Holy in Christ: Thoughts on the Calling of God's Children to be Holy as He is HolyMurray, Andrew
Religion
Holy in Christ: Thoughts on the Calling of God's Children to be Holy as He is Holy
Murray, Andrew
Holiness
But is not this at variance with the lesson we learnt at Horeb, when God
spake, 'Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes,' and where Moses feared
and hid his face? And is not this in very deed the posture that becomes
us as creatures and sinners? It is indeed: and yet the two sentiments
are not at variance: rather they are indispensable to each other; the
fear is the preparation for the praise and the glory. Or is it not that
same Moses who hid his face and feared to look upon God, who afterwards
beheld His glory until his own face shone with a brightness that men
could not bear to look upon? And is not the song that sings here of God
as glorious in holiness, also the song of Moses who feared and hid his
face? Have we not seen in the fire, and in God, and specially in His
Holiness, the twofold aspect; consuming and purifying, repelling and
attracting, judging and saving, with the latter in each case not only
the accompaniment but the result of the former? And so we shall find
that the deeper the humbling and the fear in God's Holy Presence, and
the more real and complete the putting off of all that is of self and of
nature, even to the putting off, the complete death of the old man and
his will, the more hearty the giving up to be consumed of what is
sinful, the deeper and fuller will be the praise and joy with which we
daily sing our song of redemption: 'Who is like unto Thee, O Lord,
glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?'
'_Glorious_ in holiness; _fearful_ in praises:' the song itself
harmonizes the apparently conflicting elements. Yes, I will sing of
judgment and of mercy. I will rejoice with trembling as I praise the
Holy One. As I look upon the two sides of His Holiness, as revealed to
the Egyptians and the Israelites, I remember that what was there
separated is in me united. By nature I am the Egyptian, an enemy doomed
to destruction; by grace, an Israelite chosen for redemption. In me the
fire must consume and destroy; only as judgment does its work, can mercy
fully save. It is only as I tremble before the Searching Light and the
Burning Fire and the Consuming Heat of the Holy One, as I yield the
Egyptian nature to be judged and condemned and slain, that the Israelite
will be redeemed to know aright his God as the God of salvation, and to
rejoice in Him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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