In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the sufficiency of Jesus' death for our salvation. He refers to Paul's transformation in Romans 12, where Paul urges believers to live in response to God's mercy. The speaker also highlights the importance of deep theology found in passages like Ephesians 1-3, which reveal the eternal and otherworldly nature of God. He points out that many Americans are spiritually starving, just as physical diets can manifest spiritual hunger. The speaker encourages studying Scripture and the writings of faithful ministers to cultivate a greater understanding of God's work in Christ, rather than relying on superficial Christian books. He concludes by emphasizing the power of God's right hand, symbolizing His triumph through His Son, and expressing a willingness to suffer for the sake of others.

I so appreciate, many people have come to me this weekend and said, you know Brother Paul, we listen to you on the internet, things like that. I think it's very important, I really want to share something that's very important to me. It's frightening if I don't share it. And I've never shared this publicly. Yesterday I shared it with the pastor. God uses the weakness of men. And for you young guys out there who are thinking about going into ministry, as I said yesterday, don't think that if God uses someone, it's because they've reached some spiritual level that other people haven't reached. And therefore, for some reason, God has put His hand upon them. God is in all of this endeavor to get glory for Himself. And it must be that way. Because if the universe is to be set right, God must be the epicenter. Everything must flow from Him, and everything must return to Him. And all praise belonging to Him. And that is why God always takes the weak, the ignoble, the vile, and uses that. Now, when I say that, if I leave it there, you'll think, oh, that's really humble. No, it's true! And I'm going to prove it. I was walking to the church the other day. I was walking through the parking lot, and I just began to weep. Because I realized something that someone had told me a couple of days prior. And I've had other people tell me this. They said, you know, Brother Paul, I might not always agree with you, but I know this, you're going to tell the truth as you see it, and you're not afraid. And the reason I began to cry is because you need to understand something. The two marks of my life, and what was destroying my life prior to coming to Christ. I was probably one of the greatest cowards you've ever met in your life. I was so insecure that I could not return something at Walmart that I bought, because I would think that the shopkeeper would get angry with me. Also, I was an infamous liar. I lied myself into terrible situations in college, and then moved to the University of Texas thinking I was going to get a new start. And the two things that most marked my life prior to conversion was cowardice and not telling the truth. And now look, people come and say, Boy, you tell the truth, and you're not afraid of anybody. But see, do you see what I'm trying to tell you? God doesn't look for someone who's a truth teller, and someone who's courageous and say, Oh, I found my hero. He takes the most vile person He can find, and then He says, This is what I'm going to make. You've got to understand that, because anything outside of that is idolatry, pathetic idolatry. And then, even in the midst, God can strengthen a man to be courageous, to say things when every man are gnashing their teeth at Him. But you don't see inside of totally frail, and shaking, and afraid, a God coming down in power and strengthening you, so you preach, and then pulls back when you walk out in the parking lot, and you think to yourself, Oh, what have I done? And so you must see that everything is of God, and that there are no great and noble men of God. There are only pathetic, weak men of a great and merciful God. And I, for one, rejoice in that. And there is a sense in which I hope that I am sincerely following Christ, and that I'm seeking to follow Him, and live in a manner worthy of my vocation. But then another thing, it is good when I am exposed as a disappointment. When someone hangs around me long enough to go, Boy, I have this all the time. People come to know me, and they're disappointed. Because I eat, and laugh, and tell jokes, and things. And sin. And fall short, and stumble, and all sorts of things. And as I've read biographies, which is a very, very good thing to do, if they're dead. But as I read biographies, sometimes I'm extremely disappointed, in that a man is lifted up, so that you think he's arrived to a place where he's being so used. I think it would bring greater glory to God, if the weaknesses of men were exposed. That all men might glory in God alone. Another thing, as I've done throughout this teaching that we've had here, I've given you little snippets of some of my best friends. Men who lived a long time ago. And I've read to you something from them. And the reason why I'm doing that is this. And I want to iterate what I said, I think, yesterday morning. You're not born knowing how to appreciate art. That's why they have art appreciation class. But, one of the bad things about the arts is that whenever a culture is corrupt, it most quickly manifests its corruption in the arts. But in order to appreciate a Monet, or Renoir, or something, it's almost as if you must learn, you must refine your palate. As I said yesterday also, to learn how to go somewhere and eat other than a smorgasbord. To go to a place and eat because it's delicious, not just because you get a bunch. You must have to refine your palate in the same way. You want passion for Christ to be burning and continuous. You must think great thoughts of God. But you must learn to do that. You must come and convince yourself that when you read through something like 1 John 4, God is love, that there is enough in that passage to hold you throughout all of eternity. One of the things that I've discovered is that down through the ages, there were ministers who did not run around putting out fires. They weren't entertainers. They weren't movers and shakers. Nor were they necessarily great leaders. But they would spend ten hours a day alone with God. Something we would do well to return to. But I'm going to read something just to introduce you to another one of these fellows. A dear friend of mine by the name of John Flable. John Flable. Now, I've entitled this, The Father's Bargain. But this comes out of Flable's book. His first volume in his works. Actually, it's volume 1, page 61. But I just want you to read and think about the way these men thought. And then you'll come to understand more and more of how they could have such a deep spirituality to them. Flable writes this, Here you may suppose the Father to say, this is before the foundation of the world, when driving his bargain. Now listen. When the Father drives his bargain with Christ for you. The Father speaking. My son, here is a company of poor miserable souls, that have utterly undone themselves and now lie open to my justice. Yes, that's what salvation is about. The justice of God is our greatest problem. And our injustice. And the dislocation that those two things cause. That's what salvation is all about. How to resolve this problem of the justice of God. And the sinfulness of man. He said, they now lie open to my justice. Justice demands satisfaction for them. Now don't think, as was wrongly portrayed in the first film on the Chronicles of Narnia. That when God says that justice requires being paid. Do not think that there is some higher principle of justice, above God, that he himself has to submit to. That's not true. When God says that justice demands satisfaction for the sins we have committed. It is God's own justice. It is God's own attribute. He demands satisfaction. It's not some principle over him. Whereby he is saying, I want to save you, but I can't. Because there is this principle of justice that even I must submit to. That's not true. But it is the very justice of God. His own. In himself he must be consistent. Perfect. One attribute not conflicting with another. Now, he says this. Justice demands satisfaction for them or will satisfy itself in the eternal ruin of them. Either justice will be satisfied by some means. Sins will be paid for. Or the sinner will pay by their eternal ruin. Now, the problem with hell in most pseudo-intellectual minds is the duration of it. But what you have to understand is two things. Hell is eternal. It is infinite. Because you have sinned against an infinitely worthy God. Your crime is so high. And see, people do not realize today how wicked and heinous sin is. And the reason why is they don't know who God is. Let me give you an example. If you woke up to me today and just laughing while you slap me on the back and go, Man, I wanted to kill you while you were preaching this morning in Sunday school. There is no law against that. You do that to the President of the United States as an adult and you are going to jail. You see, there is a difference. There is a difference in authority. There is a higher authority which makes the crime more grievous, more heinous. You have sinned against an infinitely worthy God. If you are judged in that sin, if you are judged in that sin, then know this. All of creation, heaven and earth, will stand up on the day that you are judged and condemned and they will applaud. Because then, all minds will be set right. And they will recognize you are deserving of infinite punishment. Because you have sinned against an infinitely good God. Secondly, never suppose that those in hell are repentant. They continue on. And then the Father says, in a rhetorical question to the Son, What shall be done for these souls? And thus Christ returns, Christ answers, O my Father, such is my love to and pity for them, that rather than they shall perish eternally, I will be responsible for them as their guarantee. Now, this sets before us a problem. First of all, something must be explained and then a problem. The thing that must be explained is this. Do never think that the Son came to save us in His love from a hateful Father. Never forget that for God the Father so loved the world, He gave His only Son. Now, there is a sense in which the death of Christ saves us from God. How is that? We had sinned against God, the wrath of God was against us, the wrath of God would judge us, the justice of God would make sure that justice was done. And when Christ died on the cross, He took away our sin, He paid the price for us and saved us from the wrath of God. But you need to understand, it was also the love of God that sent the Son to do that. But also, here is the great problem. When people say, I ask them sometimes, I say, Why did God send His Son? And they say, Well, because God loves men. Now you've got a bigger problem. Not just why does God love men, but how can God love men? What do you mean? Well, if God loves men, there is some terrible explaining to do. You see, what would ever motivate a holy, righteous God to love heinous, rebellious, wicked, sin-loving sinners? When you think of Adolf Hitler, does he draw from your heart love? Does he create love? Do you want to pour out love on Adolf Hitler? Well, you are far worse before the throne of God. So, if you say, Well, God saves, why does God save? Because God loves us, but why does God love us? Then we get back to this that Jonathan Edwards was so fond of speaking of. For His own glory. To manifest His greatness. One of my favorite passages is found in Deuteronomy, where this occurs. Israel, I loved you, because I loved you. It's a taunt, actually. It is a taunt. Why did you love us? Because I loved you. Because I loved you, and I loved you because I loved you. And what he is saying is, every good thing that comes from me is not drawn out of me by some virtue and merit in you. If I were to look at you and give you what you deserve, there would be no love, there would be only wrath and judgment. Because of your wickedness, your fallenness, your depravity. But I love you, I set my seal of love upon you because of me. It all has to do with me. That's why salvation is such a work of grace. Now, he says, O my Father, such is my love to and pity for them, that rather than they shall perish eternally, I will be responsible for them as their guarantee. Bring in all thy bills, Father. Bring in everything they owe you. That I may see what they owe thee. Lord, bring them all in that there may be no after reckonings with them. What does all that mean? He said, Father, bring in everything that my people owe thee. Every bill. Every one. From the greatest to the least. Everything they owe thee, bring it here. That I may calculate it and die with such a quality and in such a way that after I die, the payment is full and never again will these bills be reckoned to them. There will be no debt outstanding after I pay. Now, believer, that is a great comfort. That is marvelous. You know, you ought to be jumping or something right now. You ought to be weeping. You ought to be about to bust. Sometimes we should weep over the dullness of our own hearts. That we can hear these things. And then wonder, where will we eat after it's over? He said, bring them in that there be no after reckonings with them. At my hand shall thou require it. You hear these statements throughout the Old Testament when the people of God have totally failed and God swears by His own right hand. God is going to triumph with His own right hand. And that own right hand is His Son. I would rather choose to suffer their wrath than they should suffer it. Now, be very careful here. There is a heresy abroad that basically teaches this. That because of the sufferings inflicted upon Jesus Christ. The wrath inflicted upon Jesus Christ by the hands of men. The fact that men nailed Him to a cross and that men put a spear in His side and a crown on His head. That the affliction heaped upon Him by the hands of men pays for our sin. The wrath of men. Well, all the physical suffering and the wrath of men had something important to do with our atonement. But you must understand this. The preachers today are totally missing it when they do not define this for you. He died under the wrath of God. I hear preachers say, I'm going to spend an entire hour preaching on the cross. Or every Easter. There are these cross messages that are what I used to call in Spanish, El Evangelio Romantico. It's the Romantic Gospel. It's all about the physical sufferings of Christ from which I do not want to take away. But then they will totally miss that the One who came in the likeness of sinful flesh, bore our guilt, was forsaken of God and crushed under His wrath. So when He says that He will suffer their wrath, He's not simply referring to I will let men crucify me. He wasn't afraid of a cross. I spent a lot of time dealing with this in one of the workbooks that we work through there at our little Bible Institute. Do you actually think? I hear people say, well, Jesus Christ, you know, there in the garden was just sweating drops of blood because of the Roman cross. Really? And yet, after Christ ascended, there have been countless millions of Christians. And there in early Rome, countless tens of thousands of Christians that died crucified upside down, covered in pitch and set on fire. And yet many of them went to the cross singing hymns joyfully. Are you going to tell me that the captain of their salvation cowered in a garden afraid of a cross? While they themselves went there marching, singing the hymns of Zion? It wasn't a cross or a whip. It was that He would bear sin and His Father would forsake Him. And His Father would pour out the full force of His holy wrath, His holy hatred against our sin upon Him. Now, He says, upon Me, My Father, upon Me be all their debt. Now, the Father responds. Now, listen to this very carefully. That My Son, if thou undertake for them, you take their responsibility upon you. Thou must reckon to pay the last mite. You must pay down to the very last penny. And then He says, expect no abatements. This is why language is so important. The reason why Satan works so hard in our educational system. Words mean things. And His words are important. Expect no abatement. Now, what does that mean? Well, we say the storm abated. It died down. It lessened. My trials have abated. They have lessened. And what He is saying, do not expect, son, that I will lessen in any form the punishment when it falls upon your shoulders. Expect no mercy. If I spare them, if I spare your people, I will not spare thee. If I spare your bride, if I save these sinners, then I will not spare thee at all. The Son says, content, Father, let it be so. Charge it all upon Me. Now, remember, the one who says, charge it all upon Me, is the one who prior said, bring out all the bills, let me see them. This was not a romantic notion of someone not knowing what he is getting into. He knew exactly. I am able to discharge it. Now, let's stop there for a second. That's an amazing statement. Actually, John Flagler here is saying that Jesus of Nazareth is God. Let me go back to what I said yesterday. This foolish singing at times, these songs that say, God looked all over the earth and couldn't find a perfect man to die. He looked all over the heavens and couldn't find an angel willing to die. Ten thousand perfect men and ten thousand perfect angels willing to die could not have saved us. The one who died on that tree had to be of infinite worth. When Jesus says, I am able to discharge it, I am God. And I have the power to redeem. And my life is my life and it is of infinite worth. And though it prove a kind of undoing to me. Modern vernacular, though it disintegrate me. Though it impoverish all my riches, empty all my treasures, yet I am content to undertake it. I am content to undertake it. So when we are sitting there, channel surfing. When we are preoccupied with things that have no worth or value or excellence. If we would only begin to study scripture and study those who have gone before us. We begin to think great thoughts about God and what He has done for us in Christ. And that will transform our lives. And we will need none of this Christian bookstore stuff. Of all these little books on all these little principles. And all these little rules and regulations and how to's and formulas. Because once you are mesmerized by the person of God. And what He has done for you in the cross. You are constrained, compelled. I need no other argument. It is enough that Jesus died. And that He died for me. And that's Paul as we went through just briefly. That's Paul in Romans 12 making the great change. Eleven chapters of what God has done for you in Christ. And then He comes to now. By the mercies of God. Based upon the mercies of God in the first eleven chapters live this way. Based upon what you know that God has done for you in Christ. Live this way. Ephesians. First three chapters. Deepest theology in the Bible. Least the most eternal and other worldly theology in the Bible. And then He comes to chapter four and says therefore. We are dying from the ignorance of God. Our physical diets are just manifestations of the spiritual malady that is striking us here in America. Do you realize that most Americans are starving to death? Do you know that? Is it what we eat? We are overweight? Yes. But what we eat is like eating sawdust. It's bad. Most of what we eat is not good for us. And although we eat much, twice as much as what we need, what we eat is worthless. And so therefore in reality our bodies break down and we starve. It's the same way in Christianity. Running to and fro from here and there. Seeking a word from the Lord and there is none. And missing the greater thing. Our bookstores should be at least half full with nothing but books on the attributes of God. And the rest, the cross of Christ. And that will solve most of the problems. Well, that's it. That's an introduction. So let's go on to our sermon now. I want us to go to Isaiah 6 and I promise I won't go too long. I love the Isaiah 6 and the King James. It's just so beautiful. I use New American Standard all the time. But the King James. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. And above Him stood the seraphim, each having six wings. With two they covered their face. With two they covered their feet. And with two they did fly. And one cried unto the other, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The earth is full of His glory. And the posts of the door moved. But the voice of Him who cried. And the house was filled with smoke. And then said I, Woe is me. For I am undone. For I am a man of unclean lips. And I dwell among a people of unclean lips. Now, let's just do a brief review of what we've gone over. First of all, in the year King Uzziah died. In the year that he died. In the middle of political chaos. What did God do for Isaiah? Did He put a white man in office? Did He fix Congress? Did He do this or that? No. He did what was best. He gave him a view of God. In the year of turmoil. In the year when so much is happening. I mean the Roman Empire is being birthed. All sorts of things are going on. But what did Isaiah need? To see the Lord. That's what you need. That's what I need. To see Him. I saw the Lord. And it solved most of His problems. At once. In a moment. Of course, it created some also. I saw the Lord. Of course, the word here is Adonai. But later on in verse 3, it's going to be Yahweh. So don't let any cult or sect tell us that this is a lesser God. They do that because John tells us in chapter 12 that the one Isaiah sees here is the Son of God. And there's no way around it. Because as John Gill said, He's not an upstart God. This is God, a very God. In the year that King Isaiah died, I saw also the Lord. Now in seeing the Lord, it presents, of course, a problem. We all know that. That no man has seen God. But what we're seeing here, what the prophets saw, were manifestations of His glory. And not the fullness of God in His essence. Because their mind could not comprehend it. And if their mind could comprehend something of the true essence of God, their language would fail them and eventually drive them mad. As I said, just the beauty of God, which someone ought to write a book on this. Just the beauty of God. If you caught a glimpse of the beauty of God, it would drive you mad. It would be so spectacular that unless your mind and heart were supernaturally strengthened, you would not be able to endure it. And remember what I said, this is eternal life. To track down this God. This is what you're going to be doing throughout all eternity. And the evidence that you're going to do it throughout all eternity is that you're doing it now. Because eternal life begins at conversion. And the evidence of conversion is that you desire to know Him and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. But if your religion is just a ticket to heaven, as in most cases in the South, you're on the road to hell. But there's no desire, no passion, no hunger. Now, make no mistake, we all wane, we all have dullness of heart, we all fight against the flesh. But know this, if there's no desire for you to know Him, just Him. Not your best life now or what you can get out of Him, but Him. And there's deep-rooted problems. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw, I saw the Lord sitting. A settled sovereignty. Not a wringing of the hands. A God who is the author of history, author of the present, author of the future. Not one who can simply, as the pastor said this morning, look through some corridor of time that people always talk about and then respond to what he sees. He knows the future because He's the author of the future. He's Lord over it. And He directs and decrees all things according to His will. So I'm on a throne, lofty and exalted. I love what Matthew Henry says. His throne was very high. His throne was very high. Now, for the young preachers here, let me give you a lesson on something. I had a professor tell me one time, he says, Paul, I want to bring you to a point where you can sit out in the middle of a field and meditate so deeply that you can hear a caterpillar walk across the grass 100 yards away. Now, I know that sounds just too mystical. But just what Matthew Henry said, his throne was very high. You ought to be able to sit for days. Sit for days, just thinking about what that means. There's enough there to take you through an eternity of eternities. His throne was high. I heard of a man who dedicated himself, although he studied all of Scripture, he decided that his life practice would be to comprehend something of Psalms 23. Just think about that. The Lord is my shepherd. The. There's a whole lot of work on that one. Notice it's a definite article. Not a. The. His holiness. He's unique. He's the Lord, not a Lord, among many. It just goes on and on. Young men, in all the noise, in all the bother, learn to sit alone. They're seated upon the throne. Remember what I said. There will not be a changing of the guard and do not think you can wait out this administration. There is no voting. It is not a democracy. It is absolute Lordship, so that the New Testament can refer to Jesus as a tyrant. And rightly so. We have the idea of tyrants. It's a bad person because absolute power corrupts absolutely. But Christ is a tyrant, but he's good. C.S. Lewis brought that out very well. Chronicles of Narnia. Talking about Aslan, the little creature said, well, is he safe? And the other one said, of course he's not safe. He's a lion, but he is good. Is Jesus safe? No. Not at all. What will he do to your life? Absolutely destroy it. And rebuild it in his fashion. That is why when we tell people, as I said, when we tell people, we walk up to people in evangelism and say, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. That's the absolutely worst thing we could ever tell a human being. Because you're talking to a man who loves himself and has all kinds of plans for himself. So when you walk up to him and say, God loves you, he says, well, I love me too. Well, this is great. And God has wonderful plans. I have a wonderful plan for my life. And he's going to jump on my bandwagon. He's going to love me as much as I love me. And he has plans even greater than mine. Well, I'll take this kind of God. No, I'm going to tell you about a God who's going to disintegrate every molecule of your reality. Oh. Well, that's different. Yes. Two different Gospels, two different gods. It says, lofty and exalted, and the train of His road filled the temple. There was no place in that temple where anyone could stand that they were not being touched by the sovereignty and the majesty of the Son of God. Believer, that is a wonderful piece of news for you. Unbeliever, that's the most terrifying thing you're ever going to hear. It's good news and bad news. The good news is, as one old preacher used to say, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is this, God is here. The bad news is this, God is here. Depends on what side of the line you're standing. And it talks about the seraphim. And didn't you love what Spurgeon said about them? Spurgeon goes, you asked me to tell you about the seraphim. How can I? They've covered themselves. With two wings, they cover their faces. With two wings, they cover their feet. And what are they saying? Look not unto us. Not unto us be the glory, but unto Him be the glory. Notice those six wings usually used for service, but here they're retracted. Two of them. Two sets of them rather. Two thirds of their endeavor and their activity and their strength is dedicated to something other than ministry. It's dedicated to worship. Oh, there's where we fall short. So busy doing so many things, Martha, Martha. If He doesn't need seraphim, He doesn't need you. But He does call you to worship. He does call you to be there. In that throne room. And through the blood of Christ, you can run in where angels fear to tread. But remember what we learned this morning in Malachi? We sniff at all these privileges. And are mesmerized by other things. So, He said the seraphim stood above Him. Remember, some people have problem with that. How can the seraphim be above Him? And Gerlach tells us, well maybe it's a possibility in Hebrew that they weren't above Him, they were above His robe. And that is a possibility in Hebrew, but here's what I want you to understand. When you know your God and you know there's no competition, it doesn't matter where everyone else stands. He's not like the little kings of Europe who used to get mad if someone taller walked in the room. Or had to have their throne set up higher than everybody else because they were insecure. No, He knows who He is. He has no competitors. It says, with six wings, with two He covered His face, and with two He covered His feet, and with two He flew. They cover their face, though their beauty is so spectacular. Yet they cover their face. Their beauty would drive you mad. It would be too much for your mind to comprehend. Yet they cover their face, bashful in His presence, as one of the fathers tells us. And with two they covered their feet. Sproul says that it's them covering their creatureness. That they're recognizing before Him their creature and not God. And notice as I said, seraphim means burning ones. But here's what you need to see. They seem to be on fire simply because they are reflecting the holiness and the glory of the one seated upon the throne. Know this, that all their splendor and all their burning and all their holiness and all their glory is not inherent. It doesn't spring forth from these angels. It is derived. It comes forth from God. That is why when it says that the heavens are unclean in His sight, or it says something like He finds foolishness even among His angels, it does not mean that heaven is dirty. It just means this. God alone is inherently holy. Everything else is dependent upon His holiness. Everything else flows from Him. That's why Jesus made a remarkable statement when He says that He had life in Himself. That's blasphemy unless He's God. So two wings He covered His face. With two He covered His feet. And with two He flew. Rapid! Oh, how dull my heart is to just jump. We have to be constantly on the move. But our hearts become dull. It's like when a man first meets the love of his life, he's so quick to move, advance before her, to open a door, to be at her aid, to show his devotion. And then gradually there's a dullness that sets in. A wickedness. It shows the dullness of the heart. Two things actually. The dullness into which the heart has fallen, and the fact that very possibly the first part of all that devotion was self-centered expression and not so much love. Always be wary. He's worthy of us jumping. I used the word yesterday, flying. The people today only think that flying means to fly, to move in the air. But to fly, to flee, to be quick to jump. And quick to stay. There's an entire sermon on just learning to stand and not move. Until He gives you the command. Now, it says, and one called out to another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts. We don't have much time to go through this. We went through it yesterday. But the whole idea is If you want to know who God is, the primary thought that ought to pop into your mind the moment anyone mentions anything of deity is that He's holy. And holiness is not primarily referring to moral purity. That's where people get very confused. Holiness is primarily referring to separateness, distinctness, uniqueness. There is no one like Him. He is unique. He is holy in His righteousness. There's no one righteous like God. He's holy in His love. There's no one who loves like God loves. And that's why you've got to be very careful because you try to draw comparisons. God is like this. Or God's love is like this. No, my friend. There's no comparison that can be drawn. He's utterly and totally distinct and unique. And we can call that to another holy, holy, holy. The theme of heaven resonating off of every wall is the holiness of God. That He is transcendent. And no one is like Him. What does it mean for a believer to be holy? We didn't touch on this, so let's just grab it for a second. What does it mean for a believer to be holy? A lot of people think holiness is separation from bad things. No, those are the first seeds of holiness. You separate from in order to run to. You separate from, you're a mighty fine legalist. But it's separate from in order to run to. Holiness is hardly even mentioned in American Christianity today. But holiness ultimately, even in the believer's life, is not more purity. Holiness ultimately is esteeming God as God ought to be esteemed or living a realistic life. Recognizing God is absolutely everything. God is unique. No one's like God. God takes first place, second place, third place, fourth place in every place, in every thing. He is on top. And below. And in the middle. Because it's not just a ranking system where God goes first and after you've given Him His time, then something else follows. No, He's in everything first. And I have no other gods before Him, beside Him, behind Him. He enters into no conjunctive relationship. It is not God and country, God and men. It's God alone. That is why the attitude of the man of God must be primarily, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy name. Be esteemed as it ought to be esteemed. Infinitely worthy of everything. I love what Abraham Kuyper says, that when Jesus Christ comes back, He's going to stretch forth His hand upon this world and He's going to go, Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine. For He is holy as the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full.