Organization in the Work of God’s People
The expression, “Holy unto the Lord” is used many times in the Bible with two different meanings: 1. To be “holy” refers to the fact that someone or something is consecrated or set apart for sacred use and cannot be used for any other purpose. It is exclusive property of the Lord; 2. Spiritually perfect or pure; free from sin; perfect in a moral sense (Webster).
The apostle Paul was specific when he wrote “unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2, emphasis supplied).
According to this scripture, the Corinthians were:
Sanctified in Christ Jesus. When we surrender our life to Christ, we are justified and considered righteous by faith in the righteousness of Christ which is imputed to us.
Called to be saints. When we are justified, the process of sanctification begins, and we have a lifetime (whether shorter or longer) dedicated to our sanctification.
The Bible says that “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1). In other words, by creation and by redemption everyone and everything belongs to God and should be dedicated fully to Him.
After the Fall, this whole planet was kidnapped by Satan, and, from that time on, he became by usurpation the “prince of this world.” It is God’s purpose that through the gospel of Christ, every human being can be restored to the Creator.
“Sin has marred God’s perfect work, yet that handwriting [with the message of the Father’s love] remains. Even now all created things declare the glory of His excellence. There is nothing, save the selfish heart of man, that lives unto itself.”1
After the first pair was seduced by Satan, selfishness became part of human nature. Through the plan of salvation, God has been working to restore human nature to the way He created it in the beginning. Through biblical stewardship, He seeks to destroy selfishness in the human heart. Therefore, we can consider the human race to be divine property, and all that the Lord has placed under human control should also be considered as His possession. King David declared:
“Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all” (1 Chronicles 29:11, 12, emphasis supplied).
Soon after the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery, God manifested His high purpose regarding His people: “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exodus 19:6, emphasis supplied).
God’s plan for His people Israel was summarized in these few words: “For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6). “Holy people” meant a people wholly dedicated to their Creator and Redeemer.
This status of being holy people involved some conditions. For instance, Israel was not to imitate the practices of those nations whose land was to be possessed by the descendants of Abraham. They were not to eat what those nations ate. They were to worship God in a manner totally different from the way the inhabitants of Canaan worship. Their lifestyle was to be different to their lifestyle.
In Deuteronomy 26:16–19, God places before His people their duty as a peculiar people: To obey His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, and to listen to His voice. And then He promises that they would be above all nations of the earth. What was God’s purpose in placing His people uniquely higher than the other nations? It was to reveal to the world that His ways are the best to promote the happiness of human beings and to restore them to the Edenic condition (Genesis 1:26).
This is the same goal that the Lord has for His people living during the end-time. The apostle Peter wrote to the Christians: “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
Notice these beautiful titles that apply to God’s people in these last days:
1. A chosen generation.
2. A royal priesthood.
3. A holy nation.
4. A peculiar people.
It is good to consider what is implied in these titles.
In 2 Corinthians 6:14–18, the apostle Paul declares the conditions for being God’s people—he describes a separation from all uncleanness and unrighteousness. Indeed, our sanctification involves the whole being: spirit, body, and soul (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
Before the Fall, the first man and the first woman were temples of the Holy Spirit. After sin, they became corrupt instruments of Satan. Through the gospel, it is God’s purpose to restore them to their former condition, that each is again to be a temple of the Holy Spirit.
“In cleansing the temple from the world’s buyers and sellers, Jesus announced His mission to cleanse the heart from the defilement of sin—from the earthly desires, the selfish lusts, the evil habits, that corrupt the soul. . . .
“‘Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are’ (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17). No man can of himself cast out the evil throng that have taken possession of the heart. Only Christ can cleanse the soul temple. . . .
His presence will cleanse and sanctify the soul, so that it may be a holy temple unto the Lord.”2
What is God’s aim for the health reform? First, we should keep in mind that we do not belong to ourselves. Our body is not our own. It belongs to God. Paul declares: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). This Bible verse doesn’t speak only about eating or drinking. It says also: “whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” Everything we do is included here. Everything should be done for the glory of God. This was the purpose of our creation.
“Paul the apostle writes that ‘whatsoever ye do,’ even the natural act of eating or drinking, should be done, not to gratify a perverted appetite, but under a sense of responsibility—‘do all to the glory of God.’ Every part of the man is to be guarded; we are to beware lest that which is taken into the stomach shall banish from the mind high and holy thoughts.”3
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).
In the sanctuary service, all offerings dedicated to God should be a perfect representation of Christ. No sick or lame animal would be accepted as a sacrifice. (See Malachi 1:8.)
“The Lord has given His holy commandments to be a wall of protection around His created beings, and those who will keep themselves from the defilement of appetite and passion may become partakers of the divine nature. Their perceptions will be clear.”4
“We should consider the words of the apostle in which he appeals to his brethren, by the mercies of God, to present their bodies, ‘a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God’ (Romans 12:1). This is true sanctification. It is not merely a theory, an emotion, or a form of words, but a living, active principle, entering into the everyday life. It requires that our habits of eating, drinking, and dressing, be such as to secure the preservation of physical, mental, and moral health, that we may present to the Lord our bodies—not an offering corrupted by wrong habits but—‘a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.’
“Let none who profess godliness regard with indifference the health of the body, and flatter themselves that intemperance is no sin, and will not affect their spirituality. A close sympathy exists between the physical and the moral nature.”5
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20).
One very important lesson given us by the fourth commandment is that our time also belongs to the Lord.
“On the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made” (Genesis 2:2, 3).
At the seventh day of the week of creation, God ended His work, blessed the Sabbath, and sanctified it, that is, He established the seventh day as a memorial of His work of creation. The seventh day, Sabbath, is a holy day and not a “holiday.” It belongs to God, and we have no right to use it according to our own ideas, desires, and pleasures. Exodus 20:8–11 makes this clear.
How are we to keep the seventh day holy? Isaiah says: “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words” (Isaiah 58:13).
He mentions at least three important attitudes we should take to avoid profaning the Sabbath:
“Not doing thine own ways.”
“Nor finding thine own pleasure.”
“Nor speaking thine own words.”
These divine instructions include “nor thinking our own thoughts,” because our mouth utters what is in our mind. The best and only way to keep the Sabbath holy is to keep close communion with the Lord, study His word, pray, and be in contact with nature as well as doing missionary work to help others to know the Lord.
“The necessities of life must be attended to, the sick must be cared for, the wants of the needy must be supplied. He will not be held guiltless who neglects to relieve suffering on the Sabbath. God’s holy rest day was made for man, and acts of mercy are in perfect harmony with its intent. God does not desire His creatures to suffer an hour’s pain that may be relieved upon the Sabbath or any other day. . . .
“The Sabbath is not intended to be a period of useless inactivity. The law forbids secular labor on the rest day of the Lord; the toil that gains a livelihood must cease; no labor for worldly pleasure or profit is lawful upon that day; but as God ceased His labor of creating, and rested upon the Sabbath and blessed it, so man is to leave the occupations of his daily life, and devote those sacred hours to healthful rest, to worship, and to holy deeds.”6
We have here three ways to occupy the Sabbath:
• Healthful rest.
• Right worship.
• Holy deeds.
In Ezekiel 20: 12, 20, we read: “I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.” “And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.”
We learn from these verses:
• That the Sabbath is a sign of identification between God and His people.
• That the Lord sanctifies us.
• That by being sanctified we can hallow His Sabbath.
• That He is our God and we are His people.
“‘The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.’ These words are full of instruction and comfort. Because the Sabbath was made for man, it is the Lord’s day. It belongs to Christ. For ‘all things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made’ (John 1:3). Since He made all things, He made the Sabbath. By Him it was set apart as a memorial of the work of creation. It points to Him as both the Creator and the Sanctifier. It declares that He who created all things in heaven and in earth, and by whom all things hold together, is the head of the church, and that by His power we are reconciled to God. For, speaking of Israel, He said, ‘I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them’—make them holy (Ezekiel 20:12). Then the Sabbath is a sign of Christ’s power to make us holy. And it is given to all whom Christ makes holy. As a sign of His sanctifying power, the Sabbath is given to all who through Christ become a part of the Israel of God. . . .
“To all who receive the Sabbath as a sign of Christ’s creative and redeeming power, it will be a delight. Seeing Christ in it, they delight themselves in Him. The Sabbath points them to the works of creation as an evidence of His mighty power in redemption. While it calls to mind the lost peace of Eden, it tells of peace restored through the Saviour.”7
“And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord” (Leviticus 27:30–32, emphasis supplied).
The same expression “holy unto the Lord” is applied also to the tithe. Actually, all that we are and have belong to God. The returning of the tithe to the Lord is to make us understand that all our possessions belong to Him.
The tithe being “holy to the Lord” means also that we cannot touch it. It is the Lord’s.
The prophet Malachi uses strong language to denounce those who retain the tithe. God promises to shower blessings upon those who return a faithful tithe and offerings—but a curse upon those who rob Him, by retaining that which is His. (See Malachi 3:8–11.)
Some Bible students mistakenly assume that the system of tithing was restricted to the Old Testament times, and they claim that this system is not applicable during the New Testament period. But let us consider some New Testament references to tithing:
Jesus declared, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Matthew 23:23).
Is Christ condemning the Pharisees and scribes for returning a faithful tithe? No way. He says that they were very strict in returning the tithe but totally negligent for omitting judgment, mercy, and faith. Then Jesus said: “These (judgment, mercy, and faith) ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other (tithing) undone.” This is confirmed also in Hebrews 7:8.
“God has made the proclamation of the gospel dependent upon the labors and the gifts of His people. Voluntary offerings and the tithe constitute the revenue of the Lord’s work. Of the means entrusted to man, God claims a certain portion—the tenth. He leaves all free to say whether or not they will give more than this. But when the heart is stirred by the influence of the Holy Spirit, and a vow is made to give a certain amount, the one who vows has no longer any right to the consecrated portion.”8
“The consecration to God of a tithe of all increase, whether of the orchard and harvest field, the flocks and herds, or the labor of brain or hand, the devotion of a second tithe for the relief of the poor and other benevolent uses, tended to keep fresh before the people the truth of God’s ownership of all, and of their opportunity to be channels of His blessings. It was a training adapted to kill out all narrowing selfishness, and to cultivate breadth and nobility of character.”9
“He who gives men power to get wealth has with the gift bound up an obligation. . . .
“‘Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse’ (Malachi 3:10) is God’s command. No appeal is made to gratitude or to generosity. This is a matter of simple honesty. The tithe is the Lord’s; and He bids us return to Him that which is His own.”10
We cannot sanctify our body, the Sabbath, or the tithes before being holy ourselves. Paul bids us “follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
Sanctification is possible only for those who are justified. Justification is possible only for repentant sinners. Repentance is possible only for those who go to Jesus by faith.
Are we willing to surrender our life to Christ? Then we need to pray just here and now: “Lord, take my heart; for I cannot give it. It is Thy property. Keep it pure, for I cannot keep it for Thee. Save me in spite of myself, my weak, unchristlike self. Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere, where the rich current of Thy love can flow through my soul.”11