The Holiness of God

Before we turn to our time of prayer, I want to concentrate our prayer tonight on the country of Ukraine.

And before I do, I just wanted to share a little insight that I was given.

As Rachel and I work with Mission to the World, we had a Zoom meeting on Friday night

with some other MTW missionaries who work and live in Ukraine and have very close connections with the church there.

So I just wanted to share some information as we pray specifically for them.

The missionaries that we know there have all moved west to the city of Lviv,

where most of them are set up to help provide humanitarian aid.

But also spoke specifically of those two.

There was actually a pretty good group from Kiev, the capital, and Odessa.

And they spoke there briefly about their knowledge of the church there and the needs of the church.

And really some points of encouragement even that I wanted to make known as we pray.

They said about a third of the church, those within the church, have left to try to seek shelter elsewhere.

About a third are there staying, whether travel is too hard or they're there to serve.

And about a third are enlisted to fight.

And they said really the neat thing that's happened for those that have remained in the church

is that they've been able to use their church.

A couple of them actually are on a ground floor or a basement level where they meet.

And so during these bombing raids, they've had people come down into their church building

where they have stayed and sought refuge for a few hours at a time, several times a day.

And so to see blessing come from that, to see people coming into the church building

where they are served by believers, served tea and food as they wait to be able to go back into their buildings

has really been just a neat testimony.

Also to see how they've been able to serve through providing food and provision to those in need.

And so let's just focus our prayer for them tonight, continue to remember them in need.

I got an email last night that said the pastor in Kiev is still there

and had every intention of preaching at their church this morning.

So I haven't heard anything since, but we can know that there are believers in Ukraine

that continue to meet together and continue to praise the Lord despite their circumstances.

So let's pray together this evening.

Lord, we thank you again for this opportunity to meet together this evening.

We know that it is a blessing to have the Sabbath, a day set apart for rest,

a day set apart for worship, to remember your goodness and your involvement in our lives.

And Lord, we recognize the ease in which we can meet the blessings of this building,

the blessings of fellowship without persecution, without the threat of war,

Lord, we thank you for the opportunity for our youth to meet tonight.

We thank you for all the activities that we have throughout the week where we can build community

and share life with one another and dig into your word together.

And Lord, we know that that is a blessing that comes from you

and that there are believers around the world who don't have such luxury of meeting together openly,

who may not have church building, who may be under threat of persecution and even war.

So Lord, tonight we pray and we lift up the church in Ukraine.

We know, Lord, that you are sovereign and in control.

And so Lord, we pray through this fighting and this war that you may strengthen the faith of believers throughout Ukraine.

We pray that they may be a great testimony to their neighbors,

that they may offer physical aid,

but also spiritual aid to many who are hurting,

who are many who are confused and scared.

Lord, we think especially of the church in Lviv, in Kiev,

these places that there is humanitarian crisis,

there is a real threat of life and injury.

But Lord, we thank you for the blessing that their church building still remains,

that they can open up the doors to allow people their safe haven,

that they can offer tea and food and shelter and clothing to those in need.

So Lord, we pray that you give them energy for the task ahead,

that you give them boldness in being able to share faith with their fellow Ukrainians.

Lord, give them great resolve in standing up for what is right and in the fight against evil.

Lord, we pray that you grant them safety,

not only the church, but many in Ukraine who are willing to stand for freedom,

who are willing to fight the oppressor.

Lord, we think of the many families and individuals,

women and children who are seeking to flee the country,

to seeking safe haven in other countries.

And we ask, Lord, for great response from other countries to receive these people,

to provide humanitarian aid.

Lord, we pray for many governments who have difficult decisions to make,

that may make these decisions with great wisdom, with great compassion.

And Lord, we even pray for the government of Russia.

We pray for great repentance.

We pray for a turning from what is evil to the turning of what is good.

We pray that you may convict.

We pray that you may assert your power,

that you may show yourself strong and sovereign over all.

We know that countries rise and fall,

but the word of the Lord stands forever.

And so we pray with that hope tonight.

May that be the hope of your church around the globe.

Thank you again for the blessing of meeting tonight.

And as we consider your holiness,

may that be a truth that sinks in deep into our hearts.

As we consider your character, God,

to recognize how far we are,

how far we fall from your glory.

And so we come confessing our sins,

knowing that you are quick to forgive,

knowing that you give us the righteousness of Christ.

So may that bring us great joy this evening.

Lord, we ask that you open our ears,

that you soften our hearts to the receiving of your word.

May it be beneficial to us all tonight.

We pray that you guide and direct me,

fill me with your spirit,

that your truth may go forth in power.

We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

As I should have mentioned at the beginning,

for those who haven't been with us the last few weeks,

the evening service is a little bit different

than what you may normally be used to.

That service itself is somewhat abridged

in order to allow us time to meet after the service,

after the sermon,

to have a time of discussion,

to think about these doctrines that we've been going through

and how they apply to our everyday life.

So after the sermon this evening,

we'll sing one more song and we'll break into groups.

We'd love to have those who are willing and able to stay.

If you have to leave, certainly we understand that.

But we'll be dividing into three groups

in different parts of the sanctuary.

So feel free to huddle up in any group

if you are able to do so.

So as I mentioned tonight,

we're going to be considering the holiness of God.

And we'll be looking specifically at Isaiah chapter 6.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

But before we turn to Isaiah 6,

I wonder if you've ever had an experience

that you've wanted to share with people,

but you just don't have the words to do it justice.

You know whatever you're going to say

is just not going to capture

just the experience that you had

or maybe something you saw.

I think a lot of times when we go on holiday,

we come home with pictures and stories

and we want to share with other people,

but it just doesn't completely translate.

Or maybe we may give a disclaimer

when we show our picture and say,

this is great, but man, you should have been there.

You should have seen how wonderful

or how incredible the scenery was.

I think there's probably been those stories

of those who have gone up to the highlands here in Scotland.

I think often of the United States,

that story is repeated.

I've heard it over and over again

when people have gone to the Grand Canyon.

I've never been there myself.

But people show me pictures, family or friends,

and they say, man, this just doesn't do it justice.

How vast it is, how wide it is,

how deep it is, the vibrant colors that you see.

And so I feel that I'm in a similar position tonight,

that I have this impossible task

of discussing with you the holiness of God.

And the thing is, the more that I feel like

I've prepared and studied this text,

the less equipped I feel to be able to communicate

the truth of this doctrine of the holiness of God.

Really, there's nothing I can say.

There's no emotion that I can express that.

I really feel like I can properly convey to you

the depth and the richness

and the glory of the holiness of God.

But that will be my task tonight.

And so when we think about the holiness of God,

you know, it's really not a controversial topic

within the church.

I don't think there's anyone here

that would question the holiness of God.

That's something we see in the scriptures.

That's something we talk about and sing about often.

But the thing is, I don't know how often

we really just meditate on that fact.

How well we really know what it means

when we say that God is holy.

And so that's what I want us to think about tonight.

I want us, even though we recognize the limitations

of our human mind and the human language,

for us to consider the holiness of God

and what that means for his people.

And so let's turn in the text, Isaiah 6.

We're going to be looking at the first eight verses.

It should be on the screen behind me.

In the year that King Uzziah died,

I saw the Lord high and exalted, seated on a throne.

And the train of his robe filled the temple.

Above him were seraphim, each with six wings.

With two wings they covered their faces.

With two they covered their feet.

And with two they were flying.

And they were calling to one another,

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.

The whole earth is full of his glory.

At the sound of their voices, the doorposts

and the threshold shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

Woe to me, I cried, I am ruined.

For I am a man of unclean lips

and I live among people of unclean lips.

And my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand,

which he had taken with tongs from the altar.

And with it he touched my mouth and said,

See, this has touched your lips.

Your guilt is taken away.

Your sin atoned for.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

Whom shall I send?

And who will go for us?

And I said, Here am I.

Send me.

This is the word of the Lord.

Will you pray with me again?

Lord, as we consider your holiness,

we see it seems to be an impossible task

and personally feel so ill-equipped to do it.

So we pray, Lord, by your grace,

you will give us understanding

that we may have your wisdom

to understand the depth of your glory and your might.

May we be overwhelmed by the reality of your holiness this evening,

we pray, Lord.

In Jesus' name, amen.

So what I want to do to this evening

as we consider the holiness of God

is consider a few things.

First, I want us to think about

what does that really mean, the holiness of God?

I want to define that term for us

and consider where we see it in Scripture.

So what does it really mean when we say that God is holy?

I want to consider and look at those features of holiness.

How do we describe it?

What effect does it have

in God's character?

And secondly, I want to look at the response of man.

What does that mean to us as believers

when we say that God is holy?

How does that affect our lives?

How are we to acknowledge it

and receive it and pursue it?

And so let's look first then at the holiness of God.

I think when we think about holiness often,

we may think about it in very simple terms

where we think about purity

or personal righteousness.

that when something's holy,

we think of it as being perfect.

And while that's true,

that is part of the meaning of this word.

There's a primary definition

that I think sometimes we don't always appreciate

that we see in the Scriptures.

This Hebrew word for holiness means to be separate,

to be cut off,

to be different.

And so that which is holy

is that which is other.

Something that is truly distinct and separate.

So when we call God holy,

we're saying that he is different

and totally unique from anything else.

He has no equal.

There is this absolute otherness

that he possesses.

And so we see this word holiness,

it's used not only to describe God

in the Old Testament,

but we see it elsewhere used.

If we look back in the Bible

when we think about the Ten Commandments,

the Fourth Commandment,

remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.

God set apart the Sabbath.

He set apart this day as a day of rest

that is supposed to be distinct

and different than the six other days of the week.

If we think of the term holiday,

it's a compound word for holy day.

It's a day of celebration

or a day of remembrance,

a day that is supposed to be different

and distinct than all the other days of the year.

If you think about Solomon's temple

that was built,

there was this inner portion of the temple

that was called the holy place.

It was a place that was supposed to be different

from the rest of the temple,

a place that only the priests went to.

And within the holy place,

there was the altar of incense,

but then you actually had the holy of holies,

an even more special set apart place.

And so we see in this text,

it talks about the death of King Uzziah,

and it was actually part of what led to his death

was him not recognizing this distinctness of God

and this uniqueness of this place in the temple

because he and his pride went into this holy place

to offer a sacrifice at the table of incense himself

rather than allowing the priests to do it.

As a result, the Lord struck him with leprosy,

which quickly led to his death.

And so we see in the illustrated in the gospel

what this holiness really means.

It's this separateness.

It's the fact that God is wholly uncommon

from all of his creation.

And so then if we turn back at this passage,

we have this vision from the prophet Isaiah.

And we don't really know how he's having this vision.

It's not really explained to us,

but we see as if it's a peak that he gets into heaven,

as if God pulled back the curtain slightly

for him to be able to see the throne room of God.

And so what does he see?

At the very beginning, the Lord high and exalted.

Now I want to stop there

because I want to point out a difference here.

We see the Lord is different from the Lord

that we see later on in this passage.

This is capital L, lowercase o-r-d.

Later on in verse 3, it's capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D.

There's a difference in those two Lords there.

When we see the capitalized Lord,

we know that's the name of God.

It's Yahweh. That's his proper name.

But here in verse 1, it's not the capital L-O-R-D.

It's capital L, lowercase o-r-d.

And so that's not referring to the name of Jesus.

That's referring to his title, Adonai, the Lord.

He is king.

He is the sovereign ruler.

It's a title that's almost nearly used

in reference to God in the Old Testament.

And so there's no doubt here what Isaiah is seeing

is the Lord God, the sovereign one,

seated on his throne in heaven high and exalted.

And so next we get a description of what he's wearing,

the train of his robe filling the temple.

I don't know if you've ever met anyone

that has a big personality,

maybe an extrovert or someone that's very loud.

You may have heard them described as saying

their personality just fills the room.

When they come to the room,

everyone knows that that person is there, right?

That's literally what we see,

a literal sense of this in here.

His train fills the temple.

It's a display of his immense,

unrivaled majesty.

It shows his transcendence and his supremacy

that fills the whole temple.

And so then we see after that,

this image of the seraphim,

these kind of bizarre angelic beings

with six wings.

And we're not told much about them

other than two wings cover their face,

two wings covering their feet,

and with two they fly.

So we know that they're created by God.

They're created to serve constantly

in the presence of God.

And yet still they have to use these wings

to shield their eyes from the glory of God.

It's something that they don't get used to.

It's something that is wholly different

from who they are.

And so it kind of may remind us

of other times in the Old Testament

where we see this shielding of the face from God.

If you think of the story of Moses,

he's helped bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

He's received the law on Mount Sinai.

And he asked God,

show me your glory.

And how does God respond?

He says, you can't see my face

for man shall not see me and live.

But we see what God does, right?

He puts Moses in the cleft of this rock.

And he tells him he's going to pass by him.

And as he does,

he covers Moses with his hand.

And as he passes,

he removes his hand

to allow Moses to see his backside.

For that's all that Moses could possibly

be able to see and live.

And we know that after this encounter,

Moses goes back to his people,

the people of Israel,

and he says,

he describes that his face is shining

because he had been in the presence of God.

So much so that he had to wear a veil

because he was scaring the other people.

He wouldn't approach him

because his face was so bright.

And so this is very similar

to what we see in this passage of Isaiah.

But it's not only the image of God

that Isaiah witnesses here,

but it's the announcement of the seraphim themselves.

Where they say,

holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.

The whole earth is full of his glory.

And so this is that word that we talked about,

holy, to be distinct,

to be unlike any other.

And this is the problem that we have

with our finite minds

and our finite languages

that we can't fully be able to comprehend

or describe an infinite God.

Whether it's in English or in Hebrew

or any other language,

the best way that we can do it

is basically by form of repetition.

So we see here the holiness of God

repeated three times.

Holy, holy, holy.

And this is the only time we see

in the whole Bible

the characteristic of God

repeated three times.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say,

God is love, love, love.

Or gracious, gracious, gracious.

Certainly those things are true.

But the emphasis on his holiness here,

not just simply holy or holy, holy,

but holy, holy, holy.

I think this difficulty even goes beyond

just language too.

It's difficult for us to be able to comprehend

with our minds the holiness of God.

I think often when we think about God,

we're tempted to think about God

as being on the same plane as us.

God is maybe just a bigger, better version

of us as humans here.

But this vision illustrates the fact

that this is not a correct way of viewing it.

Even though the passage starts with King Uzziah

and says in the year that he died,

Isaiah is not making the point

where this is an earthly king

who did some bad things,

but this is someone better we can turn to.

No, this is the king of the universe,

holy and set apart,

completely distinct from any earthly king.

And so likewise,

when we think about God's holiness,

there's a different way we need to think about it

because it's different than

how we may ascribe attributes to a man.

And so if I pick on Bob for a second,

we may say that, well, Bob is wise.

And I think most of us,

probably most of us can agree to that fact.

And when we say that,

we're saying, well, Bob typically has good judgment.

He is deep understanding in certain things.

And so we feel comfortable calling Bob wise,

but his existence is not dependent on Bob being wise

because Bob could gain more wisdom or lose wisdom

and that doesn't affect his being.

Bob will not cease to exist if Bob ceases to be wise.

Right?

In the same way,

Bob's wisdom may not necessarily relate

to any of his other attributes.

Bob may lose his wisdom,

but he'll still be a friendly,

affable human being, right?

It's not the same when we think about this attribute of God,

especially his holiness,

because God's holiness never changes.

He can't be more or less holy.

He is and will forever be holy to the fullest

because if he were to lose his holiness,

then he ceases to be God.

And similarly,

when we talk about his holiness,

it doesn't operate in isolation.

His holiness influences and affects

all the other attributes of God.

So when we talk about God's love

or his mercy or his power,

we talk about in such ways

that God's fully holy in his love.

His mercy is holy mercy.

His power is a holy power.

And so when we think about God,

he's not just a bundle

of independent individual attributes.

When we think about God's holiness,

it is not simply an attribute.

It is the essence of who he is.

It reveals to us everything that he does

and all that he is.

And so these are qualities

that are celebrated elsewhere in the Old Testament.

If we look at the song of Hannah

at the beginning of 1 Samuel 2,

she sings,

there is no one holy like the Lord.

There is no one besides you.

There is no rock like our God.

Moses and the people of Israel,

they sing this in Exodus 15.

Who among the gods is like you, Lord?

Who is like you,

majestic in holiness,

awesome in glory?

Holy,

holy,

holy,

holy,

holy,

holy,

holy,

to the greatest degree,

unchanging and infinite forever.

And so what does that mean for us then?

If this is the God of the universe

who is holy,

holy,

holy,

what is the response of man?

If God is the reigning king

and is holy in all he does,

how does that affect us

as followers of Christ?

Well, unfortunately,

I think most of us,

most in society,

if they believe in God at all,

they probably have a tendency

to shrink their concept of God,

to lessen God's attribute.

Maybe they think that makes God

more relatable to them

if they make a God

that's more like themselves.

Because the thing is,

holiness,

the holiness of God

has serious implications

in our lives

because it's a standard

that we ourselves can't achieve

and most people recognize that.

Right?

If you ask a person on the street,

you go up to them and say,

are you a good person?

Probably most of them will say yes.

Right?

Yeah, I do good things.

I think I'm a pretty good person.

But if we were to ask the person,

are you a holy person?

I doubt very much

that many people would say,

yeah, I'm a holy person.

They'd probably say no.

And they'd probably be pretty okay

with saying no.

Because it's not a standard

that many people use anymore.

It's not a term that they know.

It's an archaic standard

that they don't live up to anymore.

People are very comfortable

with their imperfections

because their standard is relative.

Because we like to judge ourselves

based on others.

Right?

We can always find someone

who's worse than we are.

We might have done something wrong,

but did you see what that person did?

They're far worse than me.

John Calvin puts it this way.

So long as we do not look beyond the earth,

we are quite pleased

with our own righteousness,

wisdom, and virtue.

We address ourselves

in the most flattering terms

and seem only less than demagogues.

And so if we keep our eyes from God,

if our standard is one another,

then we have this false sense of security

that we can kind of perpetuate.

We can maintain this level of pride

and arrogance,

and that's what we see

in the world around us.

Because society really places

no importance on holiness.

That's not a level

or a standard for success

for everyone to say,

I want to be holy.

I want to be holy in my work.

I want to be holy in my relationships.

You say that on the street corner,

people are going to look at you

like you're crazy.

But when we look back at the text here,

we see just how central

God's holiness is to our lives.

How it can't be something

that we overlook or simply minimize.

Because look at verse 5.

This is the response of Isaiah

when he has encountered this holy God.

He says,

Isaiah is rightly terrified.

He is expecting his own destruction.

And why is that?

One, he has seen the true vision of God,

and because of that,

he has a true and accurate vision of himself.

He understands the gap that exists

between his humanity and God's divinity,

his corruption and God's holiness.

And so this is a pattern we see

throughout the Bible,

that when people come into the presence of God,

they do so with trembling and great fear.

If we go back to the creation story

and we think about Adam and Eve,

when they've sinned,

they recognize their nakedness.

And what do they do?

They hide from God.

They're fearful of his presence.

The prophet Habakkuk,

he's seen the suffering of Israel

and he asked God,

how long, O Lord, must I cry for help,

but you don't listen?

And God responds to him.

He states that judgment is coming

and he says that the Lord is in his holy temple.

Let all the earth be silent before him.

And he tells Habakkuk,

the holy justice that is to come.

And this is Habakkuk's response

when he hears this.

He said, I heard and my heart pounded.

My lips quivered at the sound.

Decay crept into my bones

and my legs trembled.

We even see this in the New Testament

when Peter, one of Jesus' disciples,

is out fishing all night

and he hasn't caught a thing.

And Jesus instructs him,

go further out in your boat.

Put your nets on the other side

and what happens?

Completely filled with fish

to the extent that it almost sinks two boats.

And what is Peter's immediate response?

He falls at Jesus' knees

and says, go away from me, Lord.

I am a sinful man.

See, when we experience the holiness of God,

we can't fool ourselves

into thinking that our morality

or our good efforts make us safe

because our unworthiness

and our depravity

is laid out before God.

And so likewise,

the holiness of God,

it also exposes

the seriousness of our sin.

That's the whole purpose

of this vision that Isaiah is having.

That God is commissioning him

to tell the people of Israel

the judgment that is coming

because of their rebellion.

God in his holiness

can't overlook sin.

He hates sin.

It is a personal affront

to his own holiness.

And so when we see

these redemption stories

in the Bible

where people have sinned

and they've turned back to God

asking for mercy,

begging for forgiveness,

it's very interesting

how they characterize

their own sin.

When King David

has sinned against the Lord,

he's committed adultery

and murder.

we see in Psalm 51,

he says,

Against you and you only

have I sinned

and done evil in your sight.

When we think of the story

of the prodigal son,

the son who has left his father,

he's dishonored his father,

he's squandered his inheritance

and decides to come home

and ask for forgiveness.

And what's the first thing

he says to his father?

Father, I have sinned against heaven

and against you.

So we need to recognize

when we serve a holy God

that every one of our sins

is a sin against God himself.

No matter how big or small,

whether it's an isolated incident

or it's a pattern of bad behavior,

it is a rebellious act

against a holy God

that's deserving of judgment.

I think often we just,

we try to lessen

the significance of our sin.

We want to minimize it, right?

Or justify it or ignore it.

How often do we,

as believers,

truly grieve our sin?

How often have we wept

over our sin?

Paul Tripp says this.

He says,

we cannot repent

of what we have not confessed.

We cannot confess

what we have not grieved

and we cannot grieve

for what we have not seen.

So let it be our prayer then

that we see

the seriousness of our sin,

that it is open rebellion

against a holy God.

Because when we do,

the passage shows us

what happens.

In verse 6,

it goes on,

then one of the seraphim

flew to me

with a live coal in his hand,

which had been taken

with tongs from the altar.

And with it,

he touched my mouth

and said,

see,

this has touched your lips.

Your guilt is taken away

and your sin atoned for.

And so we see

while God is holy

in his justice,

he is also fully holy

in his mercy.

Isaiah thought

his life was over,

but he receives

the purifying touch of God

and is forgiven.

His guilt

is totally removed.

And so this is foreshadowing

of the mercy

that is to come.

It's Isaiah himself

who prophesies later

in Isaiah 53

of the coming Savior,

one who is going to bear

the sins of his people,

who is going to

make intercession

for the transgressors.

So I mentioned earlier

when we were talking

about the holiness of God

that it doesn't change,

that it goes on forever.

So we see the holiness of God

being continued

through the life

of Jesus Christ,

the Son of God,

who not only lived

a sinless life,

but also fully

in conformity

with the holy

and perfect will

of the Father.

If we look at John 6, 38,

it says this,

For I have come down

from heaven

not to do my will,

but to do the will

of him who sent me.

And this is the will

of him who sent me,

that I shall lose none

of all those

he has given to me,

but raise them up

on the last day.

For my Father's will

is that everyone

who looks to the Son

and believes in him

shall have eternal life,

and I will raise them up

on the last day.

You see,

it was the holy will

of the Father

who sent his Holy Son

to be a holy sacrifice

for the forgiveness

of our sins.

It's through his blood

that we have

the righteousness of Christ

and that we get to share

in the holiness

of God.

And so that may seem

like a fitting ending

for the evening,

to be able to rejoice

that sinners

have been given

the holiness of God

through the blood

of Christ.

But I don't want

to stop there

because the holiness

of God has another

implication for the life

of the believer.

Because when we turn

to the New Testament

over and over again,

we see repeated

a command

for us to be holy.

Let's look at

a couple of verses.

1 Peter 1,

14 through 16.

As obedient children,

do not conform

to the evil desires

you had when you lived

in ignorance,

but just as he

who called you

is holy,

so be holy

in all you do.

For it is written,

be holy because

I am holy.

Hebrews 12,

Hebrews 12:14

verse 14.

Make every effort

to live in peace

with everyone

and to be holy.

Without holiness,

no one will see

the Lord.

And so we may

be a little confused.

We may ask ourselves,

well, why,

if we have already

received the holiness

of God through

the blood of Christ,

are we then instructed

to make an effort

to be holy?

And so I think

we need to recognize here

these verses

aren't talking about

salvation.

We are not saved

by our works.

Holiness is not a condition

of our salvation,

but it is a part

of our salvation

that we receive

by faith.

And so,

though we receive

our holiness

through Christ,

we are also called

to pursue it.

If we look at the

very beginning

of 1 Corinthians,

Paul addresses

his audience

and he says this,

to the church

in Corinth,

to those sanctified

in Christ Jesus

and called

to be holy people.

That word sanctified

means to those

who have been

made holy.

So he's saying

the church,

you have been

made holy

by Christ

and you are now

called

to be holy

in your lives.

I don't know

if any of you

are big sports fans,

but I've enjoyed

the last few weeks

being able to watch

Six Nations rugby

and now that I've been

in Scotland

for a year and a half,

I feel like I can rightly

say that I'm a Scottish fan

and can cheer

for the home team.

And as I do,

as I identify

as a Scottish fan,

it's natural then

to want to watch

the games.

It's natural

to want to cheer

the team on,

to celebrate

when they win

and to feel bad

when they lose.

And so yesterday

when Scotland

played France,

if I decided,

well, you know,

I may root

for France today,

and they got

a better chance

of winning.

And I told you that,

you'd probably

very much doubt

the sincerity

of my fanhood

for my being

a fan

or a fanatic

of Scotland.

And so it's similarly

as believers.

If we call

ourselves Christians,

if we don't yearn

for this holy life

that is pleasing

to God,

we certainly

need to question

whether our faith

in Christ

is actually genuine.

because true

salvation brings

a desire

to be holy.

We should

naturally want

to imitate

the God

in which we

claim to follow.

And so we need

to ask ourselves,

really,

is this our desire?

I think a lot

of times we can

get caught up

with talking

about loving

others and serving

and being gracious

and those things

are wonderful

and needed.

But how often

do we truly

look and think

about our need

for holiness?

Because oftentimes

we think it may

just be too

unattainable,

right?

God's holy,

yes,

I can't be holy

in this life,

so let's like

just try to be

good and love.

No,

we are called

to holiness.

How does that

apply in our

everyday lives?

We need to think

how are we

to pursue holiness

in our parenting?

How are we

to pursue holiness

in our marriage,

in our work,

in our study,

in our finances,

in our free time?

These are

important questions

that we need

to ask as the

church because

the fact is

that this life

of holiness,

it requires

effort.

And the thing

is we're not

told to do

this alone.

We don't receive

the righteousness

of Christ for

salvation and

he shoots out

the door and

say,

good luck,

do your best.

No,

we are indwelt

by the Holy

Spirit.

Romans 8 says

that the Holy

Spirit lives

in us

and controls

us.

And so I was

thinking about that,

I was kind of

convicted because we

say Holy Spirit a

lot and we use

it as a name

and really don't

always think of

the significance

of it,

at least I

don't,

that he is

called the

Holy Spirit.

It's not only a

name, it

describes who

he is.

He's not the

loving spirit,

the encouraging

spirit, he is

those things.

But he is,

first of all,

the Holy Spirit.

It says this in

Philippians 2.13,

continue to work

out your salvation

with fear and

trembling for it

is God who

works in you

to the will,

to will and

to act in order

to fulfill his

good purpose.

So the Holy

Spirit is the

same God that

we see in the

vision that

Isaiah has,

with the same

majesty and the

authority of

God on his

throne.

That is who

indwells us to

give us the

desire and the

ability to be

holy.

And so that

brings us then

back to our

passage in Isaiah.

because this

pursuit of

holiness,

though it is a

personal thing

in relation to

our relationship

to God,

it goes beyond

that.

Verse 8,

And then I

heard the voice

of the Lord

saying,

Whom shall I

send and

who will go

for us?

And I

said,

Here am I,

send me.

Isaiah,

whose lips

had just been

touched by the

burning coal,

whose sins

had been atoned

for,

now readily

volunteers to

go.

It's this

incredible

transformation

of emotion

from fear

and trembling

to joy

and eagerness.

I think this

may be best

displayed in

children,

this quick

change of

emotion.

I saw this

yesterday.

If I can tell

a story about

Henry,

he was playing

football yesterday

and he was

on defense,

the game was

nearing the end

and he took a

ball straight to

the face.

And as the

tears welled up

in his eyes,

you could tell

the pain that

he was

experienced

and he

wanted to

just crumble.

He focused

that energy.

He kind of

went to the

next level

and ran

up the field,

made a couple

tackles and

within 30

seconds had

scored the

game-tying

goal.

We see this

transformation

from weeping

to rejoicing

and all because

of the work

of Christ.

And so

nothing in our

lives should

produce greater

joy in us

than to be

able to

share the

message of

God's grace.

How his

holy justice

is coupled

with his

holy mercy

in order to

provide salvation

for his people

who are deserving

of death.

And so to be

honest,

I don't know if

we always share

that eagerness

that Isaiah

had to

volunteer to

go and to

share this

message.

Oftentimes

we're good at

showing up.

We'll sit and

we'll sing and

we'll listen.

oftentimes we

can be more

consumers than

we are

participants.

But what

would it look

like if we

the church

truly were

ambassadors of

the holy

God?

If we

desired to

live lives

that were so

distinct and

separate from

the world that

it would

naturally attract

the attention

of others?

If we had

the desire to

show the

glory of God

that Isaiah

saw in this

vision of a

God holy,

holy,

holy,

sitting on

his sovereign

throne.

And so may

that be our

challenge and

our charge

tonight.

That we may

marvel and

meditate on

the holiness

of God.

That we may

receive it

through Christ

and that we

may pursue it

through the

Spirit and

that we may

share it with

those around

us.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Holy,

holy,

holy Lord

God Almighty.

We confess

that so often

we don't

recognize

how holy

and set

apart and

distinct you

are from

us.

and so Lord we ask for the truth

of this gospel message tonight

to sink in deep

to not only show us who you are

but to show us who we are

fallen, depraved, unworthy

but yet you have extended your love

and your grace toward us

you have given us your holiness

through the blood of Christ

and so God may that be something

that we're grateful for

that we desire to worship you for

and also to be able to pursue

that holiness in our lives

to know that we are empowered by your spirit

may that be our desire this week

and the days and months ahead

especially thinking of the activities

of this church

how we desire to bring people in

how we desire to reach our community

may be done by the power of your Holy Spirit

we pray this in Jesus name

Amen

and now we're going to sing our final hymn

Holy, Holy, Holy

we stand together