The Holiness of God

well, when you were young,

What did you think? God looks like. You know, maybe some of us have seen the picture in the Sistine Chapel of, you know, that the picture of God God's hand touching hands with, is it Moses in the picture? And, you know, I think of think of will God must have a Long White Beard. What did you think? I'd look like when you were young and someone was trying to explain God to you. Any ideas? Any any thoughts?

I thought God's voice must sound like James Earl Jones when I was a kid because I had seen the Star Wars movie. You know, that came out in what 1977. And so, you know, I was watching that as a young kid then and think he will if God has a voice it's probably got to sound like, you know, James Earl Jones, Darth Vader, voice or something like that.

But it's interesting to think about what God is. Like, I was eating some grapes this morning for breakfast and in the package on two graves, had a little figurine of an Angel and below the figurine of an Angel. It said, Divine flavor, they can get away with it and I had ordered also I had ordered a screen protector for the screen in my in my car and the label on the on the package said protection of God. And so this was such a good screen protector that it was labeled the protection of God well I guess we can get away with things like that but it's interesting to think what God is like. And it's a good reason to study the attributes of God because this is not a dry theological exercise. I want us to remember that, this isn't just an exercise in here is some special words of theology that we need to Define and understand. The reason that we study the attributes of God, it's because what we believe about God has a large influence on how we respond to events in our lives.

Like anything, what you really essentially believe about your family? Determines how you respond to your family? what you really believe about God determines in a large Park, how you respond to things in your life, for example, if you believe that God is a loving father, truly believe that And you think that God really knows what I need before, I ask him will that has an influence on how you pray?

If you believe that Jesus is the Good Shepherd that can I trust God to take care of me in all situations, then that should have an effect on how you respond to different situations in your life. If you believe that Jesus is your Lord and Master, then you would say well yes, I am willing to obey what he tells me to do in his work. If you believe that God is a is a jealous God that he is a consuming fire, that he is a holy God, then that should have an effect on how we look at sin. We should have a revulsion, we should have a hatred of sin, we should have a repulsing impulse when it comes to send. If we believe that God is a consuming fire. If we believe that our God is a jealous God, one of the things I was reading this week was about the Holiness of God and you'll be thankful that I saved you, having to read 100 pages of Stephen charnock. The existence and attributes of God written in sometime in the mid-1600s, but he has 100 page chapter. On the Holiness of God. And he says this about Sin, he says God is Holy in the sense that he is a part. From all city is morally pure and he says our sins shows are holy or Unholy anus. Arson shows are the fact that we are separate from God because of our sin, but he says, not only our sin. He says the fact that we Delight in send is just as bad as the sin itself. the fact that we Delight in beating the system in some sense in in in, getting away with something, Shows how Unholy we are. Not only the sin itself.

The fact that God knows all things, does that make me more or less likely to ask him for wisdom? See, it's easy to think that our mind. God knows all things. But then we think, will I mean, God's kind of absent from my situation. So do I really need to ask him for wisdom? Or we think our wisdom is better than God's. You know, sometimes we get up and we think we need to remind God how to run the universe. And God has been preserving and upholding the universe as we've been sleeping. But without any of our advice, but wisdom is theological and biblical knowledge applied to life. So, looking at the attributes of God is not something that's dry, that's something that should have an effect on how we live because, how, what we believe about God, ultimately determines how we respond to life. Now, if you're taking notes, you might want to jot down just a sentence or two about some of these preliminary thoughts. First, God is in comprehensible incomprehensible. That is human. Beings are unable to completely comprehend or understand God, that's one of the first things that that theologians will point out that is in comprehensible. No, finite human being can completely understand God, yet, we can understand true. Things about God, named Lee. What he is revealed in scripture named Lee what he has revealed in creation. So he's in comprehensible yet, we can know true, things about God. Secondly is the idea of the unity of God. Some of the older theology books. Call this God's simplicity not in this in the sense of being simple and being easy to understand. But in terms of being unified, God has one Essence yet he exists in three persons. That's the concept we call the Trinity, right? God is Triune. He is Unified. He has one Divine Essence, yet. He exist in three persons.

What that also means is that we don't add up certain pieces of God to make up God. So it's not as if each of the attributes of God, we can sort of put in a in a mathematical formula and add them all up. And then that equals God, I know God is each of his attributes 100% entirely all of the time. That is the unity of God means that every one of his attributes exist in full measure, along with every other attribute. God is entirely loving, he is entirely just and entirely. Holy God is a unified spirit. The Lord Our God. The Lord is one Deuteronomy, 6 verse 4. So we may see different aspects of God. We may see different attributes of God, emphasized in different parts of the Bible that we need to remember that. God is an undivided Transcendent, infinite spiritual being who is also personal And that's amazing. that God is is above all things and yet he is personal The Westminster Shorter Catechism in answer to the question. What is God says this God is a spirit infinite Eternal unchangeable in his being in his wisdom, power Holiness, Justice goodness, and Truth And that's just a start.

Now, another helpful distinction, as we look at the attributes of God is what generally Scholars called God's, incommunicable attributes and God's communicable attribute. So for example of communicable attribute would be an attribute that God shares with us to some degree. We Are Made In His Image. Human beings are made in God's image. So, we share certain attributes with God to a degree. So, communicable attribute, would communicable attribute. Excuse me, would be loving. God is love, and we can be loving sometimes. God is just, we can be just to a degree. God is personal, we have the capacity for personal relationships. God is merciful, we can be merciful, but then there's other attributes. That apply only to God himself. God's incommunicable attributes. So the idea of God's Independence That God doesn't need anything else to exist. The, the old word for that is God's aseity. God is independent. He is he is, he does not need anything else to exist before, anything existed. God existed, you know, when kids ask the question, if you're explaining God to them, kids usually a school who made God you know you're telling a child, you know, God made the trees God made the Stars God made the oceans, God made the fish and of course, the people who made God, Well, don't be stumped, just go to the scriptures. God always existed. In the beginning, God created. What was before the beginning? God, God was always existed. So he has incommunicable attributes attributes that he doesn't share with us like being unchangeable or immutable and eternal Would be just a start. So I think that's generally a good distinction and thinking about the attributes of God, Listen to how Billy Graham answered. This question someone someone wrote him and said I'm 9 years old. I'd like to ask you a question. What does God look like, has anyone ever seen God? And this is a very, very good I think. Insightful answer, thank you for your questions and I hope you'll never lose your interest in God and what he wants you to do with your life. The most important decision any person will ever make is the decision to follow Jesus and let him guide them through life. The Bible tells us that God isn't like us. He doesn't have a body nor has he made of Flesh and Bones. Instead he is a spiritual being and because he is a spirit, we can't see him with our physical eyes. We can see the results of what he does in the world around us, but we can't see him. That is why the Bible says that? No one has ever seen God. The Bible tells us, however, something very important, we can know what God is like because at one point in time, he came down from heaven and became a man that man was Jesus Christ, who was both fully. God and fully man. Do you want to know what God is? Like, look at Jesus? As he is revealed in the pages of the New Testament because he was God in human flesh. I think that's a very good answer to a child's question of what, what is what does God look like? Well look to Jesus. now, as we look at this aspect of Holiness and Isaiah chapter 6, Holiness is prominent all throughout the Old Testament but in Isaiah chapter 6 its prominent because it's repeated 3 times and this description of God. Holy holy holy that's not used of anything else in scripture that's only used of God. And in the Hebrew word, the Hebrew word for Holy is kadosh To be marked off to be set apart to be hallowed. So when we pray, the Lord's prayer, Our Father in heaven Hallowed, be your name. It's it's essentially saying, may your name be regarded as holy? Or hagiazo in Greek to be made holy to be sanctified.

Let me put this in a simple illustration for us. All of us have sets of dishes or utensils at home where we live? Some of the common everyday dishes, right? If we don't want to load the dishwasher, we say hey we're going to bring out the paper plates tonight, right? Make things a little easier. We have common everyday dishes, but we probably have some other dishes. Some special utensils that are the special occasion dishes and utensils, right? Are you might have a special platter or serving Fork? That's only used at Thanksgiving when you have turkey or you might have a fancy set of glasses or goblets that you use for a special family celebration or toast. Where could be a special tablecloth. That is an heirloom to your family. That's rarely used. Well in a manner of speaking, those things are the holy things. There are things that are set apart from the rest of your common items you use them on special occasions. They're kept separately, maybe they're even wrapped up separately in a special cloth or special drawer. So we get this idea of set apart or marked off right in the beginning of Genesis chapter 2 verse 3 verse 1 through 3. We can read this together.

Does the heavens and earth were finished and all the host of them and on the seventh day, God finish the work that he had done and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. Let's read the last verse here. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it. God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. So what was different about the seventh day? God was finished creating and he rested every other day of creation God created. But he set apart the seventh day as holy and so the Hebrews were to remember the Sabbath because they were told to remember the Sabbath and what keep it holy because by they were to do that by resting because what they did on the 7th day was marked off, was separate from what they did on the rest of the six days.

Listen, whatever you might think of Chick-fil-A. They have made clear that what they do on the 7th day is not the same as what they do on the other 6 days. They have marked it off as holy day of, Mark it off as separate, distinct. In their actions, they're closed on Sunday. Exodus chapter 3 gives us. Another example of this. When the Lord saw this is the Lord appearing to Moses. In Exodus chapter 3. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see God Called to him out of the Bush, Moses Moses and he said, here, I am, then he said, do not come in here. Take your sandals, off your feet for the place on which you are standing. Is Holy Ground. And he said, I am the god of your father, the god of Abraham, the god of Isaac, and the god of Jacob and Moses. Hid his face for, he was afraid to look at god. Notice the same reaction as the seraphim. The Angelic beings had and Isaiah chapter 6. They were not looking at god with two Wings. They covered their eyes. He says, take off your sandals because where you are is Holy Ground.

Now, what was special about the dirt and some way was it marked off with a different color? It with a different structure? No. The ground was holy because that's where God was. His all-consuming blazing Glory. Moses hid his face and he couldn't look at God. It was set apart.

So let's look at some of the details in the text of Isaiah chapter 6, verses 1 through 4.

Above him, stood the seraphim, each had six wings with two. He covered his face 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 and the foundations of the threshold Shook at the voice of him who called and the house was filled with smoke.

Now first of all, where is the lord? Well, in verse one, it says I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe, filled the temple. The Lord is on a throne, he's hi, he's lifted up, he is in charge his Angelic beings the seraphim, the burning ones essentially, as what that means, they were shielding their faces. And crying out to one another. Holy holy holy, that's only used of God in Scripture. And Isaiah sees God's Majesty. He sees only the Hem of God's robe.

The train of his robe. Filled the temple. I'm wondering how big was the actual robe. if the train of his robe filled the temple,

What happened? When God spoke the foundation shook a force greater than Bedrock? You ever been at a train station? When it when a large train goes by, you know, the ground starts vibrating. The foundations of the temple, shook up our to shake your bones, to Rattle your teeth and the second, the temple filled with smoke, it was a physical manifestation of God's glory.

So what is God's holiness will God's holiness? Is that essential other nasung? God's nature. He is separate. And by implication above, all of his creatures and his creation God is set apart. He is Holy, he is transcendent over all things. God, does not simply have a different title than the rest of creation. He has a being of a completely different existence, a completely different ordered, a different class of existence. We might say in our day in common language, we might say, God is God and I am not. That's a simple way of illustrating God's holiness. God is God. And I am not. He is he is a different kind of being

The mistake of a materialistic worldview that says this that matter is all that exists. Is that we look around and we see God's glory imprinted on creation And then we say we're self. Well if God exists, he must be similar to all the rest of this.

I know God is on an entirely different plane of existence. you know what, I first realized that when I was a young person, our band High School band, took a trip to Niagara Falls, And we didn't go down in the boat, where you can go to the, the bottom of the falls. What is it? The Maid of the Mist or the, the boat there. But we went behind the falls and there's a, I guess like a open Cavern part where you can go behind the falls and you can look out and you see the water, you know, cascading in front of you. And of course they have these huge signs. You know, don't go any further than this and all that. But you start to walk closer and the closer you walk the louder, the sound of the water is and the Mist is, you know, kind of hitting you in the face. And, you know, you kind of get this sense of vibration from the millions and millions of gallons of water pouring down. That's, that's the kind of sense that you get of God's holiness of his complete other nurse than the rest of his creation. He is the one who made it all.

John Calvin wrote this. He said there is not an atom in the universe in which you cannot see some brilliant. Spark of God's glory. There's not an atom in the universe in which you cannot see some brilliant. Spark of God's glory. Psalm 121 my eyes look to the mountains from where does my help? Come. My eyes look to the mountains. As far as I can see, is high, as I can see. Where does my help come from? Not from the mountains. My help comes from the Lord who made Heaven and Earth. My help comes from someone above this. From the one who made every Greenleaf. The Lord of Israel does not Slumber or sleep. He is eternal. So, God's holiness is his essential other nacelle God's nature. He is separate. And by implication above all of his creation, Now, an interesting fact about this passage in Isaiah is that Jesus refers to this passage and John chapter 12 where this is John chapter 12 is the climax of those who oppose Jesus and their he's confronting them about their unbelief and it says, therefore, they could not believe. For again, Isaiah said he has blinded their eyes and hardened, their hearts lest, they see with their eyes and understand with her heart and turn and I would heal them. Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Isaiah said, these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Isaiah saw the glory of God and heard the seraphim calling out. Holy holy, holy is the Lord. And so Isaiah's vision of God's holiness shows the other aspect of God's holiness not only is God completely separate and above all of his creation. But God's holiness is his complete, moral Purity, his perfect and unpolluted freedom from all evil. And at that definition I'm taking from Steven charnock's book chapter on the Holiness of God.

Who will, Who will not fear a Lord, and glorify your name for you alone. Are Holy, All Nations will come and worship you for your righteous acts. Have been revealed, Revelation 15 verse 4, Charnock writes this in his huge volume. He says no creature can be essentially. Holy Holiness is the substance of God. God is infinitely. Holy creatures are finitely. Holy He says it is like the light of a glow worm compared to the light of the Sun.

It's a complete completely different level. The light of a lightning bug compared to the light of the Sun. Any rights 100 pages on the Holiness of God? And where does he start? Exodus 15, who is Like You? O Lord, Majestic and Holiness, awesome and glorious Deeds doing wonders. That's Moses's song of victory over pharaoh and his army. Why would he start there? Why would why would this, you know, the Puritans were known for their long chapters and their long books and the longer you make the title. The more important, the book seemed, you know, but why would he start a whole series of thoughts on the Holiness of God, in Exodus chapter 15? God's victory over pharaoh. It is because God's holiness also demands his wrath and his judgment upon sin.

His judgment upon anything that is impure or unclean or on anyone who opposes God. So again, look again at Isaiah chapter 6 verses 5 through 7. What is Isaiah's reaction to God's holiness 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 mine eyes. Have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. Then one of the seraphim flew to me having in his hand of burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. any touch my mouth and said, behold, this is touch your lips, your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for

That's beautiful, isn't it? It's beautiful that God atones for his sin. But what does Isaiah recognize first? He recognizes the Holiness of God that he is in pure. Okay. This is going back a few years. How many of you remember? The movie Wayne's World Wayne's World, right? The two guitar players, right? What are the actors Dana Carvey? And yeah, that's right. And they they have they worship this one particular band or a couple of different bands and they get in the presence of this awesome guitar player and what do they do? They bow down and what did they say? We're not worthy. We're not worthy, right? That's what Isaiah saying. Isaiah saying that not because he doesn't have a particular skill that God has I mean, that was that that was the idea of the movie is that they were aspiring guitar. Players know, he is saying I'm not worthy because I am sinful. God's standard of holiness. It's so we cannot get a glimpse of God's holiness without recognizing our own. Sinfulness our own done, holding us our own on unclean. This. I'm a man of unclean lips. Where do unclean lips come from? What does Jesus say? Just what proceeds from the mouth comes out of the Heart, right? He says, for out of the heart come evil thoughts.

Matthew chapter 15, but what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart and this defiles a person, her out of the heart. Come evil, thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual, immorality, theft false, witness slander. These are what defile a person. What to eat with unwashed hands? Does not defile anyone. They asked Jesus in a why do your disciples not do the ceremonial Washings like the Pharisees do before they eat? Jesus says it. That's not what defiles them. What comes out of a person's mouth from the heart is what the files? And so, when we see God's standards of Holiness in immediately reveals our hearts in her intentions doesn't it was trying to fix some fence boards at my house. Well, take a couple months now. But if you hold a board up a 2X for a fence board, you know, in and you try to get the straight ones. When you go into the store, right? You look at the pile and you say, okay, this one has a chip in it or whatever. And then you get the board, you hold it up and you look at it straight down the line. You can see whether it's warped to one side or another. You see how far it is skewed? I'm convicted when this happens, I'm convicted, when my wife and I when we meet someone new and we're trying to make conversation off and I will introduce myself and Emily and then I'll I'll say something jokingly. Just to try to make conversation and I'm convicted when why do I say something jokingly about my wife? When I'm introducing ourselves to another person. Because I think it's going to help the conversation. I'm convicted. When I do that, I shouldn't do that. Or when I post something on Facebook. Is it slanderous? Is it malicious? Is it full of anger? Is it poking fun? At a person?

The demand of God's holiness is that we need a cleansing of the heart and it has to be initiated by God. Noticed the angel is the one who takes the the coal from The Altar and comes to him and cleanses him.

In the Old Testament. If you read through the Book of Leviticus probably has the most instances of the word, holy in the Old Testament because it goes through all the rituals of what the Israelites had to do. Leviticus chapter, 16 the high priest, Aaron sacrifices a goat on behalf of the people and then he takes the blood of the goat into the most, holy place, the holy of holies. Behind the veil. It says any sprinkles the blood on the Ark of the Covenant and it was a sign that the people sin was forgiven, but it had to be repeated year after year. It had to be done over again. Answer. The question is, how can we gain access to God's holiness? And the good news is this. The ones for all sacrifice of Christ. Satisfies our need for holiness,

The ones for all sacrifice of Christ. Satisfies has satisfied. Our need for holiness.

Hebrews chapter 9 starts out talking about once, for all he offered himself, not he offered, Jesus offered his own blood not by bulls or goats, or some other means of sacrifice. But Hebrews chapter 10 for by a single offering, he has perfected for all time, those who are being sanctified

Those who are being Sanctified, we are all in the process of being Sanctified, but he through the sacrifice of Christ, has perfected us for all time. That's why scripture says that we can be presented before God as holy and blameless before him.

There's our positional Holiness, and there's our practical holiness. Are positional Holiness is Holy and blameless before the Lord, because of Christ Our practical Holiness. Well, that made ebenflow. And and that is not completed until we are in the presence of Christ. But Christ, meets our need for holiness. Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 19 through 22, therefore Brothers. Since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus by the New and Living Way that he open for us through the curtain and that is through his flesh. That's the significance of the curtain being torn in two when Jesus died on the cross, is that that access to the holy of holies to the most. Holy place, that access was now opened because Jesus gave his own flesh. And since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a True Heart in full Assurance of Faith with our hearts sprinkled clean, from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water and all God's people said together. Amen, that is our starting point. That is our starting point every Monday morning. That is our starting point every time we see something in life that throws us a curve ball. Thank goodness. We have a savior who has made away. He is not only the hot, our pie priest, but he is also the sacrifice himself.

So what do we offer in response? What we don't come to church with a grain offering or a burnt offering or or coming to sacrifice a goat or a bowl?

Christ's sacrifice was once for all. And so we offer the scripture talks about, we offer a Living Sacrifice.

Romans chapter 12, AP Lit, you therefore Brothers by the mercies, of God to resent your bodies as a Living Sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Christ is the Once for all sacrifice is so when we offer ourselves as living sacrifices God renews us As living sacrifices God, renews us as his servants. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. I love the way the message translation says that verse, I think it says something to the effect of don't let the World Press you into its mold.

That by testing you made dessert discern, what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. we ask God to fill us on a daily basis with his holy spirit to empower us, to do his will, and only his will listen to this prayer of offering ourselves to God, written by John Wesley.

I am no longer my own but yours. Put me to what you will. Rank me with whom you will. Put me to doing or put me to suffering. Let me be employed by you or late aside by you. Exalted, for you or brought low for you? Let Me Be. Me. Be empty. Let me have all things or let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and Disposal, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are mine and I am yours. So be it. And may the Covenant that I have made on Earth, that it be ratified in heaven.

We have good news brothers and sisters that Christ has satisfied. Our need for Holiness. Therefore, we offer ourselves to God knowing that we are starting from a position of being his holy beloved children. Let's do his will together. Let's pray.