Well, it's been about a month or so since I last did a post regarding verse memorization. That all changes today with this post and with this post I want to start something new in regard to the verse memorization posts.
In reading the book Evangelism by J. Mack Stiles, a 9Marks book for our men's group, I came across a list of verses he recommends for memorizing to help outline the gospel. He divides the verses into five categories: God, man, Christ, response, and cost. Within each category are anywhere from three to eight passages he recommends for memorization that should aid us as we seek to evangelize the lost.
Therefore, we start with the first category, God, which has four passages. Of course, there are not only four passages that speak to this topic that would benefit our efforts in evangelism, but they are a start. The first passage is Isaiah 6:1-3 which speaks to the holiness of God.
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
These verses start the chapter of Isaiah 6 which records for us a vision of Isaiah that he had received from Yahweh highlighting God's holiness while at the same time commissioning Isaiah to the ministry that God had ordained Isaiah to fulfill. If you wanted, you could memorize verses four and five which continue to paint the picture of God's holiness by highlighting the response of Isaiah being in the presence of One who is holy as Yahweh is holy. But I think verses one through three are enough, and perhaps, even verse three is enough, if you can remember the context of the verse. Verse three essentially sums up the truth that is being conveyed by Isaiah's vision, and when pondered on, it can be rather overwhelming to consider and leaves no confusion as to why Isaiah responded the way he did as described in the verses that follow. Consider the truth the seraphim proclaim. Yahweh, is holy unlike any other. He is holy, holy, holy, for the whole earth is full of His glory. What other being can fill the whole of the earth with their glory? Is there a creature or another god whose glory is found both in the depths of the oceans and in the heights of the clouds, all at once, and all in the same degree? The answer is obviously no! Only Yahweh, who is God, does so, thus He is distinct and separate from all things, thus He is holy, holy, holy.