The Holiness of God

REVELATION 4:8

PASTORAL PRAYER

Church

Gratitude for HHFBC

Community

More people in Huber Heights would grasp the holiness of God.

Repent of their sin and throw themselves on Christ and his holiness.

Other churches

Providence Church (Westerville, OH)

Linworth Baptist Church (Worthington, OH)

Centerville Christian Fellowship (Dayton, OH)

Nation/World

Maui

Mexico & Southern California (Hurricane Hilary)

INTRO

Greeting from the saints at Citizens Church!

Thank you for your continued prayers.

Planted in December 2020.

The Lord has kindly sustained us.

Added a PT staff role.

Discipleship taking place.

Seeing fruit.

Leaders being raised up.

Lord willing, moving into a new building this Fall!

Please continue to pray for us.

School year starting…

Class syllabus

Problem - You have to find a way to get this stuff done

Aim - This is what you’re expected to do

Assurance - Here’s how much each assignment is worth and how you’ll be graded

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a syllabus for life?

The holiness of God informs our problem, our aim, and our assurance.

Context

The Apostle John was in exile on the island of Patmos (off the cost of present-day Turkey).

He experiences a series of visions.

One of which includes a glimpse into God’s throne room.

SCRIPTURE READING

Revelation 4:1–8 (ESV)

1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

(v.8) Outline:

GOD WAS HOLY

GOD IS HOLY

GOD WILL BE HOLY

To be fair, the “was, is, will be” outline is true of all of God’s attributes...

He was loving, is loving, and will be loving.

He was all-knowing, is all-knowing, and will be all-knowing.

Etc.

But the fact that the four living creatures tie God’s holy nature to the past, present, and future does make me feel justified in using this outline.

GOD WAS HOLY

What does “holy” mean?

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty...”

Definition: Holiness implies absolute moral purity and separateness above the creation (ESV SB)

As Creator, God has always been separate from his creation.

He’s also separate because he’s altogether righteous.

And he always has been...

God’s past holiness informs our present problem.

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

who was...”

“Holy, holy, holy...”

Repeating “holy” 3x intensifies the emphasis that he is holy.

Interesting… no other attribute of God is emphasized in this way.

Only once in sacred Scripture is an attribute of God elevated to the third degree. Only once is a characteristic of God mentioned three times in succession. The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or wrath, wrath, wrath, or justice, justice, justice. It does say that he is holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory.

R. C. Sproul (The Holiness of God)

The fact that God was holy helps us understand our current predicament.

God created Adam & Eve and commanded them to:

Tend the garden

Don’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil

But they rebelled against that command, sinning against God.

Because God is morally pure, he can’t dwell with sin. Ps. 5:4 “4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.”

Adam & Eve’s sin meant that God could no longer dwell with them.

Making the chasm between Creator and creation even larger.

A chasm that still exists today.

SUMMARY: God’s past holiness (moral purity) requires a divide between him and sinful humanity. Which is our present problem.

GOSPEL:

However, God has never been indifferent to that divide.

In fact, he’s been planning from eternity past to bridge that divide.

God was holy, and the only way back into his holy presence is by... (1) removing the sin that separates us, and (2) acquiring an equivalent holiness.

Jesus does both for us.

No created being could match God’s holiness.

So God entered humanity... John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

He lived the holy life we were made to live.

He paid the penalty for sin that we should have paid.

However, that future promise is not yet our reality in this present, fallen world. So how are we to live in the meantime?

GOD IS HOLY

God’s present holiness informs our present aim.

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

who was and is...

God is just as holy today as he ever has been.

B/C God is holy, if we’ve been united to him through Christ, we’re called to holiness!

1 Pet 1:15-16 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

“Christian” = Christ-follower

We strive to follow Christ in holiness.

Not to earn our salvation.

But to glorify our Savior.

God made humanity in his image (Gen. 1:27).

We glorify him simply by existing.

Which is why Christians seek to defend life (pre-born; sick; elderly)

Our existence glorifies God even more when our it reflects the nature of our Creator.

December 17, 1903 - The Wright brothers achieved flight, being the first to successfully fly a powered airplane with a pilot on board.

The fact that 120 years later commercial airplanes exist is glorious testament to the Wright brothers’ design.

When its existence is used to safely transports ~6M people/day, it further highlights the goodness behind the Wright brothers’ design.

But when that same plane is used as a weapon to bring down a building, that dishonors the creator’s original design.

In the same way, when those created in God’s image pursue what they were designed for (reflecting God in holiness), it glorifies God!

Because God is holy, we’re called to pursue holiness.

Isn’t that a bit legalistic, Rob? After all, we’re not saved by our works, right?

Right, we’re not saved by our works.

However, don’t confuse faithfulness with legalism.

Legalism is doing works for salvation.

Faithfulness is obedience as a result of salvation.

It’s faithful, not legalistic, to pursue holiness.

If you’re a Christian...

You worship a holy God.

You follow a holy Savior.

You’re indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

SUMMARY: Because God is presently holy, we presently pursue holiness.

GOSPEL: Only possible through Christ, who gives us his Holy Spirit.

Christian:

Don’t flinch at the call to be holy. Holiness is our standard.

Remember that you’re accepted by God NOT b/c of your own holiness, but b/c you’re wearing Christ’s holiness.

Easy to go down a path thinking, “Oh I need to be holy so God will accept me...”

Your holiness has never made you acceptable before God.

Your holiness will never make you acceptable before God.

The only reason you’re acceptable before God is b/c you’re wearing CHRIST’S holiness!

Relentlessly fight against sin. Be putting it to death!

Do you mortify [sin]? Do you make it your daily work? Be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.

John Owen (17th century theologian)

Q’s for a trusted friend over lunch:

How do you put sin to death?

Sexual sin

Covetousness

Slothfulness

Fear of man

Selfishness

Non-Christian:

Who/What is your standard?

What do you find yourself measuring your life against?

Friends

Coworkers

Family

Neighbors

Instagram

YouTube

TV

Podcast

Books/Magazines

Each of those things repeatedly falls short. Rather than cycling through the next one, consider gazing at God’s holiness. He was holy, he is holy, and…

GOD WILL BE HOLY

God’s future holiness informs our present assurance.

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

who was and is and is to come!”

Our holy God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8).

He does not change as we change. James 1:17 …with [God] there is no variation or shadow due to change.

He’s already perfect in every way.

If he changed at all, it would by necessity need to be a change from perfection to imperfection.

SHARP

God’s holiness will be the standard by which we are judged.

SUMMARY: Because God’s future holiness is the same as his past and present holiness, we can be assured that Christ’s holiness will forever be sufficient.

GOSPEL: What Christ has accomplished is sufficient for eternity. It is finished!

Christian:

Let the thought of God’s future holiness fill your heart with hope.

Non-Christian:

You come face-to-face with God’s holiness someday. Don’t underestimate it.

Isaiah - “I am undone!” (Isaiah 6:5)

Habakkuk - “...my body trembles; my lips quiver… rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me...” (Hab. 3:16)

Job - “…I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:6)

(RC Sproul/John Calvin): the uniform report of sacred Scripture is that every human being who is ever exposed to the holiness of God trembles in His presence.

CONCLUSION

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

The holiness of God informs our problem, our calling, and our assurance.

ALL:

God is holy and we are not. That’s a problem.

CHRISTIAN (those trusting in Christ as the solution to that problem):

Your aim is to be holy as God is holy.

NON-CHRISTIAN:

God has shown you mercy by giving you the opportunity to call on Christ as the solution to your holiness problem.

The basic theological problem is that this holy God desires to have fellowship with sinful humans living in a fallen world. Since God cannot become less holy in order to fellowship with humans, they must become more holy… (Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, 598).

In Christ, that required holiness was provided on the cross.

The Holy One of God died in the place of sinners…

NOTES

There is a kind of sequence within the [Lord’s] prayer. God’s kingdom will never come where His name is not considered holy. His will is not done on earth as it is in heaven if His name is desecrated here. In heaven the name of God is holy. It is breathed by angels in a sacred hush. Heaven is a place where reverence for God is total. It is foolish to look for the kingdom anywhere God is not revered. (The Holiness of God, RC Sproul, 16)