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The God Who Is
The Works of God
The works of God declare Him to be holy. "God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness" (Psalm 47:8). The throne of God is established in holiness. From it He rules in His holiness. A holy God occupies that throne, and for this reason it is said that He "sitteth upon the throne of his holiness."
"O sing unto the LORD a new song," says the psalmist, "for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory" (Psalm 98:1). It does not read that His loving arm has gotten Him the victory, but that His "holy arm hath gotten him the victory."
The "arm" does things that the fingers and the hands cannot do. So the psalmist declares that God's work of creation is the work of His "fingers" (Psalm 8:3), and that it is His "handywork" (Psalm 19:1). But when the Lord speaks of salvation, we read, "And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him" (Isaiah 59:16). Thomas Watson once said, "It was a great work for God to make man out of nothing, but it was a greater work for Him to save man when (on account of sin) he was less than nothing."
When we read that God has a "holy arm" we mean that He is holy in His works. So, in Psalm 145, in verse 17, we read, "The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." Reader, can you praise God by saying that He is righteous in all His ways and in all His works?
This verse teaches us that it was God who brought about the destructive hurricane "Hugo" which devastated the Carolina coast, and that it was He who wrought the terrifying earthquake in California. Even insurance companies acknowledge such disasters to be the work of God. And, since God is "holy in all His works," these also are holy works of God. The holy God effects them: He brings them about. "The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble" (Psalm 99:1).
The Word of God
"God hath spoken in his holiness" (Psalm 60:6). That which God hath spoken is holy because He who spoke it is holy. The Word of God encourages men to be holy. Humanly speaking, the reason most preaching in our day fails to produce holiness in people is because there is only scant reference made to the Word of God, and it is the Word itself that is designed to make men holy. "Sanctify them through thy truth," Jesus prayed; "thy word is truth" (John 17:17).
The promises of God—The promises of God are given to encourage our holiness. In Psalm 105, we are told in verse 42 that "He remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant." God promises in His holiness. He speaks in His holiness. He sits upon the throne of His holiness.
The Courts of the Lord
The courts of the Lord are the "courts of (His) holiness" (Isaiah 62:9). In chapter 63, we read, "Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory (verse 15).
In Revelation chapter 21, it is called "the holy city, new Jerusalem" (verse 2). "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Revelation 21:27). "Without are dogs (sodomites), and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie" (Revelation 22:15).
The Angels
Who made the angels holy? It certainly was not the Devil. But, who made them holy? Here is a great truth: God is the cause of holiness in others.