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Read Isaiah 6:1-6
This is a very familiar story. It is the prophet Isaiah's Call to Ministry. In this vision God is revealed in a very special way. The angelic choir sang a song which manifested the nature of God as Holy. In fact, the hymn we sang was composed from this passage "Holy, Holy, Holy."
What does Holiness mean? When we say God is a Holy God, what are we declaring. What are the implications of that fact that God is holy? Isaiah saw God as Holy and it changed him. Isaiah was never the same after that.
Knowing God as holy is spiritually significant. It is my prayer that we would all have a common experience in the four messages on this great subject and that we would all see God as holy and that this may dramatically and radically change us.
Outline:
The Meaning of Holiness
Definition
Application: We will come back to Isaiah What affect did knowing God as Holy have upon Isaiah.
1. Definition of Holiness:
When you seek to define a word you attempt to find its root. You try to discover when the word was first used and what was its original sense. Holiness comes from a Hebrew root which means "to set apart, to separate, to divide one thing from another."
So a holy person is one who is divided from other persons, that is, divided in the sense of being marked off, set apart, separated from others.
Holiness is used in two ways in the Scripture:
Both ideas are present in the word, the context determines which aspect is being emphasized.
(1) Non-moral aspect: Here we have the idea of the Greatness of God. He is separate from His creation. He is a Holy God and that quality makes Him unique. The idea is that He is incomparable.
Non-moral aspect - God is Holy means God is incomparable.
(2) Moral aspect: Here we have the idea of the goodness of God God is free of sin, of defects, of impurities of any kind. . God is incorruptible.
Moral aspect - God is Holy means God is incorruptible.
This is the general way in which holiness is understood. Our English word "Holy" comes from the word "whole" meaning free of defect, disease, deformity, and describes that which is healthy, perfect, complete and sound. Somewhere along the way the "w" was dropped, thus our present spelling.
But both aspects of this word are present in the word "Holy." God is Holy and is divided from other persons because He is incomparable and incorruptible.
The idea of God as incomparable and unrivaled is brought out in a number of passages:
Isaiah 40:25 God speaks to Israel through Isaiah the Prophet:
To whom then will you liken me or (to whom) shall I be equal, saith THE HOLY ONE.
God desires to know from the people of God what idol compares to Him. The background of this inquiry is idolatry. Israel sought to be like other nations. She wanted to have a god she could see and touch and this resulted in the foolishness and folly of idolatry. Here is a nation who possesses the unique God of the Universe, the only true and living God. He is incomparable and unique. -- the HOLY One. Here we see the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Sin causes our minds to become distorted and perverse. Paul spoke of this Romans 1:23,25:
Who changed the glory of an incorruptible God into an image made like unto corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever, Amen.
Israel sought to fashion their gods out of a lump of cheap coal, or carve His image in a piece of granite, or whittle a hunk of wood in order to be like other nations, in direct defiance of the 1st commandment.
God strongly prohibited this in Exodus 20 the 1st commandment to Israel.
You shall have no other gods before Me. Exodus 20:3
How can you compare the unique God of the universe to a fish, like the god dagon of the Phillistines, or to a quadroped, like the golden bull of Bashan, or to some astrological symbol.
Isn't it interesting that man takes the things that God has Created, and worships it. It doesn't take a whole lot of intelligence to recognize that the Creator of the thing must be greater than the thing He created. Yet, that is precisely the point. Sin has so affected the thinking of man that he goes in every direction but toward God. So in the midst of this folly, God says: "To whom will you liken me or to whom shall I be equal, says the HOLY ONE.
Isaiah records God's revelation of Himself as unique and incomparable.
Isaiah 45:21 God declares: "and there is no God apart from Me. a righteous God and a Savior, and there is no other. . . . " There is only one true and living God.
Isaiah 45:18: God says, "I am Jehovah and there is none other. " He is the unique and only God in this universe.
Isaiah 46:9 "Remember the former things of old: for I am Elohim and there is none other, I am Elohim and there is none like me. "
The mother of the great prophet Samuel sang :
There is none Holy as the Lord, because there is none besides thee, Nor is their any rock like our God. 1 Samuel 2:2
He is incomparable, for He and only He exists, He is a Holy God
Principle:
God's holiness is equated with the idea of uniqueness. God is a Holy God - He is different and distinct from everything else in creation, for He is the unique and incomparable Creator of this world.
2nd aspect:
God is untouched and unstained by the evil in the world:
The second way the Holiness of God is defined is in its moral aspect. When we say that God is Holy - often the idea is that God is free of sin or defect.
1 John 1:5 God is light, and in Him is no darkness, not one bit.
James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempt He any man. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights in whom is no variableness, neither shadow or turning.
Several times God declares His own Holiness in comparison with man's sinfulness:
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that He should repent, hath He said and shall He not do it.
Isaiah 55:8 For my thought are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.
This follows God's call to Israel. . . Let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. . . God's thoughts and God's ways are perfect, pure, without sin. In fact what is sin? Sin is anything that is contrary to the Holiness of God. Sin is anything that is unlike the character of God. This very perfection sets the standard for what is sin.
Principle
God's holiness is equated with the idea of purity. God is absolutely free from anything wicked or evil.
Application: Back to Isaiah 6:1-6
When Isaiah saw the majesty, holiness, and glory of God he realized that he was a sinner He felt inadequate. He could not measure up to the purity of God's holiness. His impurity was intensified and magnified in the presence of God. It humbled him.
Dr. Bonar once said that he could tell when a Christian was growing. In proportion to his growth in grace he would elevate his Master, talk less of what he himself was doing, and become smaller and smaller in his own esteem, until, like the morning star, he faded away before the rising sun. (quoted by D.L. Moody(1)
Copernicus' Desire
Copernicus was a great mathematician. His studies and calculations revolutionized the thinking of mankind about the universe. When he lay dying, The Revolution of the Heavenly Body was placed in his hands. It had just been printed. At death's door, he saw himself, not as a great scholar, or astronomer, but only as a sinner in need of the Saviour.
On the tombstone at his grave at Frauenberg are carved the following words which he chose for his epitaph: "I do not seek a kindness equal to that given to Paul. Nor do I ask the grace granted to Peter. But that forgiveness which Thou didst grant to the robber--that, earnestly I crave!"(2)
God is Holy He is different, distinct or unique and therefore worthy of our reverence, honor, and worship. He becomes a treasure of great value. When you see God as Holy, as incomparable and unique, nothing in this life, no detail of this life can steal your heart, turn your head, or keep you from loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. We like Isaiah must have a vision of God as the Holy One.
When we see the greatness of God, for He is holy, we praise and exault Him.
When we see the Goodness of God, for He is Holy, we see ourselves as helpless and hopeless.
Summarize:
1. Holiness is that divine perfection in God that makes Him unique. He is a Holy God in that He is different and distinct from all other persons and things. He is incomparable and absolutely unique.
2. God's holiness is equated with the idea of purity. God is absolutely free from anything wicked or evil.
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1. Tan, Paul Lee, Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations, (Garland, Texas: Bible Communications, Inc.) 1996.