The holiness of God, Jehovah, is one of the main proofs that the Scripture is the Word of God. You ever think about it that way? Because sinful man would never dream up a holy God as revealed in Scripture in his fallen sinful mind. A.W. Pink says, "'An ineffably holy God, who has the utmost abhorrence for all sin, was never invented by any of Adam's fallen race.'" Who would invent a God like that, like the God of the Bible? Look at the character and the attributes of the gods made up by men. The character and the attributes of the gods that are made up by human beings are the opposite of holiness and purity, aren't they? In other words, if you want proof, real evidence, if you want proof that sinners wouldn't invent a God that's holy, just look at Apollo, or look at Zeus, the Greek god, or look at Thor, or look at any of the gods of the South American Indians. Their attributes are the opposite of holy. Point proved. That's just a fact, isn't it? Man does not invent gods that are holy. Fallen man cannot do that. But the God of the Bible is absolutely holy. He's without measure in His holiness. And this is seen in His dealings, as we've looked in weeks past, in His dealings with created beings, from angels to Moses to the New Testament church, Holiness permeates all God's relationships with people. What is the gospel? What is the purpose of the gospel even in the New Testament? You know what the purpose of the gospel is? God's plan to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Now, this holiness of God, which is his essence, love is not his essence, his holiness is his essence, has implications for our lives, doesn't it? We Christians are to be practically in our lives trying to be holy, like our Father in heaven, because God is holy. It says in 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 1, let us purify ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. That's the goal of the Christian. That's what we do. Let us purify. The Greek word is cleanse. and it's an aorist, active, subjunctive, past tense, we're active in it, and we have the potential to do it. Let us cleanse ourselves. Let us actively attempt to purify ourselves from all filthiness, all defilement of the flesh, the carnal body, and spirit, the mind, the emotions, and the will, outward and inward. The Holy Spirit is in us for an obvious reason. He aids us in this perfection of holiness, not that it is perfect, but this drive towards holiness. And what is this? When we attempt to cleanse ourselves from filthiness with the flesh and spirit, it is called perfecting holiness, moral purity, a present active participle. We are presently actively trying to purify ourselves in the fear of God. That's what the text says. We are to be making an energetic effort as believers to be practically pure morally. Remember what it says in 1 John. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. Though it doth not yet appear What we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall see him as he is. Isn't that the marvelous, that's the Puritan hope. That when he shall appear, we shall see him as he is. We don't yet appear what we shall be, but when he comes, we'll see him as he is. But listen, it goes on. And it says, and every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as he, Christ, is pure. Every man, every Christian who has the Puritan hope of seeing Jesus and being like him, every believer is purifying himself. even as Christ is pure." You know what that text teaches, brethren? One of the things it teaches is this. There's no such thing as a Christian who's not interested in purity. There's no such thing as a Christian that's not interested in discipleship, holiness, or sanctification. There's no such thing as a believer It's not interested in those things because the text says every man that has this hope in him purifies himself. And if they don't purify themselves, they don't have the hope of being like Christ when he comes. Every man that has this hope loves holiness. They love it. Are you enjoying this? See if you are. That's because you do have that hope in you. Because if you're unregenerate, enjoying preaching on holiness, that's a funny trait for an unregenerate person, isn't it? It's no wonder that Thomas Watson, the Puritan, says, as a virtuous woman, is distinguished from a harlot, so holiness distinguishes between the two seeds of man. The two types of people, the saved and lost, the children of God and the children of the devil, so holiness discerns between the two types of man. Yes, God's holiness affects our lives. It affects our worship. but also still by way of application. A few more brief points to the Christian, then we're moving to the unsaved. God's holiness has implications for us in the area of how a Christian prays. How we pray. Remember in Matthew 6 how Christ taught his followers to pray? Our Father, that art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. thy kingdom come, thy will be done," and so on it goes. It's Christ's structure for prayer, that it's the Christian structure for prayer given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. And only a Christian can pray that prayer in Matthew 6. Many people say it, but only a Christian can pray it. Our Father, the Greek word is Pater, P-A-T-E-R, Father, male ancestor. Our Father, only God's children are His Father, which art in heaven, the expanse, hallowed be thy name. Hagios, the Greek word for holy, hallowed, and It is an aorist, passive, imperative verb in the Lord's Prayer. Aorist, God is holy, and it's imperative, it's commanded, holy is God's name. This is how we approach God in prayer. We're commanded to in the imperative. and it's talking about the proper name of God, Jehovah. God is to be approached in prayer, according to Matthew chapter six, by his followers as Father, who's exalted in heaven, the one who is holy, and it is an imperative command of God that that's how we pray. God's holiness means that when we approach him in prayer, we don't approach him as our pal. You, of course, all know that. There are some people in churches in the Western world that are very flippant with God, and they approach Him as their pal, don't they? Well, the Lord's Prayer rules that out completely. He's not the man upstairs, most certainly not. Our prayers are to confess His relationship with us and our relationship with Him, His location, His holiness, and his will for his kingdom. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And then after those things, our daily provisions, our forgiveness with God, our forgiveness of others, and our petitions for protection from spiritual evil in both areas of temptation and deliverance. And then confession. God's is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. So as we pray, God's holiness has implications for it, doesn't it? As we pray, we come to God, we must remember he's holy. Holiness has implications for us. And the second thing this evening, the second implication is this. God's holiness means that God is gonna make you and I completely holy one day. You see, it says in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 23, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, W-H-O-L-L-Y, completely. and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. And I pray, God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is going at some point when Christ comes back to holy to completely sanctify or make holy the Christians. He's going to, as Jude says in chapter verse 24, Christ is going to present us faultless before the presence of his glory, God's glory, with exceeding joy. And that was what Christ was looking forward to on the cross. He endured the cross despising the shame. Why? For the joy that was set before him. And what is Christ's joy? To present you faultless before his Father's presence with exceeding joy. God is going to make the believer perfectly holy at the second advent of Christ. And that's why he has given us the Holy Spirit, because he has started the work now. We are to progressively sanctify ourselves with the help of the Holy Spirit as we live but he one day will completely finish that work in the eternal state, and we will be completely holy at that point. And we can ask the question, not am I perfect, because we're not perfect. Not one of us is perfect, but we can ask this question, am I going in the right direction? That's different, isn't it? It's at Al Martin Saints. It's not where you are in the ruler. If number 12 is perfect holiness and inch number one is depraved sin, it's not exactly where you are on the ruler, but it's what direction the arrow's facing. Are you growing in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ? Are we growing to be more holy, trying by the help of the Holy Spirit to be like Christ, to become more holy, growing as we are Christians. Because perfection's our goal, and God will accomplish that. But let me come to the implication of God's holiness for those that are lost. This is very, very important. God's holiness on sinners Now, I know that all of you here are believers, but there are people on Sermon Audio who listen that aren't, and God-willing people on YouTube will watch that are not. And if you're not a Christian, I want to ask you this question very, very sincerely. Do you have any idea how holy God is? And do you realize what that means for you in your sin. See, the first implication for the lost person, deduced from the holiness of God, is this. Your sin automatically has barred you from heaven. Look what it says. I read from Revelation 20 earlier. Look what it says in Revelation 22, verse 14 and 15. It's talking in picture about the eternal state and symbolic language. But listen to what it says about the holy city, the new Jerusalem. Verse 14 and 15. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates of the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." Outside of heaven are all sinners. And heaven in the eternal state is a new heavens and a new earth, a new creation. And the only place that will not be heaven is the lake of fire. And if you are not going to have your sin atoned for in Jesus Christ, The truth of the matter is, you can give up all hope of heaven right now. You can give up all hope of the tree of life right now. You can give up all hope of drinking from the river that flows around the throne right now, because there's not one man, woman, or boy or girl has any hope of heaven in their sins. In the new heavens and the new earth, says Peter, in 2 Peter 3, 13, it says, therein dwelleth righteousness. Sinners cannot dwell with God, only the righteous will dwell there. Almartin says, the whole creation will be purged with fire, every inch of it. and nothing left will be anything but pure righteousness, because God is holy. See, most people, even in our modern, supposedly modern day, although it's not so modern, but still, even though they deny the Lord and laugh about the Bible and so on, most people in the modern world still vaguely hope that they will eventually make it to heaven. You hear them rambling on about it at funerals. That's the only time. It is a vain hope unless your sins are forgiven. It's absolute vanity. Outside are dogs, animal-like. and sorcerers, those into black magic, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and those who love lies. You know what that's an abridged list of? The abridged list, it's an abridged list of sin and sinners, isn't it? Outside of heaven, outside. simply because God is holy. If you're not a Christian, it's your own sin that prohibits you from heaven. It prohibits you from the presence of a holy God. You can't be with God in your sin. It's like an ordinary person trying to get into the Pentagon without a security pass. You've no hope. Except heaven's even more strict than that. It's a high security area. There's no admission for sin in the perfect heaven. And if you miss heaven and never end up there, it's nobody's fault ultimately but your own, just your own. Because God cannot let any sinner into heaven because He is a consuming fire and His very presence would destroy them. It's their own sin that bars them from heaven. And that sin can only be forgiven on the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. That's why we must repent of our sin and trust in Him and receive His righteousness. That's the first implication for a lost person of God's holiness. The second implication is this. Because God is holy, therefore you know you are a sinner. Oh, many say, I'm not a sinner. I've maybe transgressed a few times. I've had a few failures, but I'm not as bad as lots of other people. That is sin. That is sin itself. And just because modern people like to redefine and reinterpret terms doesn't make any difference at all. We are sinners. We're born sinners. Now, I would ask anyone who's not trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, do you keep God's law? Do you put anyone or anything before God? Can you say that you've never worshiped God in the wrong way? You've never taken His name in vain? You've never broke the Sabbath. Nobody can even say that. You've sinned. Sin is transgression of the law. They say many today, but God's law is a little hard. It's a bit hard. That's the understatement of the year. It's not a bit hard to keep it. It's absolutely impossible. It's absolute perfection. The law, it says in Romans chapter 7 verse 12, the law is holy and the commandments are just and good. The law is holy, and if you're not saved, the law is holy, and you have broken it. You are not holy. You have transgressed God's holy law. Unholy in words, even. Psalm chapter, Psalm number 5, and verse 6 to 9. Listen to this one. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing. The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. But as for me, I will come into thy house in a multitude of thy mercy and in thy fear, and I will worship towards thy holy temple. Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies and make straight the way before my face. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their inward part is very wickedness. Their throat is an open sepulchre. they flatter with their tongue." Words are sin. Jesus says in Matthew 12, every idle word that men shall speak they shall give an account thereof on the day of judgment. Not only if you're not saved are your words sin, but your works are sin. Your good works are even sin. Are your works perfect? Are your good works perfect? Are they sinless? No. Well, then, even your works further condemn you, as well as your words. Do you have life in Jesus Christ? That is the question. Or will you depend upon your works? This brings me to the passage that I read in Revelation 20 where we see an implication of God's holiness. Let me read it to you again. It says in verse 11, and I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away. and there was found no more place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which are written in the books according to their works. And so on it goes. I saw the face, I saw a great white throne, And him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away. That is a Greek verb that's once for all. Past tense. They fled away forever. And I saw the dead, the lifeless, the departed. The Greek word means stand. before God." And the word stand is an active participle in the Greek verb. I saw the dead actively, literally standing before God. And the books, plural, were open. And the books, plural, being opened as a passive verb, the people there have nothing to do with it. They're just passive. And the dead were judged out of those things that were written in those books, plural, according to their works. And the sea and death and hell gave up the dead that were in them, another active verb. And they were judged. Another passive, indicative, a statement of fact, the people are passive. They are being judged according to their works. And they're passive all the time. They're standing there, and they do nothing, and they say nothing. It's something being done to them. And they're judged every man according to his works. The Greek word means deeds, actions, or doings. And then we read that a book singular is opened. There's books and then there's a book. And the book singular is opened as the book of life. And all that are not found written in that book of life singular are cast into the lake of fire. The Greek word for cast means thrown, to cast away. And again, it's a passive indicative verb. They say nothing, they do nothing themselves. Cast into the lake of fire. if you're not a Christian, your works will see you burn forever in the lake of fire. And all the time leading up to that at the judgment, you will be utterly passive. You hear people saying, well, if I get to meet God, I'm going to say this and say that. Let me tell you something. All the time at the judgment, if you're not a Christian, you'll be utterly passive. You will do nothing. You will say absolutely not a word. It is the judgment of the dead we read of here in Revelation, and there's no second chance after death, and there's no appeal, and there's no debate. God is holy. You are not. Therefore, you cannot be where he is. without a total change of heart and spirit in Jesus Christ. That's why he died, burying our sins in his own body on the tree. When we confess him, he purges our sins away, and he gives us his perfect righteousness. Without that, we have no hope, no hope. I conclude tonight, God is holy. It has implications for the believer, doesn't it? Implications how we pray. Implications that we know that in the future, we to be growing towards holiness, and at the future, at the second advent, Christ's gonna make us completely holy, perfect, and present this to his heavenly Father. But God's holiness also has very somber implications for those that are lost. Because God is holy, therefore their sin bars them from heaven. And because God is holy, they know that they are sinners. They are lawbreakers in word and in deed. And if you're not Christ's, and if you do not receive Christ as your Savior, One of the most fearsome bits is this, you will be judged according to your works. And you'll never find anywhere in the whole of scripture that anyone is ever justified according to their works. The only way a man is to be justified is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, never by our works, but by his work. Brethren, this is real, isn't it? The God of the Bible is not made up by men. Men wouldn't make such a God up. I close with these questions. Do we realize how holy he is? Do we realize how holy men and women are not? then put one and one together and get two. They can never be with God in heaven without Jesus Christ. I close with this quote from A.W. Pink. The God with a small g, the God which the vast majority of professing Christians love, in inverted commas, is looked upon very much like an indulgent old man, who himself has no relish for sin and folly, but he leniently winks at the sins of youth. But the word of God says, thou hatest all the workers of iniquity, Psalm 5.5. And again, God is angry with the wicked every day, Psalm 7 verse 11. But men refuse to believe in this God and gnash their teeth when his hatred of sin is faithfully preached and brought to their attention. No sinful man was more likely to devise a holy God than to create a lake of fire in which he will be tormented forever and ever. I think that says it all, doesn't it? The holiness of God has great implications. Thank you, brethren, for your attention tonight.