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Reading Classics Together: The Holiness of God (II)
- 10/21/10
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This is now week 2 of this project in which we are reading together through R.C. Sproul’s The Holiness of God. Before we discuss this week’s chapter, I wanted to make you aware of an interesting interview with Sproul on this very subject. It comes from a 1990 issue of Tabletalk magazine and, if you are interested, you can read it here: Striking a Chord in the Heart of of the Believer.
Summary
This week’s chapter is titled “Holy, Holy, Holy” and in it Sproul turns to the pages of Isaiah (Isaiah 6 in particular) and the prophet’s experience with coming into the presence of God. He looks first to those seraphim in God’s presence who continually cry out “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Only once in sacred Scripture is an attribute of God elevated to the third degree. Only once is a characteristic of God mentioned three times in succession. The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love; or mercy, mercy, mercy; or wrath, wrath, wrath; or justice, justice, justice. It does say that he is holy, holy, holy that the whole earth is full of His glory.
God is not just holy, but holy, holy, holy. Using a rhetorical device of the Hebrew language, the Bible expresses the extent of God’s holiness by emphasizing it through repetition.
Isaiah was a good man, it seems, a noble one. And yet before the presence of God he was completely undone.
If ever there was a man if integrity, it was Isaiah ben Amoz. He was a whole man, a together type of a fellow. He was considered by his contemporaries as the most righteous man in the nation. He was respected as a paragon of virtue. Then he caught one sudden glimpse of a holy God. In that single moment, all of his self-esteem was shattered. In a brief second he was exposed, made naked beneath the gaze of the absolute standard of holiness. As long as Isaiah could compare himself to other mortals, he was able to sustain a lofty opinion of his own character. The instant he measured himself by the ultimate standard, he was destroyed- morally and spiritually annihilated. He was undone. He came apart. His sense of integrity collapsed.
Called by God in dramatic fashion, Isaiah was set apart for his task despite being a sinful man, a man who had a filthy mouth. And yet God chose to cleanse him and to set him apart to this most difficult, thankless ministry. A seraph pressed a hot coal to Isaiah’s lips. “His was no cruel and unusual punishment. A second of burning flesh on the lips brought a healing that would extend to eternity. In a moment, the disintegrated prophet was whole again. His mouth was purged. He was clean.”
Sproul closes the chapter with a couple of reflections on the calling of a minister, whether that is as a prophet of old or as a pastor today.
Ministers are noteworthy of their calling. All preachers are vulnerable to the charge of hypocrisy. In fact, the more faithful preachers are to the Word of God in their preaching, the more liable they are to the charge of hypocrisy. Why? Because the more faithful people are to the Word to God, the higher the message is that they will preach. The higher the message, the further they will be from obeying it themselves.
…
It's dangerous to assume that because a person is drawn to holiness in his study that he is thereby a holy man. There is irony here. I am sure that the reason I have a deep hunger to learn of the holiness of God is precisely because I am not holy. I am a profane man- a man who spends more time out of the temple than in it. But I have had just enough of a taste of the majesty of God to want more. I know what it means to be a forgiven man and what it means to be sent on a mission. My soul cries for more. My soul needs more.
And I think this stands as a bit of a warning for us as we read this book in the coming weeks. As we see greater glimpses of God’s holiness, we will necessarily see greater glimpses of our own unholiness, our own unworthiness. The greater our sense of God’s holiness, the greater our sense of our own corruption. And yet we can hope and expect, like Sproul, that we will be driven to cry out for more of God’s holiness, to understand him even more for who he is.
Next Week
For next Thursday please read chapter 3, "The Fearful Mystery."
Your Turn
The purpose of this program is to read these classic books together. This means that it's now your turn to offer your thoughts or your questions on this week's reading. You can do so by leaving a comment here or by posting a link to your own site if you left a comment there. Of course there is no need to say anything. Just read and enjoy if that's more your style.
Posts in this Series:
- Reading Classics Together: The Holiness of God
- Reading Classics Together: The Holiness of God (II)
- Reading Classics Together: The Holiness of God (III)
- Reading Classics Together: The Holiness of God (IV)
- RCT: The Holiness of God (V)
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (25)
It’s always bothered me that we let church get boring. So I zeroed in on Sproul’s statement about people dropping out of church because it’s boring, and how he showed otherwise from Isaiah 6. We know that God in his holiness is never boring, so what are we doing wrong?
More on chapter 2 on my blog: Is holiness boring?
Loved these quotes:
It is our impurity that prevents us from seeing God. The problem is not with our eyes; it is with our hearts.
There is a crucial difference between saying, “Here am I” and saying, “Here I am.”… With these words Isaiah was stepping forward to volunteer. His answer was simply, “I will go. Look no further. Send me.”
In the nursery rhyme the fall of Mr. Dumpty is tragic because no one in the entire kingdom had the power to put him together again. Yet he was no more fragile than Isaiah. Isaiah was shattered into as many pieces as any fallen egg. But God put him together again. God was able to take a shattered man and send him into the ministry.
Looking forward to chapter 3.
Again, thank you for opening this invitation. I love to read along with a great group of avid readers who long to know the Holy One.
I totally agree with your words, “As we see greater glimpses of God’s holiness, we will necessarily see greater glimpses of our own unholiness, our own unworthiness. The greater our sense of God’s holiness, the greater our sense of our own corruption.” Yes, this is the attitude I want to keep in my heart as I come before Him, and as I read this book.
I am also happy that we are reading only a chapter a week. I had enough time to read it twice and as a good gleaner I filled my “basket” with goodness.
My thoughts on this chapter are here:http://bit.ly/dvUguw
Blessings to you, and I will be back to read what others have to say.
If I can add anything to what Sproul so beautifully put about God as being “holy, holy, holy,” it is the utter fact that I am not, not, not—except by His grace through the redemptive power of His Son.
“…because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” -Hebrews 10:14
And I can say this with confidence because if I do not acknowledge what God has done for me, I make Him out to be a liar in the self-same way if I were to claim to be without sin (1 John 1:10).
Wow. No wonder submitting to God’s righteousness is a humbling thing. There is no fig leaf by which we can hide or good deed in which we can boast. We must yield to His glory—a holy endeavor indeed.
My thoughts bring me to eternity, when we Christians will be permitted to be in the presence of The Holy God; forever. How undone and eternally devastating will it be for the unbelieving non-elect to be made bare before The Lord on judgement day; to be eternally separated from His Holiness? That would be the ultimate, eternal undoneness! How lonely, lonely, lonely! My great comfort is, that because of the blood of Jesus and the Grace of God, that I will never, no not ever be separated from Him. How thankful we should be that He first chose us! That’ll put the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy down in your heart!
I thought this was a great foundation chapter for the rest of the book. To begin with God’s Word is refreshing and also humbling. I find it interesting that Isaiah’s response to seeing God is not “Wow, how cool” but ‘Woe is me.” Often times we lose sight of just how sinful we really are in the presence of a holy, holy, holy God.
I was also reminded how great God’s grace really is in sending His son to save us and take our sin upon himself. No wonder Jesus said, on the cross, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” This chapter was an awesome reminder of how utterly helpless we are without Jesus’ blood covering us!
In case anyone here missed it, you can get copies of The Holiness of God for as low as $2 each (by the case) here-
http://booksbythebox.maninthemirror.org/category_s/66.htm
I ordered a case to give to my Sunday School class. I may order another just to hand people who might read it.
I was struck with Sproul’s comments about how God does not reveal to us the full extent of our sinfulness at one time but is gracious enough to allow our growth in holiness to take time. Previously, I have wondered why our sanctification was not a more rapid process. Sproul points out that we would be “undone” as Isaiah was if that were to happen. What a kindness of our God to allow the time for the process of our growing in holiness so that the process would not kill us.
Great choice for a book, Tim. Thanks!!!
I smiled when I read your post. I am “not, not, not”, as well, and undone before our Holy, Holy, Holy God. You say on your site that you have writer’s block. (Sorry). It reminded me of the times when I am on my knees wanting to talk to Father and I am without words. Sometimes the silence is, thankfully, because God is gracious, only for minutes and sometimes, thankfully, because God is Holy, it goes on much longer and I learn …”God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.” Ecclesiastes 5:2 It encourages me when I think about a Holy God at work in me in the quiet times, when the silence, instead of disconcerting, becomes special and precious times with Father. I always need to learn about trust.
Anyway, I liked your comments on this chapter. No “fig leaf” indeed! And, “yield to His glory-a holy endeavor indeed.”
This is perhaps, my favorite chapter in the whole book. It has shaped my life, my thinking and my teaching/preaching immensely. I was just preparing to enter my years in ministry when I read this book for the first time (back in 1985). Sproul was the first to cause me to see God as the thrice holy God and all the implications of that.
In the years since then, I’ve used Isaiah’s experience numerous times to refer to what our reaction ought to be when we come before God. I don’t think this happens every single time (we have Christ’s intercessory work to thank for that), but the same sense of awe, of His sheer majesty, of our unworthiness apart from Christ should wash over us. As one reader above mentioned, this does change our worship; it can never be boring again.
I’ve made further observations over at my blog, in case your interested:
http://insidepastorkevinshead.blogspot.com/2010/10/reading-classics-toge…
Blessings on all as we continue on through this book.
“The instant he measured himself by the ultimate standard, he was destroyed- morally and spiritually annihilated. He was undone. He came apart. His sense of integrity collapsed.”How often do we hear people, even in the church, comparing themselves to someone else? It is always easy to find someone else who does things we don’t agree with, and think, at least im not that bad. But when we begin to compare ourselves with the actual standard of holiness, we will always be found infinitely wanting.
“None of us in this world is pure of heart. It is our impurity that prevents us from seeing God.”Most of the time i forget how far our sin separates us from God. It is not a small divide that we can jump if we pray hard enough. It is so far that God is the only one who can cross it; let alone close it.
“Isaiah was groveling on the floor. Every nerve fiber in his body was trembling. He was looking for a place to hide, praying that somehow the earth would cover him or the roof of the temple would fall upon him - anything to get him out from under the holy gaze of God.”I read this and actually fear this type of encounter. I have never felt anything even close to this. The anguish Isaiah must have felt is tremendous. Holy, Holy, Holy is our God. And He calls us His people… how beautiful and gracious He truly is!
What a great chapter! I was sitting in Arby’s as I read, and I don’t think I noticed anyone else in the restaurant. I was completely gripped.
My full comments are at my blog:http://pastortoby.blogspot.com/2010/10/holiness-of-god-chapter-2.html
i loved the quote “He heals the self so that it may be useful and fulfilled in the mission to which the person is called.”i’m so thankful God redeems!aside from that quote, this book has really (already in only the second chapter!) made me think upon God’s holiness in a new way. i mean, i know he’s holy, but what does that really mean? i’ve already started to re-evaluate the way i pray to our holy, holy, holy Father. it’s also made me wonder why we have lost our sense of His holiness.i’ve had this book for years, but never read it! i’m so glad i decided to join this! thanks!
Thanks for that, Debra. I so liked what you said in reference to my writer’s block:
“Sometimes the silence is, thankfully, because God is gracious, only for minutes and sometimes, thankfully, because God is Holy, it goes on much longer and I learn …”God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.” Ecclesiastes 5:2
Yes, nothing is wasted, not even the silence!
-E
“The higher the message, the further they will be from obeying it themselves.” That’s a really powerful observation. It sounds like I’d really like this book. Thanks for the summary.
One thing that challenges me is the truth that before we can effectively minister to others, we must be putting to death pride in our lives. The only way to do this is to measure ourselves by the ultimate standard, the perfect, holy God.
“As long as Isaiah could compare himself to other mortals, he was able to sustain a lofty opinion of his own character. The instant he measured himself by the ultimate standard, he was destroyed—morally and spiritually annihilated” (pg. 44).
When I focus on God’s holiness, I, like Isaiah, am undone. However, I, too, am not without hope. Christ died to pay the penalty for my pervasive sin that I might be cleansed from all of my unrighteousness. This truth should change how I relate to every person and situation that I encounter.
(This is an abbreviation of my blog post. ;)
Joining the RCT for the first time and am a week late on top of that… ;)Thanks Tim for this great idea!
Two concepts have been introduced in the book which are incomprehensible - the first is nothing. Sproul explains that we cannot comprehend what nothing is - what it was like before the universe, time, space, energy, and matter all came into existence - because as created beings we exist in something. The second is holiness. Specifically the holiness of God. How can we? We cannot fathom what holiness is because we are not!
I posted my thoughts on chapt1 here
http://tiny.cc/1h1lb
and chapter 2 here
http://tiny.cc/g7spi6xx9q
Wow, what a powerful chapter! I wish I had more time to interact in the discussion, but I’m loving reading everyone’s thoughts! Here are mine:http://homewithpurpose.blogspot.com/2010/10/reading-classics-together-ho…
“The higher the message, the further they will be from obeying it themselves.” This is powerfull for me. I was always told not to preach a truth from scripture that I was not living and applying succesfully in my life. I always thought this was not entirely correct but was not able to articulated. Sproul has done it perfectly. Thanks.
Thanks, everyone, for all the comments and insights.
One thing that struck me as odd was the part about Isaiah’s cleansing by the hot coal to his lips. My question is, how does that relate to the gospel? Sproul takes it to the point of saying: “In this divine act of cleansing, Isaiah experienced a forgiveness that went beyond the purification of his lips. He was cleansed throughout, forgiven to the core, but not without the awful pain of repentance.”
Our cleansing comes from our identification with Jesus and his work on the cross, correct? Is that process implied somewhere here and I’m missing it? How is this not another way to salvation apart from the gospel? I’m no OT scholar, so any insights would be appreciated.
In reading this chapter, I am reminded of the first beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Interestingly, reading the rest of the Sermon on the Mount has a way of “undoing” me. Borrowing from Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ Studies in the Sermon on the Mount: ” … there has to be a kind of emptying before there can be a filling … the gospel of Christ condemns before it releases … There is the mountain that you have to scale, the heights you have to climb; and the first thing you must realize, as you look at that mountain which you are told you must ascend, is that you cannot do it, that you are utterly incapable in and of yourself, and that any attempt to do it in your own strength is proof positive that you have not understood it.”
Hi BenThe OT sacrifice points forward to the blood of the Lamb of God. See Leviticus 16 and 17 (particularly 17v11 which speaks of atonement on the altar) and then Hebrews 7 v 26-28. Atonement for sins was available for Israel (indeed the message of John the Baptist was one of repentance for the forgiveness of sins) - how you then decide where this leaves the Jews after Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice is a huge subject!
From thinking about nothingness last week, this week has prompted thoughts about fullness:The train filled the templeThe whole earth is full of His gloryThe temple was filled with smoke
The other thing that struck me is the Seraphs -they have six wings but must also have hands because they used the tongs - I wonder what they look like!
I really appreciated Sproul’s focus on the repetition of “Holy , Holy, Holy” as a means of drawing unique emphasis on that attribute of God by stating it to the “third degree.” Certainly whenever you are presenting the incommunicable and infinite atrributes of God to our feeble human minds, it can lead to some disagreement or failure to understand. When highlighting the emphasis that this repetition puts on God’s holiness, the response from one fellow believer was “I wonder where the biblical authority is to exalt holiness over any other of God’s attributes. The fact that “holy” is repeated doesn’t cut it.” I understand that God’s atributes and characteristics cannot (and should not) be broken down into prioritized lists or one trait emphasized unduly over another. But I also believe that failure to understand the attributes of God within the context of His holiness can lead us into very unbiblical views of God, such as a belief that His mercy would never allow Him to condemn anyone to hell or that in His love He desires to give me anything my heart desires. I would be curious to hear more thoughts on this topic from anyone else who is reading through the book…
Here’s my chapter 2: http://andrewfinden.com/findothinks/2010/10/the-holiness-of-god-chapter-2/
I preached my first sermon from Isaiah 6 and this chapter stimulated a lot of thinking.
It’s quite something to realise that the awesome holiness illustrated in this chapter is the same holiness with which we are clothed by Christ.