The Importance of Holiness
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There's only one characteristic of Almighty God that is communicated in the superlative degree from the mouths of angels, where the Bible doesn't simply say that God is holy, or even that He's holy, holy, but that He is holy, holy, holy.
The holiness of God is central to everything we do at Ligonier Ministries and on Renewing Your Mind. R.C. Sproul founded Ligonier Ministries in 1971, and our mission is to proclaim, teach, and defend the holiness of God in all its fullness to as many people as possible. Welcome to the Monday edition of Renewing Your Mind. I'm your host, Nathan W. Bingham. The messages you'll hear this week are from R.C. Sproul's classic series, The Holiness of God. Even today, it's this teaching from Dr. Sproul that is often referenced as people's first exposure to R.C. Sproul and the ministry of Ligonier. So consider who you'll share today's episode with, inviting them to listen all week. 2025 is a milestone year for the holiness of God.
It was 40 years ago this year that the Holiness of God book was first published. So when you give a donation of any amount this week at renewingyourmind.org in support of the proclamation, teaching, and defense of God's holiness, in addition to digital access to both the original and extended editions of the Holiness of God teaching series, we'll send you a limited edition 40th anniversary copy of The Holiness of God. Perhaps respond multiple times this week as you consider who you could give this landmark book to as your way of spreading the truth of who God is. Well, here's Dr. Sproul on the importance of holiness.
It says in chapter 6 of Isaiah, verse 1, in the year that King Uzziah died... I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple. And above Him were the 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. And at the sound of their voices, the doorposts and the thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. Now, I want you to notice in this brief passage that I've read here that Isaiah locates this experience that he has in the year that King Uzziah dies.
And we don't know for sure whether what Isaiah beheld was an ecstatic vision that took place in the temple in Jerusalem, or if in fact what Isaiah saw was a glimpse into the inner sanctum of heaven itself. I prefer the latter interpretation. I'm persuaded for technical reasons I won't get into here, is that what happened was that God opened the curtain. He removed the veil from heaven itself. And as John, centuries later on the Isle of Patmos, would get a glimpse of the interior of heaven, Isaiah the prophet saw the Lord enthroned in heaven itself. Now, if you see in your Bible, it says here, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted in the train of His robe filled with temple.
If you look at your Bible, you see the word Lord, and I'm sure it's spelled capital L, little o, little r, little d. Is that true in your Bibles there? If you go down a couple of verses to where the song of the seraphim where it says, "'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.'" Do you see that? You see, that same word Lord is spelled capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. How many of you notice that in your text? Okay, it's a very common thing we find in English translations of the Bible, and it's not a result of a typographical error. but rather the translators are trying to signal to us that something is going on here that's a bit unusual, that even though the same English word, Lord, is here in the text, the fact that they are printed differently indicates that there are two distinctly different Hebrew words behind the text.
Anytime you see capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, you can be fairly confident that the Hebrew term that is being translated is the name Yahweh, the name that God revealed to Moses in the Midianite wilderness. when he said, I am who I am. That's the sacred name of God, the holy name of God, Yahweh.
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