Beauty of Holiness by H. A. St. John

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Dec 16, 1913

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 48.

Beauty of Holiness

By H. A. St. John

"Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." Ps. 29: 2.

TO worship means to reverence, love, and obey. Mankind are naturally constituted worshipers. All worship something. Many worship their appetites, or passions, or conceits, while many more worship the work of their own hands, or the work of others like themselves. Again, there are many that worship earthly treasures, or pleasures, or fame, or education, or business. And not a few bow down and worship some creature rather than the Creator. All worship that does not center in the living God, the Creator and Preserver of all, is idolatry.

Reader, whom or what do you worship? Examine yourself and see. You may know without question. Do you reverence, love, and obey the living God? If so, then you worship Him. Angels must not be worshiped. Only fallen angels will accept worship. Satan wanted Christ to fall down and worship him. Matt. 4:9. John fell down at the feet of a good angel to worship him, but the angel said, "See thou do it not; . . . worship God." Rev. 22:9.

How shall we render acceptable worship to God? The Lord does not say, Worship Me in outward surroundings of splendor and gorgeousness. If He had, many could not render acceptable worship. He does not say, Worship Me in scholarly attainments, or personal beauty, or costly attire, or worldly honor; for then very many could not worship God at all. But He does say, Worship Me "in the beauty of holiness."

What kind of beauty is this? and is it attainable by all without respect of persons? Jesus explains it by saying that they that worship God "must worship Him in spirit and in truth." John 4: 24. This, then, is holiness. To worship God in spirit is to have the soul full of His love, the mainspring of all acceptable service to God. Without this spiritual mind, there is no true worship. But this is not all. We are required to worship God in truth. His holy word is the truth, and His Spirit guides into a knowledge of truth, that our worship may be intelligent and according to His will. Paul said his brethren "obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine." Rom. 6: 17. This expresses it exactly,—the heart work and the form of doctrine, the spirit and the truth. John says, "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5: 3. True love and true obedience go hand in hand. These constitute true worship, not in the meeting-house, or at the family altar, or in the secret prayer chamber alone, but everywhere, every day, all the time.

It is holiness. It is the beauty of holiness, and attainable by the weakest and the poorest. There is nothing so beautiful in all the world, nothing so valuable, nothing so beautiful in the sight of God, Christ, or angels, as holiness. Reader, you may possess it internally, and externally, and eternally. It will be the heritage of the redeemed saints in glory. O, worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, or in the beauty of holiness!

H. A. St. John.