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"And one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole
earth is full of His glory" (Isa. 6: 3).
"And the four living ones had each six wings about him; and they were full of eyes
within: and rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which was, and is, and is to come" (Rev. 4: 8).
Neither of angels nor men is it recorded that they ever cry of God, "Righteous,
righteous, righteous", or, "Mighty, mighty, mighty". This triune ascription is reserved for
the attribute of holiness.
How shall we estimate the nature of holiness? Perhaps if we discover the character of
the man that shall "dwell in the holy place" or "stand in the holy place", we shall get
some conception of its meaning:--
"Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh
righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart" (Psa. 15: 1, 2).
Walk, work and words, in righteousness and truth, manifested externally, and held
"in his heart", give some idea of the comprehensive claims of holiness:--
"Ha that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up
a reproach against his neighbour" (Psa. 15: 3).
The three positive are followed by three negative requirements. Holiness requires that
there be no slander, no evil deed, no entertainment of evil report:--
"Who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; Who
hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully" (Psa. 24: 3, 4).
Anything impure, despicable or vile is intolerable to holiness. Holiness is the
quintessence of all virtues, and without holiness almighty power might indicate a
monster, and the wisdom of God, without holiness, might but indicate the mind of a
devil, for there is a power, and there is a wisdom that is from beneath, that is earthly,
sensual and devilish. But the moment we couple these attributes with holiness, they are
the sublime prerogatives of God alone. Holiness is akin to beauty, for beauty cannot
embrace ugliness any more than holiness can abide impurity.
Worship and praise must be offered to the Lord in the "beauty of holiness"
(I Chron. 16: 29; II Chron. 20: 21; Psa. 29: 2; 96: 9). We read of no device on the
crown of king David, but the mitre of the high priest was incomplete without the golden
plate bearing the inscription, "Holiness unto the Lord" (Exod. 28: 36). God's ideal
kingdom is a "kingdom of priests", and His ideal nation is "a holy nation" (Exod. 19: 6).
Five times over do we read of the sanctifying of the people and the priests, because the
Lord they served was holy. Their sanctification was set forth symbolically, and assists us
further to understand what is implied in the ascription of holiness unto the Lord:--
"Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth,
neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby.