In
order for one to have fellowship with the Father holiness is paramount as we have
been duly admonished saying; “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness,
without which no one will see the Lord.”
And
so, there is an established protocol by which one gains access to the throne of
grace which states as follows; “Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Bring
an offering, and come into His courts and worship the Lord in the beauty of
holiness, tremble before Him all the earth” (Hebrews
12:14; 1Chronicles 16:29-30, Psalms 29:2; 96:7-9).
Holiness is associated to people, time and
object that are consecrated to God for holy use. Christians are called "a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own special people,
that they may proclaim the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into
His marvelous light" (;1Peter 2:9).
Having
a good understanding of the necessity of being holy should stimulate the
rightful fear in every one who has indeed proven that the Lord is gracious, for
to the chosen people of God, He says; " I am the Lord who brings you up
out of the land of Egypt (synonymous to sin), to be your God, you shall therefore
be holy, for I am holy" (Leviticus 11:45).
Not
only has God set apart His people for holy use, He has also set apart certain things
as holy, and for holy use for He spoke to the prophet Ezekiel saying; "Her
priests (Israel's) have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have
not distinguished between the holy and the unholy (profane), nor have they made
known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden
their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them" (Ezekiel 22:26).
Therefore,
disregarding to the Sabbaths, especially when Jesus Christ said, emphatically,
"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath, Therefore the
Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath" is a dishonor to God, a form of
irreverence even though one has the liberty to observe or not to observe as endorsed
by the apostle who stated clearly; “One person esteems one day above another;
another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He
who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the
day, to the Lord he does not observe it” (Mark 2:27-28;
Romans 14:5-6).
For
Christ to be Lord (Master) of something holy as the Sabbath, should generate a
certain amount of fear in those who have indeed proven that the Lord is
gracious. Closing one's eye to the holiness of the Sabbath is profanity. The
rightful fear of God, because of His holiness, should stimulate the awareness
of making a clear distinction between holy and unholy, and between unclean and
clean (Leviticus 10:10).
One
of the Holy things of God is His law. We are told that, "the law is holy,
and the commandment holy and just and good." And within the context of the
holy commandment, we are specifically reminded saying; "Remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy:" Because, "the Lord blessed the Sabbath
day and hallowed it (made it holy)" (Romans
7:12; Exodus 20:8, 11).
There
are also specific times of holy convocations or holy assemblies, which the Lord
specifically instituted, for the Lord spoke to Moses saying, "Speak to the
children of Israel, and say to them; the feasts of the Lord, which you shall
proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts". Again He said,
"These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall
proclaim at their appointed times" (Leviticus
23:2-4, 7, 8, 21, 24, 32, 35, 36, 37).
The truth of the matter is, God alone is holy and He has set apart holy times for His people to come and worship Him in the beauty of holiness by providing them with the medium by which they become holy themselves so as to have fellowship with Him and His Son and with one another.
To be continued, stay tuned
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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