The fear of God.
Of this excellent things are spoken by Solomon. It is the "beginning of knowledge," "hatred to evil," "strong confidence," a "fountain of life," "prolongs days," and "gives riches and honour." So here—
I. IT IS A SOURCE OF PURITY.
1. To the family.
2. To the nation. "Lest the land," etc. (Leviticus 19:29).
II. IT ARMS AGAINST THE POWER OF DEVILS.
1. Familiar spirits are more than myths.
2. The fear of the Lord will preserve us from them.
III. IT INSPIRES COURTESY.
1. Respect for age (Leviticus 19:32).
2. Civility to strangers.
IV. IT PROMOTES JUSTICE.
1. In judgment.
2. In dealings.
God claims the authorship of these laws (Leviticus 19:36, Leviticus 19:37).
1. They are worthy of him. He must be infatuated with ignorance or wickedness who would laud the "Roman virtue" in opposition to the "narrow spirit" of the Mosaic code.
2. They were eminently calculated to secure the happiness of the nation at home, and to promote its credit abroad.
3. Let us "observe" the Law of God to understand it, and, understanding, "keep" it. Then happy shall we be.—J.A.M.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD
Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy. Holiness.
I. THE UNIVERSAL REQUIREMENT. "Speak unto all the congregation," etc.
1. No exception. "All have sinned."
2. The nature of man requires him to be holy. The relation between man and God. The laws of God not mere arbitrary decrees, but the expression, in positive relation to the freedom of man, of the Eternal Reality of the universe.
3. The universality of revelation is the universality of responsibility. "Their line is gone out in all the earth." "Having not the Law, they are a law unto themselves." What was said. to the Jews was said. to the world. The blessedness of humanity is the realization of the Divine image. A holy God, a holy universe.
II. THE UNIVERSAL MOTIVE. "For I am holy."
1. Dependence upon God the root of religion, not as mere blind dependence, but that of the children on the Father.
2. Gratitude the constant appeal of the heart. The Lord your God, who has done so much for you, requires your holiness.
3. The Divine command is related to and blessed with the Divine provision of grace in a specific system of holiness, in which the people of God are held up. Be holy, for I have prepared for your holiness. We are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). Work out salvation, for God worketh in you.
III. THE MEDIATING MINISTRY. "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation."
1. Here is the gracious method by which our holiness is made possible. The holy God speaks. The holy men of God speak as they are moved by the Holy Ghost. The holy Word speaks, everywhere and always. The holy life is maintained among the holy people.
2. The holiness of humanity will be achieved as a fact through a holy ministry of the people of God to the world at large; of the consecrated few to the many. The hope of a revived Church, in a revived ministry. The spiritual leaders should feel their responsibility, both in teaching and in example.
3. Personal holiness must underlie all other. The purification of temples and services is not the sanctification God requires. He says not, "Be ye punctilious in worship and profuse in ritual;" but "Be ye personally holy, let your holiness be a transcript of mine, which is the holiness of will, of work, of thought, of character.—R.