Rediscovering the Holiness of God
Isaiah 6:1-9a
Over the next few weeks, I want to take the time to look at holiness. The Nazarene church is founded upon the Holiness traditions of the Wesley’s. In a nutshell, they taught there was more to this Christian experience than just salvation. John Wesley taught that God was calling from our salvation experience to a deeper, more committed walk with the Master.
This thing called holiness calls the believer to be “set apart” from the rest of the world, and make a conscious effort to become more like Christ. We are called to a thing called “Christian perfection.” While we will talk about this topic at a later time, Christian perfection can be described as having our wills bent to the will of God.
Imagine a piece of iron that has been bent. No matter how much we try on our own, we cannot bend it back to its original form. Then imagine a strong magnet. If the magnet is strong enough, the iron will be attracted to both poles of the magnet, thus conforming to the will of the magnet. That is what holiness is like.
For us today to get a better view of holiness, we need to have a better vision of the One who is pure and holy... God!
For years, Christians, instead of striving become more like God, have sold themselves short, and have tried to make God more manageable. Why? It’s easier to deal with a big, fluffy Santa Claus who sits on the shelf until we need then to be faced with an Almighty, All knowing, All Holy God. We feel that we needn’t live up to the expectation of a God when we control what He expects from us.
If we continue to lessen the holiness of God, there is no law because law is based on a commonly accepted morality. If we lessen the view of God, there is no sin, only “alternative lifestyles” and minor steps in goodness. Where God is not holy, there is little incentive to change our behaviour. If God is not holy, there is no gospel. If we forfeit the doctrine of holiness of God, there is a lower level pf commitment among those who would be Christian. In fact, the whole doctrine of God disintegrates if His holiness is diminished.
His Holiness is what makes him “God!” Isaiah came face to face with a Holy God. This morning, before we can journey into holiness, we must come face to face with a holy God. The ideas expressed in this message have come from the book “Whatever became of Holiness?” by Steve Deneff, pastor of College Wesleyan Church in Marion, Indiana.
To grasp the truest sense of holiness, we too must come like Isaiah and seek out this holy God.
1. First, where God’s Holiness is observed, the Lord is “HIGH and EXALTED!”
When we truly come into His presence, and not the presence of our far out view of who He is, He ceases to be a private possession of a few people who live inside a certain denomination or era in history. He becomes bigger than life. This inspires real and spontaneous worship. It maximizes our faith! Christ’s words become even more real when He said, “nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). All of this, and more, happens when the Lord is lifted up!
2. When we come into His Holy Presence, We are humbled!
One of the oddities of this passage is that Isaiah dated this passage “in the year that King Uzziah died...” (Is 6:1) Uzziah became king at the age of sixteen. He became very rich, famous and powerful, which would become his eventual downfall.
If you recall the story from 2 Chronicles, Uzziah entered the temple to burn incense on the golden altar. That job was for the priest alone to perform. As a result, Uzziah was stricken with leprosy, and forced to live outside the city. His son, Jotham, ruled in his stead.
Steve Deneff writes the following: “ As the Prophet Isaiah stood in the Temple where Uzziah was cursed, he must have replayed the mental videos of that tragic day and remembered the holiness of God is never to be presumed upon. For it was here that God drew a memorable line of distinction between Himself and the creature. Isaiah would not have missed the point.” (page 25)
Isaiah noted that God was “high and exalted” and remembered that the king was wasting away outside the city. God was seen “seated on a throne”; Uzziah had lost his. God was “holy, holy, holy”; Uzziah shouted “unclean, unclean” each time he left his compound. God was glorified by a multitude; Uzziah was awaiting his grave in solitude.
J.I. Packer wrote, “Genuine worshippers want to blot themselves out of the picture so that all can concentrate, without distraction, on God alone.” Each time we meditate on the holiness of God, each time He enters the room where we are worshipping, we are struck first with His greatness, and then with our own unworthiness.
3. As this happens, as the glory of God sucks the wind out of our self-inflated sails, we are smitten with a sense of our sinfulness.
“Woe is me!” cried the Prophet, “I am RUINED!” Whenever we gaze into God’s purity, we begin to feel unworthy and sinful.
There is a great deal of talk these days about getting the world to see its sin. There have been sermons preached, crusades run, twelve-step groups established; and “fanatics” where the signs declaring “Repent!” But genuine repentance is not the product of mood, fear, or guilt but of remorse for having offended the Holy One. Spiritual brokenness cannot be taught or given away; it must be discovered one convert at a time. So, the revival the church has longed and prayed is less dependant on what we can muster, and more on whether we discover the holiness of God.
4. Those who have grasped the holiness of God inherit grace and forgiveness.
Let’s take a closer look at verses 5-7 and see how this unfolds. (read 5-7) It was after the prophet repented that he was forgiven, and not before. It was the very part he surrendered that which the angel purified. One would expect a prophet who has confessed to total “ruin” and “unclean lips” to feel worse than anyone. The total opposite is true. Not only does he acknowledge his cleansing; he volunteers for service before the day is over. We should remember: once we are forgiven...
5. We are called into service...
The irony of this whole holiness journey is that we are called by the same vision that humiliated us in the first place. It was fear of the holiness of God that sent a sinful Adam and Eve into hiding, as it does with all. Yet, if we are willing to take a chance and stare down the grim prospects, we are not ruined or ridiculed, but we are invited to serve. God’s holiness must humble before it recruits.
Conclusion
More than anything, the new believer, the dying church, the fence-sitter and the discouraged person need an unveiled look at the holiness of God. It is not a cure-all. But it is the most accurate and concise prescription we have.
It is not something, however, that can be found in a “self-help” book. There is no special formula or plan to discover God’s holiness and solve our problems. Like our biblical forefathers, we need to look for lists or sacred places. We need to get alone, find a place of solitude, and seek out the Lord.
In very case where God was rediscovered, men were silent and alone. Isaiah spent a day at the temple. Daniel, three weeks by the river. John, a season on Patmos. Jesus Himself, as Luke observed, “often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16).
Have you seen God lately? Have you been so caught up in His presence that you have, as the KJV puts it, become “undone?” A journey into holiness starts with placing your foot on the path that God alone is holy, and being in His presence MUST drive us to our
