REVELATION 15:4

THE HOLINESS OF GOD

Before we get into the verse by verse exposition of chapter 15, I’d like to take a couple of weeks at least and speak about one of the most edifying and yet challenging doctrines in all of Scripture, and that is the doctrine of the holiness of God. Tonight and next Sunday evening as well, one of our elders, Frank Carbone will be teaching a 2 part series on the glory of God, and you do not want to miss it! So today and next Sunday, Lord willing, you are going to get back to back studies on God’s holiness and His glory!



As I have said many times previously, but without any apology at all, I will declare it once again….God Himself is the prominent and preeminent theme in all of Scripture. As glorious and wonderful as the redemption of man is, the main subject from Gen 1.1 to Rev 22.21 is the prominent preeminent Redeemer of man. And from the heavenly scenes of Scripture, the one outstanding quality of The Almighty is His holiness.



The Puritans used to call the holiness of God the shining of all His perfections. As we explore that holiness of God in Scripture, we see 3 main truths about Him.

It denotes His separatenss or otherness of God from all of His creation. The most common Heb word for holy is kodesh which means, to be separate or apart. God is above and beyond all of His creation. Nothing is like Him. All of creation is subject to Him.
Repeatedly in Scripture God declares that He alone is God, and beside Him, there is no other:
i.      Isa 45:5 ¶ I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

ii.      Isa 46:8 Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. 9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure

It denotes God’s total apartness from all that is unclean or evil. God is moral perfection. Only God is independently, infinitely and immutably holy. The very sum of all moral excellence and beauty is found in Him.
1 John 1.5 God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Hab 1:13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity


Due to God’s being set apart by nature as well as from all sin, Scripture declares that He is unapproachable by sinners apart from a holy sacrifice without spot or blemish.
I will get back to that thought at the end of our study this morning because that is a matter that concerns the eternal destiny of every single person in this building this morning.


Contrary to the notion that the subject of the holiness of God is a sure cause for depression and condemnation, It has been well said of Holiness that it resembles the light of the sun at noonday with its brightness, beauty, illumination and warmth; and the air redolent of sweets, and flowers. Holiness should bring sunshine, not gloom; happiness, not heaviness; gladness, not depression. George Ridout



Revelation 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

Interrogations in Scripture are oftentimes used as a means of affirming Biblical truths. The question asked here in this heavenly scene is actually a strong affirmation of the incomparableness of God. For thou alone are holy. Because God is holy He is to be both feared, glorified and worshipped.
His Name, which signifies all of His attributes and character is said to be holy.
Ps 103:1 ¶ <<A Psalm of David.>> Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
1Sa 2:2 There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
Holiness is the peculiar glory of His nature. The Trinity is holy. The Spirit of God is called The Holy Ghost or The Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ, our blessed Redeemer is called The Holy One of God.  In His magnificent high priestly prayer recorded for us in John 17, The Lord Jesus addresses The Father as Holy Father.
The divinely inspired Oracles of God are called holy Scriptures.
If a portrait of God were to be drawn, the attribute of His holiness would be the most outstanding and beautiful.
Isa 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One (comp. Isaiah 6:1, where the same words are translated“high and lifted up”) that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
In Christ, Who is the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form, we see what the holiness and beauty of God look like when clothed in human flesh.
When God condescends to visit the contrite and humble spirit, the immediate effect is to comfort, console, revive. His presence is a well of life. springing up within the soul to everlasting life


As born again Christians, it is vital for us to have a Biblical understanding of the character of God. The failure to do so inevitably leads to the making of a god in our own image and likeness. The Psalmist Asaph wrote:

Psa 50.21 thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
The fact that we were created in the image and likeness of God, does not mean that we are in any way, shape or form equal to Him. Listen to the Prophet Isaiah make that fact crystal clear:
Isa 40:15-18 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
Nothing makes more manifest the terrible depravity of man’s heart and his enmity against The Living God than to have set before him The One Who is infinitely and immutably holy.


The apostle Paul wrote these scathing words about fallen man’s inventing a “god” after their own image and likeness.

Ro 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
When we exchange the image of God into a “god after our own thinking”, the inevitable result will be a degradation of the True and Living God. The creature is worshipped, and the Creator is forgotten or despised. The mind and heart seek to rest in what can never satisfy them.
Beloved, we are entering that season where we set time aside to go on vacation etc….but we need to remember that our true rest and refreshment according to Hebrews 3,4 comes from a deep, intimate relationship and fellowship with Jesus Christ.


Because the vast majority of professing Christendom today is holiness light, to we need to make sure that we set the record straight regarding the character of God upon the solid rock of Scripture.

Once again, take note of the declaration that is made by these victorious saints in glory in Rev 15.4. For You only are holy. (not you are so cool)



Holiness is the very excellence of the divine nature.

Ex 15:11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
This verse is one of the loftiest descriptions of the majesty and excellencies of God in all of Scripture and it reveals His holiness as being glorious.


In his 2 set book, The existence and attributes of God, author Stephen Charnock writes: “Power is God’s hand or arm, omniscience is His eye, mercy His bowels, eternity His duration, but holiness is His beauty.”

This statement that God’s holiness is beautiful is in perfect harmony with Scripture. When The Israelite army was going out to battle, they sent the “praise band” to the front of the conflict with this declaration:

2 Chron 20.21 he (King Jehoshaphat) appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
Ps 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.


This holiness is solemnly celebrated before the very holy throne of heaven itself:

Isa 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
The holiness of God in heaven is such that these seraphims must cover their faces while they declare the words, holy, holy, holy.
It was necessary for them to shield their eyes from a direct gaze on the face of God.
Re 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
The thrice repeated exclamation holy speaks of the recognition of the Eternal Godhead, 1Jo 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
But the significance of the repetition of the word holy is for emphasis. In English, if we want to emphasize something, we can underline a word or phrase of type it in bold print. Thus, the 3 fold repetition of the word holy is indicating to us that when a creature is in the direct presence of The Living God, His outstanding characteristic is His holiness.
All God’s perfections are worthy of praise; but as holiness characterizes his government of the nations, and forms the ground of all moral happiness, both of angels and men, it worthily attracts their praise. Sutcliff commentary


God Himself singles out His holiness as the very essence of His character when He declares:

Ps 89:35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
God swears by His holiness because His holiness is the very essence of His Name.


Because our God is holy, the utmost reverence is necessary when approaching Him: Yes, because of the blood of Jesus we can come into His presence boldly but never can we come into His presence flippantly or casually.

Ps 89:7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
Ps 99:5 Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.
When we truly understand the holiness of God, we will come into His presence with humble hearts, like the publican in Luke 18. Like Erza in Ezra 9; Like Nehemiah in Nehemiah 9; like Daniel in Daniel 9.
Psa 119.10 With my whole heart have I sought thee.
Ps 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
When God called Moses to draw near to him in the wilderness we read, Ex 3:5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
By the way, the seraphim that we mentioned a few moments ago in Isa 6 have a second pair of wings to cover their feet. Remember how earlier we spoke of how with one set of wings they covered their eyes in order to shield them from a direct gaze upon the face of God?
The covering of their feet was for a different reason that is connected to the account of Moses in the Exodus passage. Moses had to remove his shoes because the ground was made holy by the presence of The Lord. Removing the shoes was a symbol of Moses recognition that he was of the earth, earthy.
These angelic beings are not of the earth, but they are created beings nonetheless, thus to cover their feet is a reminder that all of creation is unholy in the direct presence of God.


God’s holiness is manifested in His works

Rev 15.3 Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
Ps 145:17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
Beloved, holiness is the rule of all of God’s actions, because everything that God does is holy and marvellous.


God’s holiness is manifested in His Word

Ps 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
Romans 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
The holiness of God’s Word reveals the real me….it is like a divine x-ray machine…..Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
There is no where to run and no where to hide from God.


God’s holiness is manifested at the cross

Wondrously and yet most solemnly does the atonement display God’s infinite holiness and abhorrence of sin. A.W. Pink, the Attributes of God
Never did Divine holiness appear more beautiful and lovely than at the time our Saviour’s countenance was most marred in the midst of His dying groans. This He Himself acknowledges in Psalm 22.
Because God is holy, He hates sin. God has declared that sin must be punished, and sinners are only forgiven on the ground of Christ having borne their punishment.
Le 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
Ro 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Apart from faith in the Atoning sacrifice of The Lord Jesus Christ, it is impossible for any man to be just in the sight of God.
The lie of any man made religion or religious system is that if you adhere to all of it’s various rules and regulations, you can make yourself right in the sight of God.
The lie of humanism is that man is not dead in trespasses and sins, but slightly flawed and in need of repair….my friends, the gospel of Jesus Christ declares that fallen man needs more than repair and more than remodeling, fallen man needs a new birth… a regeneration, and that can only be granted by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone.
The lie of Eastern mysticism, Mormonism and all other mind religions is that every human being has god potential. They call this the “spark of divinity” that every human being possesses…huh? I am a god but I do not know it????
The lie of evolution is that you were not fearfully and wonderfully made by a Glorious Creator, but you are the result of billions of years of random chance and are a higly evolved ape.
Blessed be His Holy Name, that which God’s holiness and justice demanded, His grace has provided in the Person of The Lord Jesus Christ.
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;


Isa 45:20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. 21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. 22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.



The Bible declares that no one comes to The Father except through Jesus Christ…the Bible declares that you must be born again….our Just God and Saviour says to you and Me, look unto Me and be saved all the ends of the earth. I urge you today to repent of your sin….receive as Lord of your life The Risen Jesus Christ.