“A Life And Ministry Highlight”
April 12, 2007 12:15 am
That was how C.J. described the opportunity we had tonight: listening to Dr. R.C. Sproul exposit Isaiah 6:1-8, helping us see and appreciate the holiness of God.
I really liked how Dr. Sproul described his conversion: he said, “I realized that God plays for keeps. If I am going to serve him I can’t play around.” A very good point. But the message wasn’t about Dr. Sproul’s conversion, it was about the holiness of God.
There are a lot of things that were said in this message, but I thought one of the most important of them is that the holiness of God is not just one attribute among many, but it is the sum and substance of all of God’s attributes. In other words, his mercy is a holy mercy, his justice is a holy justice, and so on. Dr. Sproul pointed out that it is too easy to be too familiar with God. While our adoption into God’s family does mean that we can call him “Abba, father”, we must be careful. He is still the transcendent Holy One. He is not our buddy. In fact, Dr. Sproul began the message by pointing out that some of the giants of the faith like Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and Edwards had this in common: they all possessed an overwhelming sense of the majesty of God.
Do you feel an overwhelming sense of the majesty of God? If not, why not? Go and read Isaiah 6:1-8 and see if that doesn’t help. Re-read the first couple chapters of The Holiness of God. We need to be reminded—often—of the soaring greatness and the blazing holiness of God. As A. W. Tozer says, “The most important thing about us is what comes into our minds when we think about God.” If we’re not amazed at God’s holiness, we’re not going to be motivated to live for him. Our worship will be limp and lifeless. Our prayers will be rote and mechanical. Joy and gratitude will flee from us. Understanding the holiness of God is the ticket to vibrant, passionate Christianity.
Can you believe we get to hear teaching like this? If you didn’t come, well… you missed out. Remember that part 2 is tomorrow night, also free, also at 7pm.
For those of you who were here, what did you think?
One Response to ““A Life And Ministry Highlight””
Going to hear R. C. Sproul speak was amazing!
The times of worship on both nights were great, just an introduction to the excellent preaching we then experienced.
Hearing him speak refreshed my amazement at the holiness and majesty of God, which I find can be so easy to forget. On both nights, R. C. Sproul painted an astonishingly vivid picture of God’s holiness, giving me no desire but to worship Him. “Holy, holy, holy, God/How awesome is your name . . . ”
On another note, R. C. Sproul is, with the possible exception of Randy Newman, the funnist preacher I’ve ever heard! He enertained us greatly by singing old radio soap comercials.
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