“That’s a classic, Roger. I was hoping somebody else would step forward.”
William, are you speaking today?
Some before, while I was walking, sisters would come up and say, “Praying for you, brother.” I said, “Great. What can I pray for you for?” They said, “Well, that you won’t fall down.”
And most of what I meant was not about nervousness. You always get nervous up here, but that’s not the reason to fall down.
We sang a song this morning, “In the Presence,” number 158:
In the presence of Your infinite might,
I’m so small and frail and weak.
Today we’re going to share on the King, the throned One, and stuff that makes you feel very small, frail, and weak—which it should.
I cry, “Holy, holy, holy God,
How awesome is Your name!”
May the Lord bless us.
Lord, I really do have a sense that sharing on these things is way too big. But it’s in Your Word, and it’s a wonderful, wonderful section of Scripture.
Lord, how majestic is Your name. How great You are. Lord, I just pray that this morning You would reveal Your Word to us. Lord, we know everything that’s going to be said, but I pray that Your Spirit would really, really enable us to hear—Lord, to hear what You have to say. In Your name I pray. Amen.
Okay, little test.
Well, first, a few comments, then I’m going to ask you some questions. So see how good you listen.
How do you view God? I mean, that’s one of those leading questions. Well, I know you’ve got a specific reason for asking it, but how do you view God? What is your view of God?
If I had to ask you for one word to describe God, what would it be?
Love. Powerful. Majestic. Sovereign. Holy. Awesome.
There are fifteen attributes of God, and y’all mentioned some of them. What’s an attribute? Bob, what’s an attribute?
“Characteristic.” Oh, no cheating.
What is an attribute? And Bob said, “A characteristic.” Yeah, it reveals what you are. It’s a defining quality about you, about your character.
So when I ask, “Who is God?” what are the defining qualities or characteristics of God?
Now, I know we don’t like theology around here, but that’s theology. It’s the study of God—well, you know, the seminary stuff. It is the study of God. And in that study of God, you find at least fifteen attributes in Scripture.
I’ll name these attributes, and then I’m going to ask you which is the most important, or which most defines the Lord. Okay?
These are some attributes that man has gathered from the Scriptures.
Now, let me ask you another question. From heaven’s point of view—not man’s, but from heaven’s point of view—what is the greatest attribute of God?
God is holy. Thank you, Brian. God is holy.
Now, man would say—especially modern Christians, and I know some people said this, but I’m not lumping you with modern Christianity—“God is love.” God is love, first and foremost. He’s love.
But, you know, God says, first and foremost, “I’m holy.” So today we’re going to consider holiness.
We’re going to go to two Scriptures: Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4. But before we go to Isaiah 6, let me read to you a definition of holiness.
Holiness is actually very difficult to describe. But of all the attributes of God, holiness is the one that most uniquely describes Him. And in reality, it is a summation of all His other attributes.
The word holiness refers to His separateness, His otherness—the fact that He is unlike any other being. It indicates His complete and infinite perfection. Holiness is the attribute that binds all others together.
Andrew Murray says, “Holiness is that awful glory by which divinity is separated from all that is created.”
So when we go to Scripture, we’ll be considering holiness in the realm of God. And this is where it’s just absolutely amazing and astounding. So let’s turn to Isaiah 6.
Last week, one sister said, “Why don’t we just sing ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ and then worship?” And I was so encouraged by this morning’s worship because we worshiped God about many of the things I’m going to share. So these things are not new.
Isaiah 6:1-5:
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and His train filled the temple.
Above Him stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.
And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
In the year that King Uzziah died, King Uzziah had just died—an earthly king. And the Lord lifts Isaiah’s eyes up and says, “I’m going to show you who I am as King.”
Isaiah says, “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne.” Now, straightway, we can see that in the throne room, on His throne, there’s One sitting upon it who’s ruling and reigning. There’s One sitting on the throne.
And as you compare, see what holiness is: that separateness, that transcendent otherness. We can see that the throne of God is high above the throne of any throne on earth. He is reigning. That’s what he means by the Lord sitting on the throne: He’s reigning.
While on earth kings come and go, the Lord reigns.
He also says, “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted.” And we see here that our Lord is lofty and exalted—high above everything, every ruler, every authority. He’s high and lifted up. He’s exalted.
And the train of His robe filled the temple. So we have God sitting on a throne, highly exalted, and His train fills the temple. Now, the train is a sign of His royalty and His kingship.
In other words, there’s no room in this throne room for any other throne. He is the only sovereign Lord.
Now, this is a vision compared to Uzziah, who had just died. Isaiah was familiar with throne rooms and such, but here the Lord is showing him His throne—the place where He reigns, where He rules.
Verse 2: “Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings.” With two, he covered his face; with two, he covered his feet; and with two, he flew.
Turn to Ezekiel, just to say something about what these seraphim were like. Ezekiel 1:24:
And I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of a host: when they stood, they let down their wings.
These seraphim are mighty creatures that God made. He made them for one purpose. They are not silent; they are speaking. But also, when they fly, when they move, there’s a great sound that comes from their wings.
This, to me, gives just an indication of the majesty and greatness of God’s throne room. It’s a place of great excitement and movement. It’s a place of great power.
We see these seraphim who stand there. They cover their face because the glory of the Lord is right there. And even they, who were created to glorify the Lord, do not look upon the Lord.
They cover their feet because the ground that they are on is holy. And when they fly, there’s this great sound like the Almighty as they do God’s bidding. These are great creatures.
And they make this proclamation:
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts:
The whole earth is full of His glory.
They sing it, and one group, I guess, sings it to the other group, and the other group sings it back. It goes back and forth over the throne of God—this great sound.
In another place in Scripture, it says their voice is like thunder, like a trumpet. So you have in the heavenlies—and maybe they’re flapping, I don’t know what they’re doing with their wings—but there, over the throne of God, is this continual cry of “Holy, holy, holy,” in a mighty, thunderous voice.
And so powerful is this voice that the foundations of the thresholds tremble. Isn’t that amazing? The temple of God—so powerful is this message that the thresholds, the sockets of the posts that hold up the temple, shake.
Can you imagine the power to shake the temple of God in the heavens? And the message that they have is, “Holy, holy, holy.”
So the holiness of God is connected, is part and parcel of—is, and I’m losing words to describe it—His kingdom: the exalted Lord, His reigning, His throne room.
Holiness is the first thing that you hear in heaven. It is the major thing:
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty.
And it also says, “The whole earth is full of His glory.” Glory is the revelation of holiness; it’s the outflow of God’s holiness. And that holiness, Scripture says, covers the earth. It fills the earth. It also fills the heavens, in another place in Scripture.
So we see that the holiness of God fills the earth. Now, this is an awesome thing. Can you imagine being Isaiah and, in a vision, seeing this?
Of course, your reaction would be like his. He said, “Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined.’” You say, Isaiah—that was his major thing, to speak the words of God—but he said, “I am ruined. I am ruined.”
It’s like when you come and see the Lord high and lifted up. All of your best, all your service, all your ministry is just, “Lord, I’m undone. I’m undone.”
May we see. I really appreciate our opening this morning and all the world’s ongoings, all that goes on in the world. It has gone on from Isaiah’s time—well before Isaiah—and from Isaiah’s time on.
There’s always been a Lord reigning and ruling in this manner: high and lifted up and exalted. And holiness has always been the cry in heaven. Praise the Lord. It’s a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Something else: while the temple was filling with smoke, why smoke?
Incense? That’s an answer. Very true—in Revelation. Burn offerings? The presence of the Spirit of God?
Well, let’s go look at it. I don’t want to say; let’s just say what Scripture says here. Revelation 15:8:
And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power.
The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power.
So the picture is a throne room unlike any on earth: full of majesty, full of royalty, with an exalted King, with four creatures right by the throne who are crying out in a thunderous voice, loud enough to shake the temple thresholds.
They are crying out, “Holy, holy, holy,” and the smoke from their praise, from the glory of God, fills the temple. So the temple is filled with His train, with His royalty, and with His power and His glory.
That’s an amazing thing, isn’t it? That’s the God we serve.
Now go to Revelation. Revelation 4.
Let me read you a quote from Spurgeon: “The most spiritual and sanctified minds, when they fully perceive the majesty and holiness of God, are so greatly conscious of the great disproportion between themselves and the Lord that they are humbled and filled with holy awe, and even dread and alarm.”
I love that. The most spiritual and sanctified mind is still full of dread and awe when we view these things. That’s so true.
We’ll read Revelation 4:1-10:
After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, a voice as of a trumpet speaking with me, one saying, Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter.
I just want to stop right there. I love this: “Come up here.” Do you know, vantage point matters.
I’m a little embarrassed to say, I like to watch the Ukraine war and how they’re fighting, strategy and such. You know, I’d love to be a general one day, but whatever. I don’t worry about their shooting, but to strategize is great.
They have these drones, and the guy who’s doing the drone is sitting on, or standing on, the ground or whatever. You see the trees, and they might be trying to hide, and he might see just a few feet.
You lift that drone up, and all of a sudden what you can see is so much bigger. There’s the enemy over there, and there’s this, and there’s that. Height—vantage point—matters in warfare.
But, you know, vantage point matters for you and me as well. How do we view the world? How do we view our situation?
And this call really is a call to us as well: “Come up here. Come see earth from heaven’s viewpoint. Come see heaven from heaven’s viewpoint. What does heaven see? What does heaven worship?”
And then it really helps in your own disposition. So come up here. Let’s all hear the call: “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”
Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.
Just as in Isaiah, a throne is in heaven, and there’s One sitting on that throne, reigning and ruling.
And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper stone and a sardius: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, like an emerald to look upon.
This is the verse we’ll pay special attention to:
And round about the throne were four and twenty thrones: and upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting, arrayed in white garments; and on their heads crowns of gold.
So this description is a little different than Isaiah. Same throne, same Lord on the throne, but now around the throne are twenty-four thrones, or seats—twenty-four elders sitting on the thrones, in white raiment, with crowns.
Now, this is where you make a mistake when you start going to commentaries. I don’t know how many interpretations there are. There are two or three at least. But in all interpretations, at least the church is represented.
Many feel that these are representatives of the church, if not in part, maybe the whole. I should have read Brother Stephen’s book, but I didn’t.
But around the throne, there are twenty-four elders on the thrones. They play an important part coming up.
And out from the throne proceeded lightnings and voices and thunders. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
Here again, we have a lot of sound—majestic sound—coming from the throne of God. Now, you Bible scholars, what does this remind you of? Flashes of lightning, and sounds, and peals of thunder.
Mount Sinai, Exodus 19. We’ll read verse 9, then verses 18 and 19. I’m just fascinated with these kinds of things, so forgive me.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee.
And mount Sinai, the whole of it, smoked, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
And when the voice of the trumpet waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
You know, out of the throne came flashes of lightning, and sounds, and peals of thunder.
One of my favorite things to do, up to a point, is to listen to thunder. Is anybody else like that? Bobby, you like to do that?
A big thunderstorm comes. There’s almost nothing better than to go out on the back porch, the screen porch, and just hear the thunder, see the thunder. You feel its rumble and its power, and you see the wind blowing the trees. The sky blackens, and depending on what kind of thunder it is, it’s kind of nice.
But until it starts flashing around you, striking the trees near you, and you’re shaking—then you go into the house for protection, as if that’s going to protect you. But anyway.
There’s a great power demonstrated in thunder and sounds. So out of the throne comes flashes of lightning, and sounds, and peals of thunder.
All the while, what else is happening? The temple is filling up with smoke—the whole temple. There’s the sound of crashing coming from the throne, and the seraphim are still crying out, “Holy, holy, holy.”
This was written in about A.D. 60. They’ve been crying out since the time they were created, since Isaiah’s time. They’ve been crying out.
Let’s continue:
And before the throne, as it were a glassy sea like unto crystal; and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, four living creatures full of eyes before and behind.
Verse 8:
And the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.
Now listen to this: day and night, they do not cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.”
So day and night, this sound, this cry of the seraphim, goes on continuously. This means forever and ever. That antiphony is going back and forth: “Holy, holy, holy.”
I’ve gone through some pains just to describe to you, to say what Scripture says about the throne room of God—how majestic it is, how full of wonder and power it is. It is a place that really startles the mind.
Look at the glory of God. Look at Revelation 1:17. John, when he turned and saw the One whose face was like the sun shining in strength, fell at His feet as a dead man.
He fell at His feet. He just fainted when he saw the Lord in this kind of glory. Ezekiel did the same when he had his vision of the throne of God. He fell down.
Isaiah, when he saw God’s glory, it laid him out. He didn’t faint; he didn’t fall down. But he had such a great sense of unworthiness before the Lord.
So, brothers and sisters, what is our reaction? After being in this for two or three months, I had many things to say—excuse me, many things to say.
But yesterday I said, “Lord, I can’t say any of it.” There are only two things that really struck me, and they’re very simple things. So I’m just going to share simply what probably you would say the same.
What is your first reaction to all this? What do you do? You fall down and worship. You fall down and worship Him.
Look at Revelation 4:10:
The four and twenty elders shall fall down before Him that sitteth on the throne, and shall worship Him that liveth for ever and ever.
The twenty-four elders represent us. Revelation 5:8 says that when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him.
And in Revelation 5:14:
And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the elders fell down and worshipped.
Another section talks about the seraphim and the elders falling down, all of them falling down before the Lord. That is the first reaction to this grand cry, this majestic cry in heaven of “Holy, holy, holy.”
You have to fall down in worship. You have to exalt the One who sits on the throne, who is infinitely holy. His holiness is transcendently above anything we could even know. And we are represented there.
But, you know, there’s also what in Scripture is called the holy echo. Have you heard of this? There’s a holy echo of the throne room on earth. Turn to Psalm 99.
In heaven, you have this cry of a thrice-holy God. That means “holy” said three times: a thrice-holy God. And there’s an echo on earth of worship for the One who is holy.
Psalm 99. Look for the word holy as we read. We’ll start with verses 1 through 5:
The Lord reigneth; let the peoples tremble:
He sitteth above the cherubim; let the earth be moved.
The Lord is great in Zion;
And He is high above all the peoples.
Let them praise Thy great and terrible name:
Holy is He.
Exalt ye the Lord our God,
And worship at His footstool:
Holy is He.
There’s the first holy. Now verse 9:
Exalt ye the Lord our God,
And worship at His holy hill;
For the Lord our God is holy.
Three holies.
Now, one of the greatest honors, I think, that we have is to worship the Holy One. Look at verse 3: “Let them praise Thy great and terrible name.” To praise and worship His great and awesome name, because He’s holy—what a privilege.
What is the position of our worship? Verse 5: “Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His footstool.” That’s the only place to worship a God who reigns in such majesty.
Verse 9: “Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill.” To me, that means bringing all of God’s people together at His holy hill and worshiping the Lord Jesus because He’s holy.
Now think of that. I think the musical term is antiphony, where one sings and the other one sings. Antiphony.
And we did one of those this morning, correct? “You are holy.” I was so glad when we sang that because that’s it: “You are holy. You are holy.”
Well, in the heavens there’s an antiphony between the seraphim, one group to another: “Holy, holy, holy.” But at the same time, there’s an antiphony from heaven and earth.
While that’s going on in heaven, there are God’s people on earth echoing the cry of heaven: “Holy, holy, holy.” We on earth are echoing that cry.
And there are a lot of songs in Revelation that we can echo on earth. If you go through and read the songs, we get the privilege of echoing on earth what’s being said and worshiped in heaven.
So, brothers and sisters, what a wonderful thing to be able to come and worship. That was the first thing that struck me.
The second thing that struck me was the connection between God’s holiness and fear—God’s holiness and fear and worship.
So unlike the world today. God is just a guy next door, some lovable—I don’t know. It’s almost blasphemous to say. But listen to these. I just wrote down some Scriptures. Just listen to them.
Who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness,
Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
—Exodus 15:11
I will worship toward Thy holy temple,
And fear Thy name.
—Psalm 5:7
O fear the Lord, ye His saints:
For there is no want to them that fear Him.
—Psalm 34:9
O worship the Lord in holy array:
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
—Psalm 96:9
Let them praise Thy great and terrible name:
Holy is He.
—Psalm 99:3
Terrible means awesome.
Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
—2 Corinthians 7:1
But like as He who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living;
And if ye call on Him as Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to each man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear.
—1 Peter 1:15, 17
Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy.
—Revelation 15:4
In God’s presence, there is holiness, and we are to bow low in humility and worship the Holy One. Anything else is unacceptable.
Brothers and sisters, we love the Lord. There needs to be an awesome reverence, a reverential awe, in our outlook toward our Lord and Savior.
There needs to be what Scripture calls fear, but it’s like a reverential awe, and we need to have that. Fear of the Lord is actually good.
Psalm 2:11 says:
Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
At Thy holy temple I will worship,
And will fear toward Thy holy name.
—Psalm 5:7
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever.
—Psalm 19:9
Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him:
All ye the seed of Jacob, glorify Him;
And stand in awe of Him.
—Psalm 22:23
You see how it goes together: holiness, worshiping the Lord, and the fear of the Lord. It’s not a bad thing to fear God. It’s not a bad thing to have a great, holy reverence for Him.
Does this strike you as, “I don’t know about that”? But you know what? When you view holiness from the viewpoint of heaven, it is proclaimed in an unmistakable, loud voice continually: “Holy, holy, holy.”
And everything around that throne falls down in awe and reverential fear and worships Him.
I think in today’s world, we need to fear the Lord and know that He reigns. God says, “What are you worried about man for? Fear Me. I’m God. I’m the Lord. Man’s not.”
We need to fear the Lord, and that brings a humility about our outlook toward each other and toward the Lord.
Why do I say toward each other? Because when the holy God touches something and it becomes holy, we are to have a reverential fear and awe concerning that thing.
And what are we called as God’s people?
A royal priesthood, a holy nation.
—1 Peter 2:9
What are the Scriptures called? The Holy Scriptures. Our own bodies are called the temple of God. Therefore, “Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
You know, there should be a humility toward all that God calls holy, a reverential awe. I don’t want to be in reverential awe of all of you, but when we come together, there’s great humility one to another that comes because of the fear of the Lord.
The other thing is that we have a great privilege when we come here every Sunday morning to worship the Lord—to worship the Holy One. There should be within our hearts a reverence, and I believe there is, a great reverence for this time, this time to worship the Lord.
One of my favorite songs is, “In Your Presence, Lord, in Your presence, Lord, I desire to be continually in Your presence, Lord.”
And when I’ve been studying this, I said, “Ooh—in the presence of a holy God, I desire to be in Your presence.”
Now, when I’ve had trouble with sin, temptations which dog me, I’ve been worshiping the Lord by just joining the seraphim and praying, saying:
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty.
And it seems like the temptations are just gone.
When I lose a sense of being in touch with the Lord, I just begin to worship: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty.”
When I’ve been getting, you know, “What’s going on in the world?”—“Holy, holy, holy,” because that holiness is connected to His great reigning, His power, His might.
And it has given me a sense of connectedness to the Lord. It’s given me a sense of humility, but also of love and respect for each one of you, that we’re called a holy temple. It’s just an amazing thing.
So let’s pray.
Lord, these things are quite, quite remarkable. Lord, Your holiness—it’s just unfathomable, Lord.
Lord, we are so grateful that such a holy God would love such as we. Lord, we bless Your name and praise You. In Your name I pray. Amen.