God is holy. Holy is the word that is used most in the scripture to describe God. Far more than any other word that is used to describe God is the word holy. It appears over 720 times, God is holy. The holiness of God needs to be preached today. The holy God of Scripture, I would argue, has been largely forgotten, and he has been replaced, in the Western world at least, by a God of love. And if you ask the average evangelical, what is God? The answer will almost certainly be, God is love. And that is the first phrase that will probably come to their mind, if not the only one. The one attribute of God, which we call the love of God, has been magnified to become the definition and nature, and even the essence of God, to the neglect of his holiness. And this magnification of the love of God is wrong. It is unscriptural, and it is wrong. A conversation would run something like this. I've had this conversation many, many years ago. Ah, but the Bible says that God is love. That is correct, of course it does, four or five times. But it says that he is holy hundreds of times. Ah, but, the person then said, isn't there something about the Greek in 1 John chapter four, the predication of the Greek that means that God is completely love, and that elevates love above all the other attributes. I heard a person saying that once. The short answer to that is, no, there is not anything in the predication of the Greek language that says that. There is not a shred of evidence in the Greek for saying that. The Bible says God is light in 1 John chapter 1 and verse 5. It says God is love in 1 John chapter 4 and verse 8. It says God is a consuming fire in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 29. And it says God is spirit in John's gospel in chapter 4. And let me give you a quote. concerning all those passages I've just mentioned, quote, the same kind of predication is used in all of those four statements, end of quote. That's Robert L. Raymond, the theologian. So there is no reason whatsoever in the original languages to emphasize love any more than any of the other attributes. And anyone who says in the original, there's a reason, they're wrong, it's not true at all. God is holy. Indeed, if we as believers do not get our idea of God being holy correct, then our knowledge of his attribute of love will be sadly skewed into mere sentimentalism. God is holy. That is the attribute of God that is most mentioned by far in the Old and New Testaments. The seraphim around the throne in glory cry, holy, holy, holy. In Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4, it's where I read the passages. In eternity, that is how worship is around the throne. They're worshiping a holy God. God is, according to Exodus 15 verse 11, glorious in his holiness. According to Psalm 22 in verse 3, it says, but thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Amazing text that, isn't it? We will look tonight at four points on God's holiness. We're gonna look on two tonight and two next Sunday morning. Number one, what is God's holiness? Number two, God's holiness seen in how he deals with created beings. The third point will be next week, God's holiness on the saint, and fourthly, God's holiness on the sinner. But firstly tonight then, what is God's holiness? Definition, the Hebrew word without the vowels is Q-D-S, and then they added the vowels, and it's pronounced, I was always pronouncing it wrong, the kadosh, according to, Derek knows a bit of Hebrew, kadosh, to be set apart or separate from, to be led aside. The Greek word in the New Testament is hagios, an aweful thing, something that is full of awe, separated, something that is separated to God, and something that is worthy of veneration. The word holy basically means two things. It's a double-barreled word. It means to be cut off or separated from the common or the sinful. All the implements in the Old Testament tabernacle were made holy. They were separated from common use, right? Holy means separated from the common or the sinful. And the second part of the word holy means, the other meaning is consecrated to holy use, to God's use. So separation from sin and consecration to God, that's what the word holy means. Set apart from sin, committed to purity. God is altogether separate. He is holy and transcendent, he is unapproachable, and he is also intrinsically pure. ethical holiness, or he's committed to purity. So you get this double-barrel word. Thomas Watson, the Puritan, says this, God's holiness consists in his perfect love of righteousness—so there's the commitment to—and his abhorrence of evil—separation from evil. double meaning. A. W. Pink says in scripture, he is frequently styled the holy one. He is so because the sum of all moral excellence is found in him. He is absolute purity. God is separate from sin and of pure eyes than to behold evil. He is cut off from sin. Holiness, by definition, hates sin. Holiness, by definition, is intolerant, will not tolerate sin. And that, this is what God is. He is holy. How is God holy? Well, he is infinitely holy. He is absolutely holy. He is completely holy, because he's infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in all his attributes. He is eternally holy. Always was, always will be. He is unchangeably holy. He was never less holy and will never become more holy. He is unchangeably holy. He will never reduce the standard to tolerate impurity. God being altogether holy, we cannot fully, of course, understand with our finite minds. Natural man is almost completely blind to the holiness of God. He may fear God's power, says Tozer, and admire God's wisdom, but his holiness, we cannot even imagine a sinful man he means. God is essentially holy. He is predominantly holy. You see, what I'm trying to say is this, that God is holy is the key, it is the central communicable attribute of God. Remember, the attributes for our understanding of God are divided into two. There's the incommunicable attributes, infinite, eternal, unchangeable. There's no communication of those attributes to humanity, to creation. They are God's alone. But then there's the communicable attributes, those that he communicates to his creatures, love. righteousness, and so on, the wrath even. Well, holiness is the central communicable attribute of God. This is the Puritan view, because it's the biblical view. Now, if you want to think about it in this way, because in many systematic theologies, they draw little diagrams on the pages to help us understand. The way of understanding the holiness of God in the area of his communicable attributes is easy enough to imagine as a diagram. You draw a circle, the way a little child, when it's small, would draw the sun, okay? You draw a circle, and then you draw the sunbeams, the lines coming out from the sun. Well, in the middle of that circle, you write the word holy. And then, the five or six lines pointing out, you write righteousness, wrath, justice, good, love, mercy, and so on, the other communicable attributes. That is the biblical view. Central to all God's communicable attributes is his holiness, and all those other attributes flow out of his holiness because he is holy. But then, I have a systematic theology book at home, a more modern one, and there's a diagram in it. And it's just the same except in the centre of that circle is the word love written. And then on the outside you have wrath, justice, holiness and all. And when you actually look at it, it's a blatant contradiction, isn't it? You see apparent contradictions when you don't have holiness as the essence of what God is. Because all of a sudden you're reading, love is in the middle and flowing from love is wrath. Whereas if you have holiness in the middle, flowing from holiness is love, flowing from holiness is wrath against sin, flowing from holiness is justice, flowing from holiness is goodness. It all makes sense and there's no contradiction. But the modern caricature of love in the middle makes apparent contradictions. in God's attributes, so it's utterly foolish and wrong. God is absolutely and essentially holy. He is so pure as to be called a consuming fire. The whole of worship in heaven, in eternity, is holy, holy, holy. Isaiah and Revelation, it never changes. Isaiah wrote, Isaiah 6, round about 700 or 800 BC. Holy, holy, holy. And then John wrote Revelation four round about, well, some of you disagree on when Revelation was written, but between 70 and 90 AD. And there's no change at all. The same seraphim are still worshiping God in the exact same way, saying, holy, holy, holy. Same words. Indeed, it says in Revelation chapter four in verse eight that the seraphim rest not day and night saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord, God, almighty, curios, theos, panrato, sovereign, Lord, God, and almighty, which was and is and is to come eternal. And as in heaven or in eternity, and in heaven and eternity, of course, there is no time because eternity is endless. Therefore, it has always been and always will be that God is worshipped in this way. holy, holy, holy, which was and is and is to come, Lord God Almighty, sovereign God, all-powerful, eternal. What is that worship in eternity? You see what worship is? It's very theological, isn't it? In the true sense of the meaning of the word, not complicated, but theological words about God. In fact, worship, is simply a rehearsing and a rejoicing and repeating back to God of His attributes and His being and His characteristics. Worship is a confession of us repeating back to God what is true of Him from Scripture. Worship is saying, perfect, pure, sinless one, sovereign God almighty, you are the only eternal. That's what worship is. I want to ask a question then. Is the worship of the modern church like that? Climb, climb up Sunshine Mountain, heavenly breezes blow. Not a cloud in the sky. I'm happy all the day, not a cloud in the sky. Where's that in worship in the Bible? In eternity. Worship is a rehearsing of what God is and what God has done. His eternity, His holiness, everything. contained in the singing of the Psalms is this very thing, is it not? Holy God, sovereign God, all-powerful God, eternal God. Correct, theologically. I'm not saying that everyone who sings the Psalms has got worship right and is all very spiritual. It's not true, it isn't. It's easy to do that as well, just pure tradition going through, but at least in content, at least in the theology, it's true and heavenly in that sense. And it glorifies God properly through his own attributes, through his own inspired word. But holiness, I'm emphasizing this, holiness must lead in the worship of Jehovah. So holiness God is holy. Listen to William Brackell, volume one, the Dutch theologian. I like to call him the Dutch Puritan because he was at the same time. Holiness is the pure essence of the character of God. Consequently, it relates to the brightness of all his perfections, for which he is called light, and in him is no darkness at all. Absolutely pure and holy. And because of God's holiness of being, and every attribute flows from His holiness, then His love flows from His holiness, and His righteousness flows from His holiness, and His mercy flows from His holiness, and all the other ones, holy, holy, holy, and there is no contradiction in all these. His goodness flows from His holiness, His sovereignty, His power, and on and on it goes. God is holy. Therefore, sin is very serious, isn't it? Humankind or mankind's sin and transgression coexist within the race, yeah, but some individuals among us today have developed sin to a frightful enormity. God regards this as unmitigatingly inexcusable, utterly indefensible, fully deserving of his punishment. He views our sins, the violation of his holy law, and rebellious self-deification not as only real evil, morally wrong and therefore in his sight detestable, odious, ugly, disgusting, filthy, loathsome, unliable to punishment, with no right to be, but there also our sins are a contradiction of his perfections, cannot but meet with his undiluted disapproval and wrath, and are damnable in the strongest sense of the word because they so dreadfully dishonor God. God must react with holy indignation against sinners. He cannot do otherwise." End of quote, Robert Raymond. Why? Because he's holy. He is totally separate from sin. He's absolutely pure. So that's the first point. What is God's holiness? The definition, separate, completely cut off from sin or evil, and set apart to purity and sinlessness, or consecrated, essentially pure, intrinsically pure. How is he holy? Infinitely, eternally, and unchangeably, and essentially, he is holy. and from his holiness flow his other attributes. Second point, a bit more brief. God's holiness seen in dealing with created beings. Isaiah six, the seraphim. What does God cause them to sing and speak? These perfect, angels, holy, holy, holy. And though they are sinless, they cover their face. His holiness is evident even in his dealing with perfect angels. Moses at the burning bush God's presence in a fire. He says to Moses, take off your shoes, for the place wherein you stand is holy ground. Wherever God is, it is holy, because he is. Joshua and Israel before crossing the Jordan into the promised land in Joshua 3, When Joshua tells them to prepare themselves, to cleanse themselves and do the purification rituals and so on, be ready to meet with the Holy God. He gives them days to do so. In the Ark of the Lord, His presence is taken and carried down into the edge of the River Jordan. And the people have to stay 3,000 feet away from the Ark of the Covenant. Sanctify yourselves, set yourselves apart. And the priests carry the ark down into the water and the water retreats. from the very presence of God. We see God's holiness in his dealing with created beings. The tabernacle worship in the Old Testament and the temple, remember in Exodus chapter 49 to 13, every item, the laver, the incense altar, every single item that was in the tabernacle had to be sanctified, made holy. set apart from the common use, consecrated to holy use, dedicated to God's use alone. Everything that touched God's worship had to be made holy, because he is holy. I conclude and summarize for this evening. What is God's holiness? It is a definite absence or separation from sin and a commitment to absolute purity. He's infinitely holy, he's eternally holy, he's unchangeably holy, he's essentially holy. It's the essence of God. God's holiness seen in dealing with created beings, angels, Moses, Joshua, tabernacle worship, everything. God's holiness is important. We need to give God's holiness its proper place as his central essence. Because if we do not, if we do not, in many ways we have made an idol of the God of the Bible. For Christians, God is holy. We approach him as holy. Leviticus 10 verse 3 says, I will be sanctified in them that come near me. That's what God says. In the next chapter, two young men, Aaron's sons, came before him in an unholy way and he burnt them alive across the altar. I will be sanctified in them that come near me. I will be regarded as holy is what that means. We must regard God as holy as we come and worship him. And for sinners, for those that are not believers, they haven't repented of their sin and put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in the psalm, I'm going to turn to it for you, the psalm number five and verse four, it says these words. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee. God is holy. Sin cannot dwell, evil cannot dwell where God is. Sin needs to be dealt with. It can't be dealt with through our attempt at good works. It's far too serious for that. The only way that sin can be dealt with is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We repent and trust in his sacrifice for our sins and we receive his righteousness. I close with a quote from Matthew Henry on the holiness of God. No attribute of God is more dreadful to the sinner than his holiness. And I would add to that, no attribute of God is more glorious to the Christian than his holiness. Amen. Thanks for your attention this evening. Brethren, the Lord bless you.