TITLES OF CHRIST
HOLY ONE
DR. JIM DIXON
REVELATION 3:7-13
DECEMBER 11, 1988
Have you ever heard anybody say “Holy Toledo?” It sounds like something Robin would say to Batman but, of course, it’s a very old expression. It’s an old exclamation and the reference isn’t to Toledo, Ohio, a city which never was considered holy. The reference is to Toledo, Spain, a city which always has been considered holy, particularly after the deliverance of that city from the Moors in 1085 when the city became one of the great centers of Christendom, known for its beautiful churches and cathedrals, monasteries and seminaries and ecclesiastical offices.
The city had always been viewed as holy, and from the fourth century to the 16th century, more than 30 official councils of the Roman Catholic Church met there in Toledo. More than a hundred decrees of the Roman Catholic Church were decreed there in the city of Toledo, a holy city. But, of course, the city is not really holy and it never was. Seminaries do not make a city holy. Neither do monasteries or churches or cathedrals or ecclesiastical offices or councils or decrees. In fact, the Bible tells us that there’s only one holy city and that holy city the Bible calls the New Jerusalem and it is promised to Christians in the age to come. One holy city and the Bible tells us there’s only one holy man.
One holy city, and one holy man in all of history and that one holy man is Jesus Christ who called Himself the Holy One. The angel Gabriel, in announcing His birth to Mary, said “the child to be born shall be called holy.” What does it mean to say that Jesus Christ is holy to say that He is the Holy One? Well, biblically the word holy has two meanings and these comprise our two teachings this morning.
First of all, the word holy means separated. The concept of holiness refers to separation. You see, the Greek word for holy is the word “hagios.” The Hebrew word for holy is the word “kadosh.” Both of these words mean separated and they referred specifically to separation from sin. To say that Jesus Christ is the Holy One is to say that He is utterly separated from sin.
Well, a long time ago, about 3,000 years ago, there lived a group of people who were called Nazarites, from the old Hebrew word “nazer” which also means to separate. The Nazarites sought to separate themselves from sin. There were three things the Nazarites would never do: they would not touch a dead body, they would not drink wine, and they would not cut their hair. Now, these were three things that normal people did do. Normal people did touch dead bodies back in those days. There was no other way to bury your family members and loved ones when they passed away. Normal people drank wine because wine was less dangerous, less likely to carry bacteria than many waters in those ancient times. Normal people also cut their hair, but the Nazarites separated themselves from these three things. It wasn’t that these three things were considered so sinful. It was just that they were chosen by the Nazarites to represent their separation from sin…to represent their devotion to God and their token separation from sin.
Now, of course, the most famous Nazarite was Samson. When he had his hair cut in that whole episode with Delilah, his separation was broken and he lost his strength and he lost his holiness. But of course, he never really was holy, never truly separated from sin. His separation was merely token and that’s how it is with most people in the world today, with all people. Our separation from sin is really only token and some people don’t make any effort to separate themselves from sin.
In the latter portion of the 18th century and the early part of the 19th century, there lived a woman whose name was Pauline. She lived in France. She was the talk of Paris. If The National Enquirer had existed in her time, she would’ve been front page material. It wasn’t that there weren’t other women who were equally immoral. There were. But they were not of the nobility as Pauline was of the nobility. By the time she was 16 years old, she had had sexual relations with many generals in the French army and that is a fact. The people of Paris loved to gossip about her and to anticipate her next affair. Everybody was surprised when Pauline announced that she was going to get married. She was going to marry a man whose name was Leclerc, a general in the French Army. Victoire Emmanuel Leclerc. Sometimes he went by the name of Charles.
Pauline didn’t know that Leclerc was about to be transferred, sent a long way from Paris, thousands of miles from Parisian society to the island of Haiti in St. Domingue. Of course, Pauline was no saint and she didn’t want to go. It took six French officers in addition to Leclerc to carry her aboard the ship that took her across the sea. When she arrived in Haiti, she found things to do as her husband went into the Haitian jungles with 25,000 soldiers to fight rebellion. She entertained the men that remained home. She became famous for her milk baths and she rarely bathed alone. When her husband died of yellow fever that he contracted in the Haitian jungles, Pauline barely shed a tear. She caught the first eastbound ship. She returned to Paris and there, years of milk baths and scores of lovers made her the talk of Paris again.
She married again; an Italian husband who gave her a treasure of jewels and diamonds and gave her wardrobe of 600 gowns. Pauline’s favorite ones were transparent. But the years passed and she aged. When she was 40 years old, she spent most of her time or much of her time looking in the mirror remembering how once she had been. When she was 44 years of age, she became gravely ill. And she died at the age of 45 in the year 1825. When she died, a lot of people in Paris were sad. They wouldn’t have Pauline to talk about anymore. A few people grieved. Napoleon Bonaparte himself would’ve grieved had he not died four years earlier. He would have grieved because you see, Pauline was his favorite sister. Maria Paulette Bonaparte, the sister of Napoleon.
Pauline was called one of the most immoral women in history, but perhaps she was no more immoral than Napoleon himself who had an insatiable quest for ascendancy over men. Perhaps Pauline was no more immoral than her sister, Carolyn, who was totally preoccupied with material things and gave her life in a pursuit of greed.
The Bible tells us that really there are three types of sin. There is the lust of the flesh, there is the lust of the eyes, and there is the pride of life. The lust of the flesh is hedonism. The lust of the eyes is materialism, and the pride of life is ascensionism, egoism. All sins fall into one of these three categories. You see, Napoleon’s sin was the pride of life, ascensionism. Pauline’s sin was the lust of the flesh, hedonism. Carolyn’s sin was the lust of the eyes, materialism.
There’s a little bit of Napoleon in you and there’s a little bit of Pauline in you and there’s a little bit of Carolyn in you, in all of us because we have “all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” The Bible says “There is none righteous, no, not one.” None righteous except for one, and that one is the Holy One, Jesus Christ. He alone is separated from sin. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life; they do not penetrate him. Utterly separated from sin, the Holy One, the Light of the world. “He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” The Bible says of Him in Hebrews, chapter 7, that “He is holy, unstained, unblemished, separated from sin, exalted above the heavens, utterly holy.” It is hard to imagine, to comprehend the holiness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that the angels of God, those angels who did not fall, those angels who are called holy angels, they surround the throne of God and forever they chant “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is and who is to come.” The holiness of angels pales when compared with the holiness of God. The Bible tells us that the holiness of Christ is the very holiness of God, utterly separated from sin, and yet, you see, incredibly in love with sinners.
He is in love with you and that led him to the amazing moment of Calvary’s cross when though He is holy and utterly separated from sin for your sake…in that moment He was joined to sin. Though He knew no sin, He committed no sin and no guile was found on his lips. Nevertheless, because He is in love with you and in love with me, He went to Calvary’s cross and He took the sin of the world upon Himself. Your sin and my sin, all sin: from rape to murder, from incest to wife beating, from jealousy to slander, all sin He took upon Himself on Calvary’s cross. The Bible says that now when we come to Him and we embrace Him as Lord and Savior of life, in that moment there’s a sense in which suddenly we become holy. There’s a sense in which suddenly we are separated from sin, not behaviorally, but judicially in the courtroom of heaven. We are judged holy and we are separated from sin and sin is removed from us as far as the east is from the west. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us and we are judged holy because He is the Holy One.
But you see, if you really believe in Christ, you’re going to strive for holiness behaviorally. You’re going to seek to separate yourself from sin day by day in your behavior. That desire to be free of sin is precious to Christ.
In the letter He wrote to the church at Philadelphia, He praised them. Of the seven churches of Asia, Philadelphia was the church He most praised because you see, they kept his word and they held fast to his name. He said “Because you have kept my word and you have held fast to My name, I will keep you from trial.” He said “Because you have kept my word and you hold fast to My name, I will make those who are a synagogue of Satan bow down before you and they will know that I have loved you.”
Is there really a quest in your heart to be separated from sin? Jesus said to us “As obedient do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who has called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct for it is written “You shall be holy for I am holy.”
Separation. But there is a second and final meaning of this word, holy and it is the word consecration. You see the word “hagios”, the Greek word for holy and the word “kadosh”, the Hebrew word for holy, those words not only mean separated, but they mean consecrated. The words literally mean set apart: set apart from sin, separation, and set apart for God. Consecration. Holiness is a two-edged sword and it requires separation from sin and consecration to God. To say that Jesus Christ is the Holy One is to say that He is utterly separated from sin and utterly consecrated to the Father.
The night before He went to the cross, He was in the upper room with His disciples and He celebrated the Passover meal. And you know how He took the bread and He broke it saying, “This is My body broken for you.” And He took the cup and He said “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, shed for the remission of sins.”
Have you ever wondered what happened to that cup? What happened to the communion cup, the cup of redemption used in the upper room that night. For centuries, Christians searched for that cup, but to this day, no one knows what happened to that communion cup, the cup of redemption. There are legends and the most prominent legend tells us that the cup was given to Joseph of Arimathea, the rich man who provided the grave in which Christ’s body was placed and from which Christ’s body rose from the dead. It was said that he took the cup of redemption, the communion cup, and in the year 70 A.D. it was said he moved to England, to Britain where he took the gospel and he founded the church at Glastonbury. Now there is historic evidence for that as anyone who lives in Glastonbury will tell you.
The legend goes that he took the sacred cup there and he hid it somewhere in England, perhaps near Glastonbury. The legend becomes more speculative at that point because it tells us that in the sixth century, a king of medieval Britain named Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table were meeting one night at Pentecost and they were celebrating the feast of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit came upon them and gave them a vision of this sacred cup, which they called the Holy Grail. This began their great quest to find the communion cup and 150 Knights of the Round Table went forth in search of that cup. Through their quest, over time, only three of them were deemed pure in heart enough to attain the cup. Those three were Sir Galahad, Sir Perceval, and Sir Bors. We’re told that these three found the cup at the mysterious castle called Corbenic, sometimes called the Castle of the Fisher King.
We’re told that Christ appeared to them there and celebrated communion with those three as He had with the twelve the night before the cross. We’re told that Sir Galahad, when he saw the holiness of Christ and the Holy Cup that he died in ecstasy was taken into heaven. We’re told that Sir Perceval, who allegedly was descended from Joseph of Arimathea, stayed to guard and be the guardian of the cup. When Sir Perceval died, the cup went with him into heaven. And Sir Bors, we’re told that he returned to tell the tale. It’s only a legend.
Many historians today do not believe that Arthur even existed. Some believe that he existed, but his exploits were exaggerated. But this we know. We know that there was a communion cup and we know that cup was called holy. It was called the Holy Grail and why was it considered holy? Not because of separation, but because of consecration. The cup was viewed as a vessel, a vessel set apart for God. It was viewed as a vessel set apart for God’s use. You see, that’s the meaning of holy: consecrated, set apart for God. To say that Jesus Christ is holy is to say He is the vessel set apart for the Father. Indeed, the true holy, the true sacred one in the room, in the upper room that night before the cross was not the cup, but it was our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who before He came into the world said “Behold, a body that was prepared for me. I come to do Thy will.” And having come into the world, He said “I do not seek my own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” Before He went to Calvary’s cross, He said “Not My will, but Thy will be done.” A vessel, a vessel set apart perfectly, totally, utterly for the will of the Father. The Holy One separated from sin, consecrated to the Father.
If you’re a Christian, if you believe in Jesus Christ, then you’ve been called to this pursuit of holiness. You have been set apart: set apart from sin, set apart for God, and you’re to enter this great quest for the holiness of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. As you seek the holiness of Christ in your life each day, God would give you two very quick warnings.
First of all, he warns you not to make the error of the Pharisees. The Pharisees sought separation from sin. In fact, their name comes from the Aramaic word “pharis”, which means to separate or cut. They sought to separate themselves from sin utterly. So consumed were they in being separated from sin that they would not carry a needle in their robe on the Sabbath because they thought it might constitute a burden, that it might constitute work on the Sabbath and it might violate the holy day, and they might thereby become sinful. They wanted to separate themselves utterly from sin, but they didn’t understand that holiness is a two-edged sword, and it’s not simply separation. It’s consecration. You see, they were never consecrated to God. They did not seek to separate themselves from sin for God’s sake, but for their own sake. They didn’t seek the righteousness of God. They sought their own righteousness, self-righteousness, that they might ascend over other people and prove themselves better. They never consecrated themselves to God. They were never vessels through which people saw God because God is love. And people didn’t see love in the Pharisees and they didn’t see God’s mercy and grace.
You see, God wants us to understand that holiness is not simply avoiding the bad things. Holiness is embracing the good things, the goodness of Christ Himself.
Why does Mother Teresa seem holy? Separation from sin, yes. Vows that separate her from materialism and hedonism, but you see also: consecration. A vessel through which people see God’s love, God’s mercy and God’s grace.
Perhaps the modern counterpart to the Pharisees is certain expressions of fundamentalism that stress the do’s and the don’ts, and we need the do’s and the don’t stressed, but somehow they seem to avoid the love and the mercy and the grace of Christ. Strive for holiness, but avoid the error of the Pharisees.
Then God also warns us, strive for holiness, but avoid the error of the Nicolaitans. Well, you’ve heard of the Pharisees, but perhaps you never heard of the Nicolaitans. Some say they were descended from Nicholas of Antioch who the Bible says in the Book of Acts was one of the original seven deacons. Tradition says he became apostate. The Nicolaitans are mentioned in the Book of Revelation, and we’re told that they thought a Christian could be consecrated to God, consecrated to Christ, and ignore separation from sin. They thought you could have a love relationship with Jesus Christ and embrace His love and His mercy and His grace, and show forth His love and mercy and grace and never take seriously the issue of sin because your sin was covered. You could just go out and sin all you wanted, “sin the more that grace may abound.” Christ condemned them.
If the Pharisees made one error, represented one extreme, the Nicolaitans represented the other. Certainly, in the church of Christ today, there are certain liberal factions that would tell us that if you embrace the love and the mercy and grace of Christ, you don’t need to take sin too seriously. There’s a lot of people sitting in pews all across America who call themselves Christians and they don’t take sin very seriously. But Jesus said “If you love Me, you’ll keep my commandments.”
If you’re consecrated, you will be separated. “If you love me, you’ll keep my commandments,” from tithing to evangelism. You will seek to do what I’ve commanded you to do from sexual fornication to verbal gossip. You’ll seek to avoid what I’ve commanded you to avoid.
If you call yourself a Christian, if you take the name of Christ, if you’re living with someone today, if you’re having sexual relations with someone today, and that someone is not your spouse, if you’re not married, Christ has a word for you. If you love that person enough to have sex with them, marry them. If you don’t love them enough to marry them, don’t have sex with them. The world says “Well, that attitude is kind of neanderthal,” and who cares what the world says? The Bible says “The world passes away and the desires of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
The Bible says if you’re a Christian, you’re not of the world as He is not of the world, and He is the Holy One. He is separated from sin and He is consecrated to the Father. And He says to all of you who believe in his name, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Let’s close with the word of prayer.