The Holiness of God: Isaiah 6

Prayer: Psalm 96:1-6 “Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.” Psalm 96:9 “Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!”

Oh Lord, great are You, and greatly to be praised. Thank you that we have the privelege and opportunity to sing to you, for we recognize that its solely possible by your grace and mercy. Because you are wrapped in splendor and majesty, the whole earth, if we could just catch a glimpse of your throne, would tremble before you. God this morning I am intimately aware of my shortcomings before such a perfect and holy God. In no way am I qualified or prepared to to preach about you and I tremble at this awesome responsibility, and pray that my words today would be a reflection of who you are, and in no way reflect who I am. Amen.

Introduction

As I mentioned last week, we will be picking up an Old Testament book next, but we really felt that this summer has provided an unique opportunity to get on the same page about a few things.

We have a lot of people in construction in the room, and this week I learned that generally speaking a residential home in GA needs a foundation dug 12 inches below previously undisturbed soil.

But the taller the building, the stronger the foundation needs to be.

So a residential home may have a foundation 1 foot deep.

But the Willis Tower in Chicago is 100ft below ground.

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai has a foundation 164 ft below ground.

And the Shanghai Tower in China has a foundation 282 feet below ground.

The taller the structure, the stronger the foundation.

And what structure can compare with the building of our faith?

The structure of our faith extends to the highest heavens, with its tips in eternity.

And for a structure that tall, you are going to need a strong foundation.

So when it comes to the structure of our faith, what is our foundation?

So if you have your Bible turn with me to 1 Corinthians 3:10-15

1 Corinthians 3:10–15 ESV

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

This is why we are going to topically look at our foundation.

As a church planter, I believe Paul’s words here are a challenge to me personally. To labor and toil in an effort to build a structure of faith for you, and for this community that SURVIVES. That’s strong! That will LAST.

And for a structure to last, we need a Strong Foundation.

And when Paul says the foundation is= JESUS CHRIST. What he’s referencing is the Gospel, or Good News about Jesus Christ.

But the Good News in its entireity, not just the fact that Christ came, and died, and buried, and raised again according to the Scriptures

That’s what most people assume when we say the Foundation is Jesus Christ, but it doesn’t begin with what Jesus did!

Becuase, why did Jesus need to come and die?

Because of our SIN!

That’s right. Jesus did what he did, because we have done what we’ve done.

But that doesn’t quite go deep enough either does it!?

Becuase why is sin such a big deal? Why does sin require Jesus’ death?

That question… is the depth of the foundation of our faith, and that’s what we are going to seek to answer today.

You see, the foundation of our faith doesn’t begin with your sin, or Jesus’ atonement, but what does Genesis 1:1 say?

Genesis 1:1 records, “In the beginning, was GOD...”

You see, long before you and I even came to existence, there was God.

And although the plan for salvation in Christ was predestined before the foundation of the world… long before it was enacted, long before Christ came to save, there was God.

Before you, before sin. There was God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Church, the foundations of our Faith begins with God.

In his highly recommended and classic work of 1961, A.W. Tozer in The Knowledge of the Holy writes,

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. For this reason, the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most predictive fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.”

He continues, “A right conception of God is basic to practical Christian living. It is to worship what the foundation is to the temple. Where it is inadequate or out of plumb the whole structure must sooner or later collapse.”

A right concept of God is the deepest part in the foundation of faith.

Yet, often in the structure of our faith we’ve put the proverbial cart before the horse.

We’ve tried to build the structure, without hewing the proper foundation.

We want to learn to pray but are ignorant of whom we Pray to.

We want to read the Word, but possess wrong views of the Word, who is God.

And as it concerns today:

We want salvation in Christ, without understanding the depth of our sin, and you can’t fully understand the depth of your sin, without having a proper view of God.

Idolatry

I believe this is one of the reasons why our faith as individuals, and as a collective society is so shaky.

At the slightest breeze our proverbial tower begins to falter.

At the slightest tremor in the form of hardship, or doubt, or suffering… it begins to fall.

All because our foundation is too shallow. All because our views of God are unworthy for who He really is.

I AM

In Exodus 3:13, Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and they ask me, “What is God’s name?”What shall I say to them?”

What did God say? Pay attention now, because… God didn’t say, “I AM whoever you want me to be.”

God didn’t say, “I AM whoever you need me to be.”

God didn’t say, “I AM whoever YOU think me to be.”

What did He say, He said, “I AM WHO I AM.”

But instead of building on the foundation of WHO HE IS, we like the people of Israel look at Aaron and say, Exodus 32:1 “Up, make us gods who shall go before us.”

So Aaron Exodus 32:4-5 “received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.””

Notice what they did now! With their own hands and imaginations they fashioned an image of YAHWEH, and although it didn’t resemble him AT ALL they said… tomorrow we shall feast to YAHWEH!

They immediately attributed the name of Yahweh to a figment of their own imagination!

They immediately attributed the works of Yahweh to a figment of their own imagination!

And this wasn’t a one time deal for the people of Israel, they did this over and over and over again!

When the people of Israel substitued the Great I AM for the Babylonian gods BEL and NEBO, God says

Isaiah 46:1-2 “Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity.”

He says, YOU FOOLS! The gods you have created and formed and fashioned. The gods that are “I AM WHOEVER You Think me to be...” YOU HAVE TO CARRY THEM AROUND!

They are a burden to you, so how can they save you from your burdens, when you are burdened by them!?

But listen to what God says next,

Isaiah 46:5-10 ““To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike? Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship! They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble. “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’”

Who will you compare the Great I AM?

But remember… often the people of Israel created YHWH from their imagination, but still called Him YHWH, AND WE DO IT ALL THE TIME TODAY TOO!

“Well for me… God is a God who doesn’t judge.”

I think god is a god of love and would never punish me.

I mean god created me with these desires, and he would never ask me to deny them.

I mean if god is really good, then there would be multiple paths to heaven. so what is true for me, may not be true for somebody else. Whose to say really?

REALLY! GOD IS TO SAY.

Church, we have no right to dictate who God is!?

Francis Chan once wrote, “You’re telling me that the same mind that has adulterous, lustful thoughts is the same mind that creates your own understanding of God? The same mind that can’t remeber where you put your keys is the same mind you are using to form and fashion your understanding of God!?

Tozer carries this argument and writes,

“A god begotten in the shadows of a fallen heart will quite naturally be no true likeness to the true god. Surely this must be a serious affront to the Most High God.

“Let us beware lest we in our pride accept the eroneous notion that idolatry consists only in kneeling before visible objects of adoration and that civiziled peoples are therefore free from it. NO. The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are UNWORTHY OF HIM!”

It is these perverted notions of who God is, that has made the whole structure of our faith unstable.

We must get back to Scripture and rediscover the true Foundation of our Faith. Rediscover Who He Says that He is. We don’t have the right to tell God who He is. We have to learn what He says about Himself.

Theologians and students of the Divine have named this endeavor The Attributes of God, but let me say something from the get go...

Romans 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”

The endeavor to study the nature of God God will take you all of eternity just to scratch the surface.

Yet, in His divine love and mercy He has chosen to reveal certain attributes of who He is, and we would be extremely wise to apply ourselves to HIs study.

Tozer again, “A Christian is strong or weak depending upon how closely he has cultivated a knowledge of God.”

And although we could spend an entire series on God’s Attributes alone… there is 1 that I intend to highlight today.

1 that is essential to the Foundation of Jesus Christ that Paul references.

And that is the Holiness of God.

Now before we begin let me say, the attribute of God’s Holiness does not negate or contradict or supersede other attributes, like love or mercy.

But it is in the understanding of God’s Holiness that actually magnifies his other attribtues like love and mercy.

If you have your Bible turn with me to 2 Chronicles 26.

The Presumption of Uzziah

Uzziah

2 Chronicles 26:1 ESV

And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.

2 Chronicles 26:5 ESV

He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.

And For 52 years, Uzziah sought the Lord, and God made him prosper… .But look at verse 16 with me.

2 Chronicles 26:16 ESV

But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

You see this was a big no, no according to the Holy Law of God.

Only the appointed Priests of the Levi were permitted to burn incense before the presence of God.

And to presume one was qualified for such a Holy act, was an affront to the Holiness of God.

So the Priests rebuked him, and look at verse 19…

2 Chronicles 26:19 ESV

Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense.

Uzziah, after 52 years of reign, presumed upon the Holiness of God and died a leper.

I don’t know about you, but I read that and think… geez man. That’s Harsh!

What about the 52 years!?

Ark of the Covenant

Reminds me of the story in 2 Samuel 6, when David was trying to get the Ark of the Covenant, which was an ornate Box, designed as the MERCY SEAT of the HOLY GOD.

The Ark would sit in the Holy of Holies of the Temple, and was the resting place for the Presence of God.

Well the Philistines had captured it, and David wanted it back. But as they transported it, the oxen stumbled and a man named Uzzah instinctively reached out to steady it, and as soon as he touched it

2 Samuel 6:7 “And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.”

We read that and think… geez. That’s Harsh!

He was only trying to keep it steady.

Ananias and Sapphira

Reminds me of the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, they tell a little ole lie to the church and boom! Drop dead!

We read stories like that all throughout the Bibe and think… geez. That’s Harsh!

But church listen… if you read those stories and think, “That seems harsh....” It reveals how little we understand the Holiness of God!

And be careful… because usually when we have those thoughts, we let them run and think,

“I don’t think God is really like that...” For me God is love and wouldn’t punish like that.

OR we see it in Scripture, and feel the need to APOLOGIZE for the Holiness of God.

But church, He said, “I AM WHO I AM”

We don’t get to dictate who God Is, and God is Holy!

So what is Holiness anyway?

Holiness Defined

The Holiness of God is probably the most difficult of all of God’s attributes to explain, partly because it is not shared, by man.

Becuase we are created in God’s image there are some attributes of God, that to a much lesser extent we share.

We can be loving, becuase God is love.

We can be merciful, becuase God is mercy.

WE can be faithful, because God is faithful.

To a much lesser degree of course, but you get the picture.

But when it comes to holiness, we do not possess any of it as an inherent part of our nature, we only taste hoiness in our relationship to Christ.

God’s Holiness is what seperates Him from all others.

The OT word for God’s Holiness means “to seperate.”

It is more than His perfection or purely perfect morality.

It is his “otherness”.

His awesomeness that causes us to gaze in wonder as we begin to comprehend just a little of His majesty.

In fact, most people refer to the. Holiness of God as His MAJESTY.

He is exalted in infinite majesty.

L. Berkhof in his Systematic Theology writes,

“God Holiness can be thought of as his absolute unapproachability, and absolute overpoweriness.

It is his AWFUL majesty that when seen, it awakens in man a sense of absolute nothingess, leading to absolute abasement.”

God’s holiness is so great, and so majestic that consistently throughout the OT, even glimpsing it results in instantaeous death!

Becuase His holiness is so great, so pure, so majestic, that man in his profaness is not worthy to stand in His presence. His holiness can have no communion with sin!

And in the presence of His holiness, sin and sinner alike will be consumed.

To the point when Mose begged to see God’s face, God replied, Exodus 33:20

Exodus 33:20 ESV

But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”

This is why, even after 52 good years, Uzziah was consumed and died a leper.

He presumed on the knowledge of God.

He thought… you know, I’ve been pretty good, I deserve to light the alter.

Is this what you do? What I do?

We think God is just some trite Genie in a lamp, that is ready and available at my very beck and call.

We think God is just some loving personal assitant, here to make my life easier, happier, and more satisfied.

But church, let me be clear.

If the roof of this building was ripped off right now, and the visible/tangible presence of God could be seen…

Your wishes, desired additions for happiness would be vaporized in the fear of God’s Holiness.

FEAR as in sheer panic and fright.

We read about the fear of the Lord, and want to apologize for it, or at the very least redefine it.

“Well… when we say fear we mean awe, and adoration...”

No… we don’t get that right. We don’t get to define who He is.

He said, “I AM WHO I AM”, not I AM WHO YOU WANT ME TO BE.”

So when MOses approached the Great I AM, God said, “Take your shoes off boy… this is Holy Ground.

Uzziah presumed upon the knowledge of god, and it cost him his life.

But turn with me now to Isaiah 6.

The Response of Isaiah

Isaiah 6:1 (ESV)

In the year that King Uzziah died...

Now hang on! how did Uzziah die!? Presuming upon the Holiness of God, and in his pride stepping into God’s presence to burn insence with a censer.

Alright, keep reading

Isaiah 6:1 ESV

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.

Picture the scene now… the roof has been ripped off, and the GREAT IAM is sitting on his throne, and just the train of his robe filled the temple.

But that’s not all!

Isaiah 6:2 ESV

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.

The Seraphim (angelic beings that are constantly before the presence of God) stood COVERED.

as if concealing themselves as much as possible, in recognition of their unworthiness to stand in the presence of one so Holy!

Are you picturing the scene yet! But that’s not all.

Isaiah 6:3 ESV

And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

The Seraphim, who stand before the presence of god, day and night as REvelation says, continually cry out one thing and one thing alone!

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!

Church this is so huge! We have to understand something here.

The Hebrew language and Bible writers used repetition to express a superlative.

For example, when in 2 Kings 25 the writer described gold as pure gold the Hebrew reads, “Gold, Gold.” Repetition to express emphasis.

Another example, when Jesus says, “Truly, Truly, I say to you...” He’s saying… THIS IS TRUE BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT. He’s expressing direct emphasis on the truth of something.

Now listen, in Scripture there is only one superlative repeated 3 times!

In Scripture, only one quality is raised to the power of 3, as if to say the holiness of God is so far behind anything the human mind can imagine that a super superlative has to be created just to express it!

R.C. Sproul says, “Teh Bible doesn’t say God is holy… or holy, holy, but is holy, holy holy! Not love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, but holy, holy holy! A dimension of God that is totally true of HIs eseence.

He is utterly unapproachable.

And keep reading, when God’s Holiness comes into the scene

Isaiah 6:4 ESV

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

sinful creation and creature alike begin to shake!

The customary reaction of the created order to the unfiltered presence of God is a shaking!

And the foundations of the temple begin to shake, and the house is filled with smoke.

And look at Isaiah

Isaiah 6:5 ESV

And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Isaiah is shook.

He says, “I am ruined!” Because in the presence of the Holiness of God, we immediately recognize the seriousness of sins, and how utterly unapproachable God is to us broken, undone, sinners.

Sin

This is the only proper response to the Holiness of God.

But do we respond that way?

Do we view our sin as an affront to the Holiness of God?

I meet with people all the time, who grieve over sin. But usually its a grief over the consequences of their sin.

Consequences it creates in marriage, or other relationships, or even their personal conscience.

But we have to dig deeper. The foundation must go further, to support the structure of our faith.

Our sin, more than an affront to others, or an affront to conscience, is an affront to GOD.

A God, who is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.

We want the foundation that Paul writes of: Jesus Christ

But the work of Christ on the Cross isn’t a good foundation, without a more serious view of Sin, and Sin will never be viewed seriously until we are confronted with the Holiness of God.

Consequently, the beginning of our foundation in the faith. Begins here.

Do you know this God?

Or have you come Scripture and said, “Aaron… up! Make us a god that is easier to digest. One that is a bit more approachable. One that gets me. That can meet me where I am.”

No, no, no… We must first perceive and accept that God is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, and consequently He is totally unapproachable by you.

In fact, in light of his Holiness, you don’t deserve to live.

“Yea, but I’m not as bad as my spouse...” You think that excuse will stand before a God whom even the angels cannot see?

“Yea, but its just a lie. It’s just a little too much drink. It’s just a little look at pornography. It’s just a little foul language. It’s just a _________.

You think that will work before a God that is a consuming fire like ours!?

Church, this is the beginning point for our foundation. And the quicker you can become undone becuase of your sin in the presence of the holiness of God, the quicker the Gospel becomes good news.

Conclusion

And I hate to leave you on this mark, but I think it’s really important for us to revive a little reverence to the Great I AM, and you’ll just have to come back next week to hear how we can actually approach a God without presumptoin, and without being killed on the spot.

Because it’s possible. And it’s really good news.

As I said previously… the attribute of God’s Holiness does not negate or contradict other attributes, like love or mercy.

But it is in the understanding of God’s Holiness that magnifies his other attribtues like love and mercy.

So we are going to close this morning, with God’s holiness on our mind and on our lips.

We’re going to sing the hymn Holy, Holy, Holy, and I pray we get a vision for Who he really is!

Prayer

Knees?

Romans 11:33 ESV

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Isaiah 40:25–29 ESV

To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see Only Thou art holy There is none beside Thee Perfect in power, in love and purity

Oh God, we are undone before you. Woe are we, for we are lost. We are men and women of unclean lips, and we dwell in the midst of unclean lips, for our eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.

Give us eyes to see you for who you are, so that we can truly accept and worship you for how good you are. Thank you for your mercy, and the great gift that was your HOLY son Jesus Christ, may we get a glimpse of your holines, and cherish Christ’s sacrifice for all eternity. Amen.