In this sermon, the speaker discusses the distorted view of God that exists in many churches today. He criticizes the prevalence of humanistic philosophy and sermons that cater to emotions and ego, rather than focusing on God. The speaker emphasizes the importance of recognizing God's holiness and the temporary nature of worldly pursuits. He calls for a return to biblical teaching and a revival in churches, highlighting the need for sinners to embrace God's provision for holiness through his grace. The sermon references Isaiah 6 and Revelation 15 to illustrate the awe-inspiring nature of God's holiness.

Our theme in this first section is God's awesome and majestic holiness. We are turning to Isaiah chapter 6 and the first three verses. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord also sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train, his judicial robe that is, it filled the temple. It's an awesome view of this almighty God, the judge of all the earth, in his splendor upon that throne. Above it, that is, above the throne stood the seraphims, each one had six wings. With twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. A couple of verses in Revelation chapter 15 and verses 3 and 4. This is that heavenly scene where they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear before thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy. For all the nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest. Amen. It is refreshing to have been requested to bring ministry at this camp on the fearful subject of holiness, in a day where there is all manner of emphases in the pulpit of our land, and other lands too. There is need for the Church to come back to basics, and to acknowledge that whatever else is deemed worthy in Christian life, and assumed to be essential to it, nothing is of greater importance than personal holiness. It seems as though the Church has forgotten or overlooks the fact that the goal of redemption, as I intimated last evening in our brief talk together, the goal of redemption is holiness. The sad thing is that we have majored where the Bible minors, and we have minored where the Bible majors. And so in our pulpits, there is the shallow and the shifting emphases these days, uh, replete with psychology, and sociology, and unscriptural anthropology. The whole doctrine of man has been distorted, because we've got a distorted view of God himself. And so we have a pulpit that's full of humanistic philosophy, and sermons that feed the ego, and play to the emotions, and ease the conscience, and beguile the unwary, and provide for the flesh. And sadly, messages that foster materialism and worldliness, and seem to smother the fact that we are strangers and pilgrims in this world. How we should hold the things of this life very, very loosely, because as John says in his first epistle, and the second chapter, the world passes away. Not it's going to, it is, it is passing away, and the lusts thereof. But he who is doing the will of God, that will abide forever. It seems to me, friends, that the apostasy is upon us, and it is engulfing all professed Christian denominations. One just has to look around, and observe, and read, and listen, and somehow it seems as though the pulpit has lost its integrity, and its biblical focus, lost its way in a labyrinth of popular but secular non-essentials, of clever notions, of pleasurable fads that highlight earth and not heaven, taken up with time and not eternity, that have to do with man and not with God. We've got to bring God back into the center of things, and the sooner we get back to wholesome teaching, and allowing God to speak and not man, then the better. Maybe the sooner we will see a visitation of genuine revival in our churches. May God help us. Now with regard to this crucial doctrine of holiness, this really is what the Bible is all about. It's the revelation of a holy God addressing sinful man, and thank God, a God who has made provision in his grace for sinners to become holy. Praise the Lord. Not just that sinners, that sad people might become happy, but that sinners might become holy. The Bible is so clear about pursuing holiness, without which it says in Hebrews 12 14, without which no man shall see the Lord. Now you may have an enormous store of scripture knowledge, and yet not be holy. Paul knew that from his pre-conversion days. You may possess outstanding religious zeal, and yet not be holy. A man by the name of Jehu in the scriptures knew that, who was an instrument of God in his providence, and yet the life of Jehu was corrupt, and it says in 2 Kings 10, he departed not from the sin of Jeroboam. It also says he he took nor he to walk in the law of Jehovah. Very zealous in many ways, but not holy. You may be admired for your respectable life, lived in your estimation according to the highest of moral principles, and yet not be holy. The rich young ruler who came to Jesus knew that. Why all these things I've kept from my youth, what more must I do? Because within him there was still that sense of incompleteness, especially in the presence of the infinitely holy Son of God. We can even be discriminate friends in the choosing of our companions, and have good godly friends, and yet not be holy. Think of Gehazi who served with that godly prophet Elisha, but that soon his heart is made manifest, and even though he was day by day in the fellowship of the holy prophet, this holy man of God, he wasn't holy. You see, holiness is distinctive. Holiness is divine, and it rests on being first and foremost, and then doing. What's it mean to be holy? J. C. Ryle in his book on holiness, which is a wonderful work, he defines it as, and I quote, the habit of being of one mind with God, the habit of agreeing in God's judgment, hating what he hates, loving what he loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of his word. He says, he who most entirely agrees with God is the most holy man. Remember Moses when he received those ten commandments, he was in the mount of God, and God saw what he did not see. God saw what was taking place at the foot of the mountain, in the idolatrous worship of the golden calf, and God's, it says, and God's anger waxed hot, and he says, Moses, stand aside, I'm going to destroy them, and this is where you have Moses interceding for the people, and said, rather block my name out of the book of life, but please spare them, and God did spare them. Then when Moses came down from the mount, and saw what God saw, having been with infinite holiness, he felt as God felt, and that interesting word is repeated, now with Moses, that Moses anger waxed hot, and he break the tablets of stone. This, friends, is really crucial to this whole matter of the subject of holiness, and I think that J.C. Ryle brings it together so beautifully, the habit of being one mind with God, it's being in agreement with God, it's feeling as God feels, it's hating what God hates, it's loving what God loves, praise the Lord, God help us. Now whatever we consider the the great subject of holiness might be, and whenever we consider that, we must first of all give close attention to the holiness of God himself, because when we read the scriptures, what stands out is the essential glory of God is his holiness. It is truly awesome, it is majestic, it is fearful. When we think of God, we are faced with both his natural and his moral attributes, those descriptions by which he reveals himself to us. When we talk about the natural attributes of God, they are such, of course, which are not communicable. Only he is omnipotent, only he is omniscient, having the knowledge of all things, only he is omnipresent, only to him alone belongs eternity, one who has no beginning, never originated, has no ending, a God who is absolutely unchangeable, ever the same, eternally the same. Now there's not a creature that has been formed by God that has those attributes. The devil is not omnipotent, he is not omniscient, he is not omnipresent. Hello, the devil is not omnipresent, that belongs to God only, and I won't expand on that, but here are others that are unique to God, they belong only to him, they are not communicable. You and I will never be omnipotent, even when we are in heaven, we will not be omniscient. I think we'll still be learning. Our knowledge of God will be increased, we'll certainly not be omnipresent. There is a sense for anything which I'm glad we are not immutable, I'm glad we can change, thank God we change from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. But there are the immoral attributes of God which comprise his holiness, his righteousness, his love, and in God these are absolutely perfect. And thank God these can be communicated, so that by his grace and by his power, we also can become holy, and righteous, and loving with all that they mean. Because within those three principal moral attributes I've just mentioned, there are others such as truth, and faithfulness, and goodness, and benevolence, and anger, and justice, and mercy, and grace, they're all seen in God in such glorious perfection. His moral glory, oh how majestic. So one can see how crucial it is when thinking about God that in order to secure the absolute well-being of his creatures, it is essential that with God all natural attributes are matched by a corresponding perfection of moral character. You know how terrifying it would be if God was in possession of such abilities as omnipotence, having all power, all authority, all controlling sovereignty, and yet if he was devoid of moral perfection, you see that shadowed out among men who have possessed great power and great authority. But look what they've done because their hearts are corrupt. History, the pages of history are besmirched by the records of such terrible men who have performed indescribable atrocities because they had power, but did not have morality. Thank God everything that God does is right. All he does is just that's why Abraham could say, will not the judge of all the earth do right? God is holy. Everything he does has a good end, a benevolent end. Sometimes we wonder, but this is the revelation we have of God in the scriptures. And also it's necessary that God's morality is matched by abilities that are capable of achieving the desires, the determinations of his divine, his holy will. I'm glad we have a God who is holy. You know, it's an awesome thing. It's a fearful thing, but it's a comforting thing to know that God is holy. Let's look at this attribute of God's holiness, because this appears to occupy the first place by which God reveals himself in both his confrontations and his communications with men. Interestingly, in Genesis chapter 3, it gives us the account of the first transgression by Adam, and it resulted in him becoming aware of the loss of that essential or that original glory by reason of his sin. And there was this fear that gripped him in contemplation of having to appear in the presence and before the presence of the Holy One. And so he hides. The holiness of God is probably the most discomforting aspect of God's nature. And so should sinners feel so discomforted in the presence of infinite holiness. That's why you have that little of this preaching in our pulpits, because many ministers, preachers, they don't want people to feel uncomfortable. They want them to come back. What deception. Now, the first mention we have of the word holy in scripture is in the book of Exodus. And it's in chapter 3, where Moses is in Horeb, and there he has an encounter with God. And God says to him, in verse 5 of that chapter, draw not nigh hither, because Moses says, I will now go and see this sight. He was moving nearer to this bush that was burning and yet not being consumed. This phenomenon, I will now go and see this sight, what it's all about. And as he begins to move forward, God speaks and says, draw not nigh hither, put off your shoes from your feet, for the place whereon you stand is holy ground. That is, this place is consecrated. It is sanctified by my holiness. How awesome. And it's also interesting to observe that when Moses had brought the people out of Egypt, as I intimated last night, it's this attribute that is primarily extolled in that song of praise, that song of triumph in Exodus 15 and verse 11, who is likened to the old Lord among the gods, who is likened to the glorious in holiness. The first thing, fearful in praises, doing wonders. Will you notice that? That Moses attributes the redemptive acting of God firstly to his holiness. Because you see, it's a God who is abiding faithful to his covenant. Here is a God who is true. Here is a God who is faithful. God cannot, cannot, cannot deny himself. Absolutely holy. And this is what Moses and the people celebrated. And probably because that is what is celebrated, friends, not just on earth, but in heaven among the angelic hosts. We have read in this passage this morning, Isaiah chapter 6, that above that throne stood those seraphim crying responsibly to one another, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And ultimately, again as we read in Revelation chapter 15, this will be celebrated by all who are brought into his holy presence in glory. There is none holy but the Lord. Essentially holy. Praise the Lord. Let me just break this up a little, just to help us in our understanding of the majestic holiness of God. First of all, perhaps an attempted definition of God's holiness. And I say attempted because it may well be true that this attribute of God is of the most difficult to define. But let me at least attempt and suggest to you this morning that holiness in God is that absolute, that immeasurable perfection of his moral nature. That which is eternally consistent, that is, it allows of no variation. God cannot be more holy than what he is, and he is no more holy than he has ever been. There's no development in God. There's no progress. I pray that since I was with you nine months ago, I pray that God's work in me has made me a little more like Jesus. I trust that I am growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. I trust that I am being more and more conformed to the image of his beloved Son. I want to be more holy. But when we speak of God, friends, there is no progression in this. Marvelous attribute. He is absolutely, perfectly holy. It allows of no variation. It's an absolute purity of nature that knows no degrees. God is perfectly holy. And notice this with me, it's not God conforming to a holy standard. He is the standard. A moral perfection with God that cannot be polluted in any way by moral evil. He cannot be corrupted. He cannot be polluted. He cannot be made unholy. As John says in his first epistle, chapter one and verse six, God is light and in him is no darkness at all. And he cannot be affected by the darkness. Elihu's response to Job in Job 34 and verse 10, he said, be it far from God that he should do wickedness and from the Almighty that he should commit iniquity. Go down to verse 12. Yes, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. He is holy, absolutely holy. And the primary meaning of that word holy, of course, is separate. So this is the attribute that separates God, that sets him apart so entirely from any and every description of evil. And of course, it requires him that he is eternally opposed to all manner of impurity, wherever it's found. There's an intriguing verse in Habakkuk, chapter one and verse 13, where the prophet says, thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil. And you say, God constantly sees the evil in this world. Daniel in chapter two in his marvelous hymn of praise says, God knows what is in the darkness. In other words, there is nothing hidden from him. He sees all things. He sees the motives, not the actions only. So when Habakkuk says, thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, maybe we should insert a little word there that helps just to clarify it. That you are of purer eyes than to behold evil condorningly. So he can't excuse it. And listen, dear friends, this morning, he can't excuse it in the church. Sin is sin with God wherever it is found. Here is God's essential, inherent glory. And of course, it's manifested in an aura of blazing light, too glorious for human eyes to see. 1 Timothy 6, 16, God is light. Sorry. He dwells in light unto which no man can approach, whom no man has seen nor can see. In Hebrews 12 and verse 29, God is a consuming fire. Didn't Jesus teach us, blessed are the pure in heart, for it is they and they only who shall see God. How right was R.C. Sproul in one of his books when he wrote, and I quote, none of us in this world is pure in heart. It's our impurity that prevents us from seeing God. The problem is not with our eyes, it's with our hearts. Only after we are purified and totally sanctified in heaven will we have the capacity to gaze upon him face to face. Didn't God say to Moses, no man can see my face and live. Oh, how incredible is this holiness of God. There's nothing that compares to it, friends, God's holiness. And I like the way that Dr. Torza expresses it. He says, we know nothing like the divine holiness. It stands apart, unique, unapproachable, incomprehensible and unattainable. The natural man is blind to it. He may fear God's power and admire his wisdom, but his holiness, he cannot even imagine. God is holy. And when we've said what we have said, friends, how inadequate our definitions are. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. But then, whilst we find it difficult to define biblical holiness, God's holiness, let's just observe briefly the biblical affirmation of God's holiness. When we consider the nature of God, it's not us trying to ascribe some excellence to him. It's not what we think about a God out there. In the religions of the world, it's like that, because of course, their religion, their gods are vanity. They are nothing. There is no other God, but the one true living God. But they have their gods, the gods of their imagination, and they make images to their gods. And they have their notions, their ideas about their gods. And their behavior is affected, it's influenced by their ideas of this God. But not so when we come to think of our God. It's not us just trying to ascribe some excellence to him. In fact, friends, we are never left to speculate about the nature of God. These minds of ours cannot conceive of him anyway. The only way we can know anything about this God is as he has given it to us in his word, this marvelous self-revelation, as I mentioned last evening. As for his holiness, God makes his own claim to such absolute perfection of moral nature. Let me just read to you a few of the scriptures, as in Leviticus chapter 19 and verses 1 and 2. It says, the Lord spake unto Moses saying, speak unto all the congregation of Israel and say unto them, you shall be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy. And in Leviticus chapter 20, the next chapter, verse 26, you shall be holy unto me for I, the Lord, am holy and have severed you from other people that you should be mine. In this prophecy of Isaiah 43 and verse 15, I am the Lord, you are holy one, the creator of Israel, your king. Go back to Exodus chapter 33, as we've already referred to with Moses, and God said to him, you cannot see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. Because of his power? No. Because of his omniscience? No. Because of his holiness. His holiness. And so how clearly the whole of scripture establishes this fact of God's holiness, both by direct revelation as well as those evidences of his holiness in his dealings with man. And see how God is described in the scriptures. He is referred to as the holy one. Just go back in Isaiah here to chapter 1 and verse 4. Our sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are not just corrupt, they are corrupters. They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the holy one of Israel unto anger. They have gone a way backward. In fact, there are some 30 references to the Lord as the holy one here in this book of Isaiah. He is the holy one. Also, his name is holy. Again, we'll stay with Isaiah for just one of the verses in chapter 57. Isaiah 57 and verse 15. For thus saith the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. He says, my name is holy. And of course in Psalm 111 and verse 9, he sent redemption unto his people. He has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and reverent ought to be revered is his name. Didn't Jesus in his high priestly prayer in John 17 refer to the Father as holy Father? His nature is holy. This is where we have in our passage this morning those seraphim that extol him for his holiness. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. And in fact, the very habitation of God is holy. Go back in the Psalms to Psalm 20. Psalm 20 and verse 6. Now know I that the Lord saves his anointed. He will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. The holy heaven. In Psalm 68 and verse 5, a father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows is God in his holy habitation. Yeah, the scriptures make it so clear that God is holy and he is absolutely holy. Can we consider also this morning the clear vindication of God's holiness? There are various ways in which we can substantiate God's absolute holiness. Again, we come back to this little passage in Isaiah 6 verse 3 where we have the seraphim's testimony to the one who is all holy and says the whole earth is full of his glory. You know friends, the effects and the demonstrations of God's holiness, they are bound around us, even as does his power and his wisdom and his goodness. Let me just mention a few things. For instance, take first of all man's own moral nature. In the conscious presence of infinite holiness, Isaiah here in this chapter, he can only confess an inner sense of total unworthiness and uncleanness before the all holy one because he was made in man's image that is not physical but spiritual. Man has a moral sense, not needing to be taught what is right and wrong but knowing it inside himself. You don't have to teach a baby to sin. When they grow up and it doesn't take too long, like my brother, he was a little nipper, a little toddler, and my mother said to him, Philip, have you been into that box of biscuits? No man. One of my brothers, because he's the youngest, one of the boys says, hey Philip, were they nice? He said yeah. You don't have to teach him to be deceitful or to lie. You don't have to go to university to study how to be a sinner. And we could turn to a number of scriptures that have to do with this and Ecclesiastes and back there in the book of Genesis too. See, this moral creature could only have derived from a moral being. So conscience is this constant reminder of a law of holiness in our own nature. Not that we are holy but there is that which tells us what is right and what is wrong. That's why conscience is spoken of in the scripture as the candle of the Lord. Just turn for a moment over to Paul's marvellous letter where there's this exposition of the gospel in Romans, the epistle to the Romans and in chapter 2. I'd like to read a whole section here but I haven't the time. Just verses 14 and 15 or maybe I'll go back to verse 12. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law. And as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. For not the hearers of the law are just before God but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, listen, which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law. These having not the law are alone to themselves which show the work of the law written in their hearts. Their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. You know man's moral nature is a vindication of the holiness of God. Then of course we have the word of God, the written law. In Romans chapter 7 verse 12 Paul says the law is holy. It is righteous. The law of God is good. And that marvelous exposition really in Psalm 19 where verses 7 through 9 the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple. Listen the statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure making wise the simple. Sorry enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord. Now this is an expression or a designation of the word of God because it's in this word that we are instructed in the fear of the Lord. And so this is one of the designations of the psalmist. He speaks of the scriptures as the fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. There is a perfection friends in the laws of God that condemns every weakness of the flesh. And God's word sets before us the ideal way. The way in which man should live before his holy creator. And there are glorious promises that are given to those who do abide by the word of God. Those who will live in accord with his will as he reveals it. And of course there are fearful judgments that are pronounced in this world upon all those who violate those laws of God. But then one of the great vindications of God's holiness is in the great work of redemption. If God were not holy then I suggest to you this morning that the state of the sinner would cause him no concern. And this is surely seen to be true when we note man's own attitude toward evil. Man can live with unholiness and see it as as natural and to be expected. And that's why friends where there is a deficient gospel you are a deficient conduct of life. Even among those who profess to be Christian. And there are those who make excuses for their low level of living before almighty God and say well we are only human you know. We can expect to sin. That's because we've omitted the great core of the gospel to emancipate us from sin. From its power and an ability that's given to us now where we say no to sin and yes to God. Hallelujah. With Christ the two things that stand out it was his total rejection of satan's offers and his total submission to his heavenly father. And that's that's the example that's the model. Oh God help us. But man he can live with unholiness because he is himself unholy. He has this depraved nature that does not fully comprehend nor does it feel the plague of inbred sin. So that we are living in a day friends when things which are truly abnormal are being accepted as normal. And again I must say this it's not just outside there in that unregenerate world. Unfortunately the sea of immorality has been flowing over the thresholds of the church. And so within the church there is the same laxity towards sin as there is in that world. The reality is you see that man himself is so utterly depraved. My wife was in a meeting and I was away preaching somewhere. She went to this particular church. She was in this meeting and there was quite an unknown personality who was preaching. He was principal of a theological college actually. And in the course of his preaching he said you know he says man is not basically bad. He just does bad things. So if the principal of a bible college talks in those terms God help us. Training men you know for the work of the ministry. My wife turned to a friend sitting behind and says well where's the doctrine of totally depravity? Because you see if man can live with sin in himself he has no problem living with it in society. But with God friends with God it's different. Because since he is inherently and absolutely holy then there is of necessity with him infinite concern. So just come over to the new testament in in the first epistle of Paul to Timothy and the opening verses of chapter two. I exhort therefore says Paul that first of all supplications prayers intercessions giving of thanks be made for all men for kings for all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness. This is what God is concerned for. In our society there will be godliness and honesty for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our savior. Notice who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. When you're acquainted with what Peter had to say in second Peter two and verse nine he says the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the the the unjust unto the day of punishment. And in chapter three and and verse nine the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness but is long suffering but not willing that any man should perish but that all should come to repentance. And that is why friends such concern in the heart of this holy God involved him in infinite sacrifice to restore the sinner. So maybe the most well-known verse in scripture comes to mind God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And in Romans 5 and verse 8 God commands his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. In fact friends unless this holy God did interpose there would be in our world an irreparable moral collapse. All would be doomed but a wonder of wonders to us is that God did interpose and this is the glory of the incarnation of God in Christ. This holy God he comes into humanity in the only possible way and principally he comes in order to rescue sinful men. And so we have those marvelous words I think we referred to them last evening in Titus the second chapter and verse 11 the grace of God that brings salvation is appeared to all them teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldliness we shall live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking into looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and savior Jesus Christ listen who gave himself for us in order that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. I say again unless this holy God did interpose there would be total devastation around us. God is holy and it's vindicated in so many ways not only in man's moral nature not only in the written word of God not only in the great work of redemption as Christ died for us there upon that cross but from that time friends the holy spirit's work then in the believer because when we consider the great work of redemption it is the holy spirit acting on the part of his of the father and of the son in applying the glorious achievements of calvary to those who believe and as you take all the aspects of his work they all vindicate that the holiness of God's nature in the conviction and the remission of sins in the impartation then of God's own nature to those who have believed in the sustaining and and sanctification of the grace of God that we know from day to day and we know friends there will also be the completing of God's wonderful redemptive purposes as Paul in Philippians 1 6 says that he who has begun a good work in us will bring it to completion in the day of Jesus Christ what a wonder this is God in his infinite mercy and grace has made us sinners fit for his presence and for his eternal purposes to to live with him forever to be there around that throne of holiness established in the heavens eternally without sin perfected in the in the loveliness of Christ with him forever and forever and forever all glory to God this morning the holy one