you; 25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’ 27 “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”

1. God’s name is holy. (聖號)

Psalm 111:9 (NASB95) — 9 He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name.
Psalm 99:3 (NASB95) — 3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name; Holy is He.

2. God’s covenant is holy. (聖約)

Luke 1:72 (NASB95) — 72 To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant,
Daniel 11:30 (NASB95) — 30 “For ships of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant.
Hence, we can become holy by holding on to His covenant.

3. God’s Word is holy. (聖言)

Jeremiah 23:9 (NASB95) — 9 As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, All my bones tremble; I have become like a drunken man, Even like a man overcome with wine, Because of the LORD And because of His holy words.
John 17:17 (NASB95) — 17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
Numbers 6:24 (NASB95) — 24 The LORD bless you, and keep you;
Galatians 3:9 (NASB95) — 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.
Revelation 22:7–10 (NASB95) — 7 “And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.” 8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 But he said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.” 10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
Hosea 4:6 (NASB95) — 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

4. Lord’s Day is holy. (聖日)

Genesis 2:1–3 (NASB95) — 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Exodus 20:11 (NASB95) — 11 “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
Psalm 121:1–8 (NASB95) — 1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? 2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. 8 The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.

5. God’s house is holy. (聖殿)

Psalm 68:5 (NASB95) — 5 A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation.
Isaiah 63:15 (NASB95) — 15 Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious habitation; Where are Your zeal and Your mighty deeds? The stirrings of Your heart and Your compassion are restrained toward me.
Jesus protected and restored the holiness of the temple.
Mark 11:15–19 (NASB95) — 15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; 16 and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. 17 And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS’? But you have made it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” 18 The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching. 19 When evening came, they would go out of the city.

6. Offering to God is holy. (聖物)

Leviticus 2:3 (NASB95) — 3 ‘The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons: a thing most holy, of the offerings to the LORD by fire.
Leviticus 2:10 (NASB95) — 10 ‘The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons: a thing most holy of the offerings to the LORD by fire.
Jeremiah 22:2 (NASB95) — 2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates.
Malachi 1:7–10 (NASB95) — 7 “You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the LORD is to be despised.’ 8 “But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the LORD of hosts. 9 “But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on your part, will He receive any of you kindly?” says the LORD of hosts. 10 “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from you.
Hosea 6:6 (NASB95) — 6 For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

7. God’s people are holy. (聖民)

Deuteronomy 7:6 (NASB95) — 6 “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 14:2 (NASB95) — 2 “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 26:19 (NASB95) — 19 and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the LORD your God, as He has spoken.”
Deuteronomy 28:9 (NASB95) — 9 “The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.

Rev 21:1-5 describes the state when all these 7 things have been perfected and restored to their holiness.

AMEN.