Devotional Readings, Volume 3 (eBook)

Elizabeth V. Baker (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2018 | 1. Auflage
130 Seiten
Full Well Ventures (Verlag)
9780000080714 (ISBN)

Infos

The articles appearing in this volume were originally published in Trust, a magazine produced by Elim Publishing House in Rochester, New York, founded by Mrs. Elizabeth V. Baker (1849-1915) and her three sisters. The magazine's staff box lists Miss S. A. Duncan and Mrs. E. V. Baker as the editors and Mr. O.R. Hubbell as the treasurer. Trust magazine was published monthly from 1902 to 1932 'in the interests of Elim Faith Work and Bible Training School. Also to emphasize the return of our Lord as imminent, and the consequent Latter Rain Outpouring, now manifested in the earth as a preparation for that event. James 5:7, 8.' Trust magazine ceased publication in 1932. The articles of Mrs. Baker, some published posthumously, are published here in three volumes.

Textauszug

Chapter 2

The Holiness of God

April 1918

AS WE THINK of the Lord’s near coming I feel it would be well for us to look into the subject of God’s holiness.

Turn to the 6th chapter of Isaiah.

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.”

That is His glory.

“Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

“And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

“And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

“Then said I, woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

“Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

“And he laid it upon my mouth, and said Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”

Then we have this word in Peter:

“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.”

I have a feeling we know very little about pure and absolute holiness, for we have never seen it; never, except where it has been mixed with human weakness and error. Since the fall, God has been unable to reveal Himself in His purity and holiness, except in Jesus Christ. Adam must have known God as the Holy One, and there must have been a perfect response to a Holy God. But since that time we have so little sensibility to that which is upright and holy. We class sins as small and great, without classing them as “sin,” that which God hates. We get used to sin, but God hates it. He abhors it. You know, if you come across some very small serpents, you have the same revulsion from them, as if they were full grown, because in those little squirmy things is the germ of all that is in the larger serpents. They all belong to the same dreadful thing, so sin all belongs to the same dreadful root, which is sin itself.

In the Pentecostal Work, somewhere in the West, a woman had a vision, under the power of the Spirit. Jesus seemed to take her to heaven and showed her many things, and then He brought her back. As she neared the earth there came to her nostrils an odor so offensive that it was painful. “What is that?” she asked Him, and He said, “That is sin, I had to bear it in my nostrils all the time I was on the earth.” When you think of sin as being anything deviating from uprightness of heart, the selfishness, dishonesty, pride and unbelief of mankind must have seemed to His pure nature a stench in His nostrils. We have been so used to it we do not start back from it, and it is because of this that God gave so much teaching in the Old Testament concerning the holiness of God, through the types and symbols. I want to bring a few of these to your mind this afternoon.

First of all there was the washing in the Mosaic system. It was typical of what God wanted to put away. Then there was the division of the nation into Levites, priests, and high priests. Then in the tabernacle there was the court, the sanctuary or holy place, then the most holy place. God was in the most holy place, shut away by a veil, then there was a court and another veil. God shut away from Israel; they were His people, yet they were unclean and He could not dwell in the midst of an unclean people. We cannot understand this uncleanness. God says He hates iniquity; it is not against the individual, but it is God’s attitude toward sin, toward everything that has a touch of uncleanness upon it.

This tabernacle was a picture of how man could approach to God, how we, an unclean people, could meet God. It was divided, as I have said, and the Israelites were outside, they could not come into the court even without the blood. I have a feeling this world thinks they can walk into the very presence of God and it would be all right. Not an Israelite could come into the court even, without the blood. Then there were the Levites, who could come into the court, but could come no further. Then there were the priests, who could come nearer; they could come into the holy place, but there was only one man who could come into the most holy place where the Shekinah glory dwelt, and he could not come there, only as he took the blood, and besides the blood there was the incense going up. Through all this God was trying to make them see His holiness, and separation from sin, and the different degrees of approach to Him. Paul tells us these things were written for our example, for us to realize that if we are to come into his presence, we too must be clean.

Look at Uzziah, king of Judah, who after he became successful, became lifted up, and took it upon himself to go into the temple of the Lord to burn incense. He presumed to go in where only the priests were allowed, thus ignoring the methods God had set up. The priests went in afterward and remonstrated with him.

“It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests, the sons of Aaron that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honor from the Lord God.”

But the king was angry and God smote him with leprosy. He had no business to transgress the commandment of God, and the hand of God was upon him. He went out and from that time on, lived in his own house a leper. It was not because God did not love him, but He must teach the people that He could not have His laws transgressed, and they still go on unreproved.

We have the account of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. These three men belonged to the Levitical tribe, but not to the priesthood. Levites could minister in the court, but these three men joined others with themselves.

“And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:

“And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?”

As if God had not chosen Moses and Aaron for the place they were occupying. They were God’s appointed leaders, they were not standing in that place because they put themselves there, but because God chose them for that place. Do you see the total ignoring of the ordinance of God? “We are as good as you are, why are we not priests,” they are saying:

“Seemeth it a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?

“And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren, the sons of Live with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?”

And God was angry, and God’s way of manifesting his anger was that the cloud, which covered the tabernacle, rose up and stood at the door, and the glory of the Lord shone out from the cloud. God Himself, as it were, came out to rebuke the rebels. You remember how God said:

“Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Datham and Abiram.

“And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.”

There are times when God has much patience; but here they blasphemed against those whom He had anointed, and God came out in judgment upon them.

“And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:

“And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah and all their goods.

“And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.

“And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.”

I believe God put these things here for us to see how He feels. Here were men defying God’s leaders and God took it up as against Himself.

Look at another case, that of Nadab and Abihu, they were along the line of the priesthood. You remember how they offered strange fire before the Lord. The fire should have been taken from the brazen altar, but instead, they thought anything would do; and people today think that anything will do in God’s service, anything that man chooses is all right. I believe denominations have risen up in this way, through failure to simply go by the Word of God alone.

“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them a censor and put fire therein, and put incense thereon and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not.

“And there went out fire from the Lord and devoured them; and they died before the Lord.”

And when Moses inquired about it, God said: “I will be sanctified in them...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 5.6.2018
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Christentum
• ISBN-13: 9780000080714 / 9780000080714