Holy, Holy, Holy

Recently, I started a series of classes entitled The Holiness of God, based on the book and video sermons of the same title by R.C. Sproul. It has been a fantastic experience to see how incredible our God is, and it has opened my eyes to a great deal of things that God has been trying to instill in my life. Tonight, I finished the study guide for the first section of the series, entitled The Importance of Holiness, which was based out of the book of Isaiah, chapter 6. The insight that Dr. Sproul brings to the topic is absolutely phenomenal, and some of the later sections blew my mind as to how our God that we love has become so tamed in this day and age, if not already non-existant to the minds of those who have been blinded by Satan.

The big point that I wanted to share from R.C. is that the song the seraphim (angels) sing to God contains what Dr. Sproul refered to as the Trishagion. I'm not sure how you pronounce that word exactly, but lets take a look at the text. :)

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
   “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
   the whole earth is full of his glory.”
 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
(Isaiah 6:1-4)

Ok, so the Trishagion is the "Holy, Holy, Holy" that the angels sing to God, but what is the significance behind that? R.C. Sproul points out that in English, we emphasize with italics, underlining, or inflections, but the Bible emphasises in repetition. Examples would be instances such as Paul repeating important concepts in his letters, or Jesus himself saying "Truly, truly I say to you...", but the importance of this repetition here is that the only time triple repetition is used in reference to an attribute is with God's holiness. According to Dr. Sproul, "This is a dimension of God that consumes his very essence." So his holiness is not only worthy of triple repetition, but it is in fact who God is. As Thomas Brooks puts it, "God's holiness and His nature are not two things, they are but one. God's holiness is His nature, and God's nature is His holiness." That in itself wasn't the crux of Dr. Sprouls argument, but I think that its a very good insight into who our God is, and what his nature is as well.

In response then, how are we to view God in light of His holy nature, and holy name? The Israelites met it at times with rejection, rebellion, a kind of arrogant self-sufficiency, and questioning of God in the sense of asking him, "Do you have any idea of what you're doing, really?" Obviously, this is NOT the way we should respond to his holiness at all. God wants us to view his holiness with a repentant heart, an acknowledgement of his holiness in awe, with praise for what he has done, regarding him with fear, and looking to Him for salvation instead of the "gods" that we have set up for ourselves in this world. Even when we are so far from Him, God is forgiving and gracious in his spirit, but that is by no means an excuse to go sin. It isn't living with the mentality that since we have an "umbrella of grace" as it were, we are free to do as we please, and take that as a license to sin. By no means! Instead, we should be living in a right fear of God, viewing him as he ought to be viewed: Holy.

The entire series of The Holiness of God is absolutely fantastic, and I encourage anyone and everyone that is interested to go and get a copy of either the book, podcast, or video series. (I am actually quite partial to the videos, but that's just me. I think I connect better when the teacher is there for me to see, rather than a disembodied voice from an iPod or computer, but again, just the way I prefer it.) Thanks for reading, and I look forward to sharing with you soon.

God Bless.