If we don't understand the holiness of God, we don't understand our sinfulness, and we don't understand how heinous it is, and we don't understand the consequences of it. To see even the smallest glimpse of God's holiness is to be devastating. Devastating. Welcome to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson.
Today we're continuing John MacArthur's study called Enjoying God with a look at the holiness of God.
Now you may be wondering, what does God's holiness have to do with enjoying Him? How will a deeper understanding of God's holiness, as John MacArthur once said, revolutionize your worship? You'll get answers to those questions in today's lesson. It may be just what you need to experience a vibrant relationship with your Heavenly Father, perhaps like never before.
So now if you're able, grab your Bible and turn to Isaiah chapter six, and follow along as John begins the message. The central thing I want you to see about God is that He is who. Holy. Isaiah chapter six. The king is dead.
And Isaiah. goes to the temple. Let's pick it up there. In the year that King Uzzziah died, I saw also the Lord. Sitting upon a throne.
High and lifted up. And his robe. filled The temple.
Now look at verse 2. As Isaiah sees this vision, it says. And above it, that is above the throne. stood the seraphim, Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face.
With two he covered his feet. And with two He did fly. Incredible creatures. But the most incredible thing about them is not what they look like, it's what they said. It's what they cried.
Verse 3. And one cried unto another. They had an antiphonal thing going. Back and forth. And they said, Holy Holy Holy Is the Lord of hosts.
The whole earth is full of his glory.
Now let's see how Isaiah reacted in verse 4. First of all, And the posts or the pillars, or perhaps it's best, the foundations of the door moved. at the voice of him who cried, and the house is filled with smoke.
Now this is getting pretty dramatic. The place begins to shake. The whole vision is like Mount St. Helens. Everything begins to move.
It's like an erupting volcano. The foundations of the place begin to shake, and fire and smoke, which could either be emanating from the altar or could be a manifestation of the fiery presence of God as at Mount Sinai. In other words, we begin to see a holy God of judgment. This is not A manifestation. particularly of God's mercy.
But Tremendous Majestic holiness. It is awful. It is fearful. It is like Sinai. It is a statement to Isaiah and his people that God is a consuming fire.
And you can't toy around with God. You'll be consumed. What was Isaiah's reaction? Verse 5. What was his reaction?
Did he say, hey, I have had a vision? I'm going to get myself a new wardrobe and go on the road.
Well, what did he say?
Now, what I want to do is analyze this thing. This needs some analysis. Got to think this through categorically. Or did he say, Boy, now, if you didn't think I was a true messenger of God, let me tell you now, folks, I've seen him. None of the above.
What was his reaction? Verse five. Then said I, Is me. That's enough, folks. If he didn't say anything else, you get the whole picture.
That's not just a sign of despair, although I think there's despair in it. It's far more than that. You see, in the Old Testament, Prophets gave pronouncements. They gave announcements, sometimes called oracles. And their prophetic announcements were very often preceded by the statement: Thus saith the Lord.
And their statements could be positive or negative. When they were positive, they'd often say blessed. When they were negative, they would often say, What? Whoa. Whoa.
Isaiah uses the word woe at least ten times in his prophecy. to refer to God's judgment on others? Jeremiah used it, Ezekiel used it, Nahum used it, Amos used it, Habakkuk used it, Hosea used it, Zephaniah used it, Zachariah used it, Micah used it, Jesus used it, and Matthew twenty four he said, Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees And the angels of judgment and revelation use it. It is a word of cursing. And here is an amazing thing.
A prophet of God pronounces a curse on himself. Credible. This is the best man in the land. This is a servant of God. But when he sees the holiness of God, he can but pronounce a curse upon his own head.
He can only see his defilement. Not his goodness. And then he says this, for I am undone. Nid Methi. From a root word which means in the passive to be lost or to perish or to be annihilated or to be destroyed.
I am destroyed. I am devastated. By the holiness of God. I'm wiped out. I'm falling apart.
I'm coming loose at the seams. I'm disintegrating. Why? Because he saw God. And when he saw God, for the first time in his life, he saw Isaiah.
And he knew how wretched he was. You may have been a secure fellow before this. Everybody honored him, patted him on the back. Everybody who was godly said he was the best of men: spiritual leader, voice of God, obedient saint, servant of the Lord. One glimpse of God's holiness, and the man was a wretch in his own eyes.
What was the most important element of a profit? was the most important instrument of a profit. His mouth, right? His mouth to speak. Look what he says.
I am a man of unclean lips. You know what that means? I have a dirty mouth. Me, the prophet of God, who should open my mouth to speak of God, I've got a dirty mouth, and I dwell in the midst of a people who have dirty mouths. How do you know this?
Mine eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts, and for the first time I see myself. I'm a dirty man. Have a dirty mouse. I've seen Yahweh of hosts. Beloved, no one can stand in the presence of God without becoming profoundly and devastatingly aware of his own wretchedness.
Sinfulness. That's why I'm telling you: if we don't understand the holiness of God, we don't understand our sinfulness. And we don't understand how heinous it is, and we don't understand the consequences of it. To see even the smallest glimpse of God's holiness is to be devastated. Devastated.
Isaiah would never be the same, never. Neither would anybody else. Let me give you some illustrations. Look at Abakuk. The Bacchak.
That wonderful prophet, if he can't find it, don't worry, just listen. Habakkuk was second-guessing God. Oh, we do that. God, you know. I've been for a long time with this burden.
And I keep telling you, God, to come down here and do something. Please, God, revive your people. Come down here, God, and do it. I don't understand this, God. You're supposed to be a God of love, a God of mercy, a God of forgiveness.
Come down here, God, and do something. In chapter 2, he really kind of gets to the place where he says, I'm just going to sit here until God gives me an answer. Come on, God.
So, chapter 2, verse 1, I'm going to stand on my watch. I'm going to set myself upon the tower, and I'm going to watch to see what he will say unto me. and what I shall answer when I'm reproved. I know I'm going to get it, but I'm going to stick around for the answer. God and I want an answer.
Verse 2, and the Lord answered me. Me. God gave an answer. You know what happened? When you get all done with the answer.
Habakkuk. was a wreck. That's right. Because God was thundering. Like lightning and fire.
In the recitation of the history of what he'd done. And you finally come down to chapter 3, verse 16. God gives him this long answer, and then you have Habakkuk. Praying. And then you have this.
When I heard. 316. My belly trembled. When's the last time you trembled in the presence of God? My lips quivered at the voice.
rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble, when he cometh up unto the people, and he will invade them with his troops. Man, he says, when I heard the voice of God and I heard him speak, I shook from top to bottom and I longed to rest in the day of trouble. You know, it just, to me, it is so superficial today when you hear all these people who sort of fancy that they would love to go through the tribulation. That is the most silly kind of folly imaginable. Apart from the theology of whether we will or won't, that kind of silly preoccupation betrays the absence of an understanding of the holy wrath of God.
Any of us that had any sense at all would run from that. Not seek it as if it were some glamorous experience. Look what happened. His belly trembled. His lips quivered.
Why? Because God spoke. And when he knew he was in the presence of God, he almost fell apart. Look at Job. Job, just before Psalms.
And eventually, you know, through all this book, you come to chapter 38. Job is finally to the place where he says, All right, God. What's going on? I mean, I've heard all the answers from all of these friends I've got. the total of which adds up to nothing.
And I want an answer, Lord. What is the deal? Chapter 38, verse 1. The Lord answered Job. Out of the whirlwind.
You want an answer? Here it comes. God spoke. And then you know what happens, folks? Job gets the worst brow beating in human history.
God literally bats him from pillar to post. Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? What ignoramus stands before me? You better gird up your loins like a man because you're going to get it. In this answer.
And I want one back. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Huh? Where were you when the morning star sang together? Who shut up the sea with doors when it broke forth?
And he does this chapter after chapter after chapter. Where were you? Where were you? And after a while, he's saying, I was no, I'm. And what am I gonna say?
Chapter 41: Can you draw out Leviathan, the sea monster, with a hook? Can you control the animal world? Can you control the rain, the clouds, the snow, the vegetation, the movement of the stars? Where were you? Can you do this?
If you can't, Job. Be quiet. When it was all said and done. Chapter 42, verse 5 Job said this. Got I have heard about you by the hearing of the ear.
But now mine eye sees you. I always had heard what you were like.
Now I know. What's his reaction? I abhor myself. I repent in dust and ashes. No one ever comes before the holiness of God without devastation.
Look at Luke. Two passages. Chapter eight Verse twenty-two. came to pass on a certain day Jesus went into a boat with his disciples and said to them, Let's go over to the other side of the lake. It launched fourth.
As they sailed, he fell asleep. And there came down a storm of wind on the lake, and they were filled with water. And they were in jeopardy. And um They came to him and awoke him saying, Master, Master, we perish. We're going to drown out here.
He arose. He rebuked the wind and the raging of the sea, and they ceased, and there was a calm. Take care of it. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being what?
Yeah. Afraid. Marveled, saying one to another, What manner of man is this? For he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him. You want to know something?
They were ten times more afraid when they saw his power than when they saw the sea raging, because instantly they knew they were in the presence of God. And that's cause for panic. They would take the storm rather than that. They were shattered. Because they knew their hearts were open books.
To his um Missions. Back up to chapter five. Verse one. Came to pass as people pressed on him to hear the word of God. He stood by the lake of Gennesaret or the Sea of Galilee, same thing.
Saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them, washing their nets. He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him that he would thrust out a little from the land, and he sat down and taught the people out of the boat. When he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught. Simon answering, he always had an answer, didn't he? Master, we've been fishing all night, and we haven't caught any of them.
There's no fish around here. Nevertheless, at your word, I'll let down the net. And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fish and the net broke. And they beckoned unto their partners who were in the other boat, they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink.
And Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees and said, Oh, thanks so much for the fish. That what he said? What did he say? Depart from me. Go away.
Get out of here. Go away. Why are you telling him that I'm a sinful man? Oh, what? Lord, he realized in that moment, by that incredible miracle, that he was standing in the presence of God.
He said, go away. I don't want to be so exposed. He was astonished. He knew God was there. You remember Manoa?
The angel came to Manoah. said to him, You're going to have a son? His name is Samson. And then the angel went up to heaven in a fire. And glory.
And Manoah cried out in Judges 13, 22 this statement. We shall surely die. Because we have seen God. See, these people understood the holiness of God. Beloved, can I tell you something?
It is literally the grace of God that you and I are not this moment consumed by the fire of his wrath. People say, oh. Why is it that there's so much trouble in the world? If God is a God of love, why? Listen.
If he weren't a God of love, Only one sin by one individual, one time, would be the end of everything. We want a God who's non-threatening. That's not the God of the Bible. They're afraid of him. Want to know something?
I have a godly fear in my heart. When I would Fall into a sin. I Sense God's holiness. He hates evil. And I don't want to pay the consequence.
All these people we read about just now, they're afraid in the presence of God, and so should you be. And here we Christians come along and we say, well, the world doesn't like a God like that. You'll alienate him. We want a God who's sort of nice. And so we come up with a washed out, watered down, inoffensive substitute for the gospel that is pervasively humanistic, doesn't speak about fire, wrath, holiness, vengeance, hell, punishment.
Sure, men love darkness rather than light, so let's just not give them a whole lot of light because they won't like it. You want to know something? The light of God terrifies them, just like when you turn over a rock and the bugs scurry. The holy has always and will always threaten the unholy. And even Christians, we want our little superficialities.
We're constantly playing little silly church games, compromising all over the place, disobeying whenever we feel like it. Right in the face of a holy God. Would to God that we could see him. And if we saw him once, like Isaiah did, I question if we'd ever do it again. Let's go back.
And I just want to I'll just wrap it up. Right now. What happened now? Look at this. Verse six.
This man is devastated. This man is shattered. Is God going to leave him that way? We can't leave him that way. Verse 6: Then flew one of the seraphim unto me.
having a live coal in his hand. which he'd taken with the tongs from off the altar.
Now watch this. He laid it upon my mouth. And said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips. And thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged. You know what it takes to get to that point where you're purged?
It takes a broken and a contrite heart in the face of the holiness of God. He was there. No cheap grace here, folks. No easy believism. There is pain involved in true redemption.
The lips sensitive, tender. In fact, in expressing affection to one another, we use the lips. Because of their tenderness and sensitivity. And it is to that very part of the body that the angel places a live coal and sears the flesh. I believe that true salvation is painful.
There is a wrestling. There's a pain. But his iniquity was taken away and his sin was purged. Always think about John Bunyan, who said that before he had the sense of knowing Jesus Christ, he agonized over his sin for no less than 18 months. It was painful.
It's not easy. Takes a broken and a shattered heart. and the pain of giving up sin. and embracing the sovereign God. But once it's done, then verse 8.
This is so wonderful. Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? Then said I, get this ambivalence: here am I, send me. You You're undone.
You're woeful. You're wretched. You've got a dirty mouth. You hang around with people with a dirty mouth. Yeah, but But I've been cleansed.
See? The last statement he made was a declaration of his lack of worthiness, and now he says, Lord, do you need anybody? I'll go. I'll go. The only way a man is fit to serve is when he's cleansed by the grace of God.
I'll go. Verse nine. And he said, What? Go. Let's stop right there.
Said go. A purged man. Beloved. I think all of this looks at the cross, don't you? I think all of this looks at the cross.
I think the cross is the live coal that touches our lips. The cross is the thing that purges us. You see, you and I could never stand in the presence of a holy God. We would be consumed. That's why the Pharisees had to kill Jesus.
I mean, they had to kill him, he ruined the average. He came along and he was God, and his holiness was so real that their supposed holiness was exposed, and they had to kill him. And when he died, he died not because they had to kill him, but because God had to let him die. For our sin. The cross touches us.
It makes us pure. He died because God is holy. and had to pour out his fury on someone. It's either you or him. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur.
The title of John's current study: Enjoying God.
Now thinking about what John said today regarding God's holiness and the fear it produces, while many today would want a God who is non-threatening, God's holiness is actually a refuge for those who know and love him. Here were some of John's thoughts on that. Yes, God's holiness is a refuge for those who know and love Him because He has provided. Forgiveness for our sins. If there was no forgiveness for our sins, God would not be a refuge.
And God is not a refuge for those who are not forgiven because they don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, yes, I think to realize that God is absolutely holy, holy, holy, holy. And yet we can, as the writer of Hebrews says, boldly enter into his presence. is an amazing expression of how much he loves us. because in order to receive us to himself, He had to overcome the barrier of our sin by providing His own Son as the sacrifice, who paid the price for our sin, so that His Holiness would not destroy us, But his love could receive us We've been looking at what enjoying God means. and what it should mean for every Christian.
pursuing a deeper knowledge of the God who created us, who saves us. The God who sanctifies us, the God who one day will glorify us, the God who showers us with spiritual blessings, all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Learning about God and all that He does. for the believers now and eternally. should elicit immense joy in every true Christian's heart.
The world is full of false views of God, limited views of God. The Bible, however, reveals to us who he really is. And as we look at the reality of God, and how He loves us as a Father loves us, and loves us enough to send His own Son to take our place and receive the punishment for our sins, so that we can be one day in His holy presence made holy ourselves. is the great, great truth of the Christian religion. And it is a great truth.
To dig even deeper into these amazing realities, let me recommend that you go to our website, gty.org. And download John's Enjoying God study free of charge. It's a great one to review as part of family devotions. And if you've benefited from John's series on Enjoying God, We'd love to hear about it. Your letters encourage our whole staff.
When you have time, write a note and send it our way. You can email your letter to letters at gty.org. Our email address one more time: letters at gty.org. Or if you prefer regular mail, you can send your note to Grace2U. Box 4000, Panorama City, California, 91412.
Also, remember at our website, gty.org. There are thousands of free resources available for you. If you have a question about how to honor God while you make decisions, or how to strengthen your marriage, or perhaps you have a question about a specific doctrine. or how to deal with a trial that you're facing. For those issues and countless others, you're sure to find biblical answers at gty.org.
In the Grace TU Sermon Archive, you'll find 3,600 full-length sermons, audio files, and written transcripts available for free download. You'll also find daily devotionals and insightful blog articles, and much more. Our web address one more time, gty. Yeah, yeah.
Now for the entire Grace DU staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Be back tomorrow as we break from John MacArthur's normal verse-by-verse teaching format to bring you a helpful QA session from John. Perhaps he'll answer a question you've had. Don't miss the next 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time. on Race to You.
