Sunday 9th November 2014 - Clean Hands and a Pure Heart - Rob Goldring

9.11.14 Psalm 24:3-5 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. God is holy Who can enter into God’s presence? To can have a close, personal relationship with God? Not just anybody! The more I prayed and read, the more I began thinking about the holiness of God. The Hebrew word for Holiness is kadesh, which means ‘cut off’, ‘separate’ or ‘set apart’. God is cut off from sin. He cannot be where sin is. There are many scriptures that point to God’s holiness. Exodus 3:4-5 Leviticus 11:44-45 Psalm 29:2 Isaiah 6:3-5 It makes me so aware of how small and insignificant I am compared to God! Who can enter God’s presence? I’ve spoken about the holiness of God because I feel it is so important, but this scripture is asking a question of me. Who can enter God’s presence? Answer – anyone with clean hands and a pure heart! What does that mean? Initially, I think of those that try and do good. Do you meet a certain standard? Do you live righteously? Do you keep away from all things bad? There is truth in that. Do you perfectly please God? No. Does anyone? Only Jesus. Jesus died so we can enter God’s presence Jesus entered the holy place (Heb 9:12) by dying on the cross for us, so that we can have a personal relationship with God. The curtain was torn down and we can enter in to His presence. When we receive Jesus into our lives by becoming Christians, we receive that amazing privilege too (Heb 10:19). So we, therefore, can enter God’s presence, through Jesus. WOW! It’s very easy for us to become too comfortable and take it all for granted. This is why we must remind ourselves of who God is – His holiness. We mustn’t be irreverent. God want us to have clean hands and a pure heart So God is saying to us that we can ‘ascend the hill of the Lord’ if we have clean hands and a pure heart. We cannot do this in our own strength, only through Jesus, but God wants us to try! We are called to live like Jesus – to be set apart. Cut off from sin. 1 Peter 1:15-16 (be holy as he is holy). The Bible speaks of us living righteous lives. Having a pure heart. Speaking truth, love etc… But this is all because of Jesus. It’s all because of Christ. But it’s hard. We fail. We muck up. That’s why we need Jesus. We can’t do it in our own strength. Romans 6:1-23. Be slaves to righteous living! Remember that the God you serve is a holy God. Who can ascend the hill? Those who have Jesus.