I’m not real big on the whole idea of talk-shows. But one show I saw a number of years ago was dealing with the issue of school violence. This was after the string of high school shootings that terrified parents and teachers alike. The question that was asked is why are these kids doing this? Montel Williams was the host of the show and he had a number of top psychologists who offered opinions ranging from brain abnormalities, to cultural influences such as rock music and video games.
After they had made their opinions, the host of the show Montel Williams gave his theory, and it may shock you. He said that he thought the reason why these kids were doing this was that they no longer had any fear of God. That’s why, he explained, they can go and murder ten classmates and then turn the gun on themselves because in their mind, that is the end to all their suffering. He said, “These kids no longer fear neither God nor death, so in their mind they can do what ever they want and not beheld accountable for it.”
The fear of God; It’s a controversial issue for some. The idea is that we should be telling people about the love of God that God loves us and is our best friend. All this is true, but it is only part of the truth. Throughout the bible we are taught that we ought to fear God; to stand in awe of His awesome power and might, and to fear His awful wrath.
The Bible says that the fear of God is the beginning of all knowledge. Deuteronomy 10:12 says, “And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God.” Even in our own best loved hymn we are told that it was grace…that taught my heart to fear. And grace my fears relieved.
The fear of God is a healthy fear to have, and the more I see the more I recognize the need for us to regain this fear. In our culture, God bashing has become a popular thing. A number of years ago, Keith Richards the guitarist for the Rolling Stones, was interviewed for US magazine. This was right after a huge concert that was about to take place that was rained out. In the article he was quoted as saying, “It’s not the devil who gets me mad. It’s that blankity-blank God and His blankity-blank rain! Wait ‘till I see Him. Doesn’t He know who we are, we’re the Rolling Stones!” I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be around Keith Richards when Christ returns.
But his attitude is all to familiar. We see it in how we approach spiritual things. We walk into the house of God, with no respect or honor for it. We come to the Lord’s table with a careless attitude and a wandering mind. We profane the holy things of God, and by doing so we profane the name of God. Do you remember the story found in the book of 2 Samuel about the ark of God? Listen to this. It’s found in chapter 6 verses 5-7. “David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD , with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals. When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.”
Kind of makes you sit up and pay attention doesn’t it. Now David got mad at God for that, but it shows us that when we fail to respect the holiness and might of God, His wrath is poured out. And it is that fear that leads us to respect. God is to be feared. Isaiah 8:12-13 says, ‘do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread,”.
Now, in our text that was read for you this morning, the prophet Isaiah was given a vision of God and of His holiness. I want us to see this morning how Isaiah responded to that vision of God’s holiness, and for us to see the proper response that each of us must have as well. When you come in contact with the Holy, one thing is for sure…you’ll never forget it.
Now the first response I want you to see is that when Isaiah saw the Lord, He trembled before His Holiness. Look at verses 1-4. “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, 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 thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.”
Notice the details of Isaiah’s vision: God was on the throne. King Uzziah may have died, but God was still on the throne. And the throne was high and exalted which means that it is greater and exceeded all other thrones. The train (just the train) of His robe filled the entire temple. I don’t know why it is but when a bride walks down an aisle her dress often has a long "train". Some of you remember the wedding of Diana and Prince Charles. Diana’s train was so long that there were people there to carry the train of her dress! Why? It is a symbol of royalty. The train of God filled the entire temple! His royalty far surpasses anything we have known or can imagine.
Along with this vision Isaiah saw seraphs. The word seraph means burning one. With one set of wings they covered their face, with another they covered their feet out of reverence for God. The angels praise the Lord with the "three times holy". They declare that He is supremely holy. As they spoke, the words holy reverberated against the walls, getting stronger with each echo till their voices were shaking of the doorposts which simply add to the sense of awesomeness and power. And all these images are designed to point us to majesty in God that should provoke reverence and awe. They point us to His holiness.
And it is that Holiness which most defines God. [Originating in God’s nature, holiness is a unique quality of His character. The Bible emphasizes this divine attribute. “Who is like you, O LORD?” (Ex. 15:11). “There is none holy like the LORD” (1 Sam. 2:2). “Who shall not fear You, O Lord . . . For You alone are holy” (Rev. 15:4). God’s high expectations of His people flow out of His own holy nature: “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6); “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” (Lev. 19:2).]
Pastor Tony Evans calls holiness the "centerpiece of God’s attributes." Of all the things that God is, at the center of his being, God is holy. God’s holiness is central to understanding who God is, and all that he does. Consider that never in the Bible is God called "love, love, love," or "eternal, eternal, eternal," or "truth, truth, truth" but twice in the Bible, God is addressed emphatically by his central attribute: "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts.
Somebody has said that the concept of God’s holiness is the single best argument against the notion that human beings just made up the concept of God. Man might very well imagine a sort of deity who is loving; merciful, forgiving, and powerful but mistake-prone human beings would surely stop short of inventing an absolutely holy God who would hold them accountable to His own exacting standards of holiness.
Can you imagine a "hole-y" golf instructor? One that could hit a hole in one every time and thoroughly expects you to do the same thing, holding you accountable if you miss? We would never invent a holy and righteous God who expects us to be holy, just as he is holy but God is intrinsically holy and when we see him in eternity, we’ll cry out on cue, without any prompting, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!"; Just as the angels are doing here in our text.
But what does it mean to be holy? That word is thrown around so carelessly these days that it’s often viewed in a negative way. Consider this, what do you call a man is an artificial, even hypocritical saint with an arrogant or elitist perspective…you call him a holy Joe. We say holy- roller, Holier than Thou, Holy crawfish, Batman! But what does the term actually mean?
Well, above all else, it means to be distant, or unique. Isaiah 40:25 says, “"To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.”. There is no one like God. He is so far above mankind that we cannot even comprehend His vastness or greatness. A.W. Tozer 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 we cannot even imagine. He is unique in His power, and also in His purity.
God is untainted by sin and He despised evil. And sin in its purest form is a crime against God and God’s holiness, and because God is holy and just…He cannot allow sin to go unpunished. Sin must be dealt with. Isaiah knew such. He knew that God was a just God who must punish sin, and with the burning angels, and the smoke which is always used as a symbol of the judgment of God must have sent shivers down Isaiah’s spine.
He wasn’t alone. The holiness of God struck terror into even the holiest of hearts and the Scriptures reveal that great men of God trembled and fell to their faces when they found themselves in the presence of mere angels.
The holiness of God caused Adam and Eve to hide from God in the Garden of Eden. When confronted with the holiness of God Moses covered his face and the children of Israel kept at a safe distance. When confronted with the holiness of God Job’s accusations turned into adoration. When confronted with the holiness of God the Apostle John “fell at his feet as though dead”
Why? Just like all the others, when Isaiah saw the Lord, he trembled because he saw his own sinfulness. Look at verse 5. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
Now when you compare yourself to others you may seem all right. In fact you may think of yourself as being somewhat perfect. But there is no such thing as a perfect person in the presence of God.
I came across this week what was called The Perfect Story. It goes like this: There was a perfect man who met a perfect woman. After a perfect courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life together was, of course, perfect. One snowy, stormy Christmas Eve this perfect couple was driving along a winding road when they noticed someone at the roadside in distress. Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help. There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys. Not wanting to disappoint any children on the eve of Christmas, the perfect couple loaded Santa and his toys into their vehicle. Soon they were driving along delivering the toys. Unfortunately, the driving conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple and Santa Claus had an accident. Only one of them survived the accident. Who was the survivor? Answer: The perfect woman. She’s the only one that really existed in the first place. Everyone knows there is no Santa Claus and there is no such thing as a perfect man………. So, if there is no perfect man and no Santa Claus, the perfect woman must have been driving, which would explain why there was a car accident.
You see, the truth is that there is neither perfect man nor woman. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And you may not see yourself as a sinner, but when you compare yourself to God’s standard of righteousness and holiness, you tremble at the sight of your own sins.
The first response of an unholy person to the holiness of God is an acute awareness of personal sin. When the unholy confronts the holy we become very conscious of our own sinfulness. It is like we live most of our lives with some of the lights off . . . we are able to hide some of our wickedness in the dark.
But then in God’s light we see ourselves as we are. It’s as if we experience an awakening of some sort. When the awful reality that we are sinners and that God is a holy God who punishes sin, and we know we are guilty…so we tremble in fear and in horror we cry out like Isaiah, “Woe is Me!”
But something amazing happened to Isaiah. When he trembled before the Lord, and saw his own sinfulness, God gave Isaiah grace. Look at Verse 6-7. “Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
How is it that mankind is able to stand before a righteous and just God? It is only by the grace of God. Notice two things here. First, Isaiah did nothing to deserve this grace. This was all God’s doing. And there is nothing you can do to earn God’s grace. That’s the whole point. You can’t do it. Isaiah was stained and covered in sin, unable to cleanse himself, but God in his grace took the initiative and made Isaiah clean.
Second, notice how complete the grace was. The angel said that his sins were atoned, but also his guilt. What’s the big deal, well let me illustrate it this way. A while back my two girls got the urge to grab a crayon and scribble artwork on their bedroom door, when they knew they weren’t supposed to. Now I took some paint and covered their sin, but they were still in trouble. And they knew it, and they felt bad. But when I said, “It’s okay, I forgive you.” They felt better, because they knew they would no longer be punished!
The whole point is this, the only way to stand before a holy and righteous God is to come through the cleansing power of Jesus Christ. It is only by His precious blood that we are cleansed and made whole. It is only though faith in Christ that we are able to come to the Father, because it is only though Christ are sins are atoned. John 14:6 says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except thru Me.”
Now I know that this is not how we like to think of God. It’s much easier for us to focus on His love, and mercy. But His love and mercy are meaningless apart from His holiness and justice. And it must be done.
In his book Our God is Awesome, Tony Evans asks some pointed questions. He asks, “What would you say about a father who failed to warn his children of impending danger? What would you say about a friend who saw you going down a dangerous road and knew disaster awaited you at the other end, yet he made no attempt to stop you? How about a doctor who knew you had a life-threatening illness, but simply told you to take two aspirin, go home, and rest? Suppose a police officer saw smoke rising from your roof, or witnessed burglars breaking into your home, but never tried to alert anyone? and then Tony Evans asks just one more question: what would you say about a pastor who told you about God’s love and forgiveness and patience, but never warned you of his wrath? I’ll give you his answer: "That pastor would be doing you a great disservice"
And I want you to know, that God is a powerful, powerful God. He is holy and just. He will not stand for evil, but He is patient and kind. He is the God of love and compassion. What His justice demands of you, His grace provides. Now the question is, how will you respond?
