HOLY GROUND
Hebrews 11:24-25 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. [25] He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.
Exodus 3:1-22 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. [2] There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. [3] So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up." [4] When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." [5] "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." [6] Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. [7] The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. [8] So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey--the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. [9] And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. [10] So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." [11] But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" [12] And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain." [13] Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ’The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ’What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?" [14] God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ’I am has sent me to you.’ " [15] God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, ’The Lord, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. [16] "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ’The Lord, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. [17] And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites--a land flowing with milk and honey.’ [18] "The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ’The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ [19] But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. [20] So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go. [21] "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. [22] Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians."
Moses
• According to Hebrews 11:24-25, Moses refused everything this world holds dear in order to obey the call of God.
• His choice showed his low estimate of worldly things and his high estimate of spiritual things.
• He refused the very things for which men in our culture sell their souls.
• He sacrificed the things for which men of our day sacrifice themselves.
• As a result of Moses’ difficult but courageous choice, he was allowed the high privilege to stand on holy ground. (Exodus 3)
On that ground Moses heard the voice of God and saw the fire of God. From that moment forward Moses walked by the sound of that voice and the light of that flame.
Do you need a fresh "holy ground" experience in your life?
I. Holy ground is the PLACE WHERE THE VOICE OF GOD IS HEARD.
When Moses stood before the burning bush with his attention completely arrested, his curiosity stirred to its depths and his mentality pitched to its highest frequency, God spoke:
"Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."
(Exodus 3:5)
A. Do you remember the "holy ground" experiences in your life?
B. Do you recall those places which in and of themselves were not sacred, but because it was in that special place you heard God’s voice and saw God’s power and they were considered "holy ground" to you?
C. God challenges all who serve him to daily remove the shoes of worldly living, carnal thinking and a defeated spirit and draw near to Him for a fresh touch of His power.
There are peculiar storms in the Indian Ocean. . . typhoons and monsoons. They re peculiar in that they do not move very rapidly. They do not move practically at all from east to west, or north to south; instead, they play around in a circle. F. W. Troy was told by a sea captain that before the navigators understood the characteristics of these storms, if they tried to come out of them, they foundered. "Now," he said, "when we run into a monsoon, we locate its center, and we go around it. By and by we narrow the circle. When we get into the center, we are in a dead calm." This is like God’s will. Try to get out of it, and you will find it a destructive force. Get into it, and you are in a calm, and you find it is good, and acceptable, and perfect, as it is so graphically described by the Apostle Paul in the twelfth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans.
David Livingstone tells how he was chased up a small tree and besieged by lions. He said the tree was so small that he was barely out of reach of the lions. He said they would stand on their back feet and roar and shake the little tree, and that he could feel the hot breath of the lions as they sought him. "But," he states, "I had a good night and felt happier and safer in that little tree besieged by lions, in the jungles of Africa, in the will of God, than I would have been out of the will of God in England."
II. Holy ground is the PLACE WHERE THE VISION OF GOD IS REVEALED.
A. "Behold, the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed." (Exodus 3:2b)
B. Perhaps Moses thought, "this bush has a quality I do not possess - it burns intensely, yet the fire does not go out."
C. His mind may have called up the memory of his failed attempt to deliver God’s people in his own power.
D. But now God reveals to Moses that self-effort inevitably ends in failure, but God’s power is available as an inexhaustible resource for life and ministry.
Four men used to meet together each week in Memphis. One man was a service station owner, one man was a salesman for a wholesale appliance company, one man was assistant treasurer of a large corporation, and one man was a teacher. These men shared with each other their longings, desires, and plans. They decided to set goals and to share these with each other. The service station owner set a goal to be making $50,000 a year within five years. The wholesale appliance salesman set a goal to be making $25,000 a year within the next five years. The teacher set a goal to be teaching in one of the greatest educational institutions in America within five years. The assistant treasurer said he was going to do the best he could, but he was not going to set a specific goal. Within five years the service station owner was making in excess of $50,000 a year. Today he worth over one million dollars. Within four years the wholesale appliance salesman was making $25,000 a year. Today he is a wealthy man. In two years and ten months the teacher was offered the best teaching job in his field in the United States. The assistant treasurer is still working at his same job in the circumstances that he was in the day the goals were set. Aim determines direction. When you aim a pistol toward a target, how you aim determines the direction the bullet will go. The conscious and sub-conscious goals you have for your life have brought about the situation in which you find yourself today. A goal you set, an aim you determine with your intellect and emotions is one of the most powerful forces in the world.
In the hands of a Christian a goal becomes a Holy Vision…
Finding God’s Will
III. Holy ground is the PLACE WHERE THE VICTORY IS ASSURED.
A. In Exodus 3:20 God assures Moses that the victory has been won
B. ’Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the Children of Israel, out of Egypt."
C. When we stand on holy ground we know that through the power of Jesus Christ, made available to every believer through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we will not only make it, but we will be victorious!
"The quality of a man’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field or endeavor.... I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour -- his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear -- is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle, victorious."
Vince Lombardi
Lyle Arakaki of Honolulu, Hawaii tells the following story about himself. "In Hawaii, because of the time difference with the continetal U.S., the National Football League Monday night football game is played in mid-afternoon; so the local TV station delays its telecast till 6:30 in the evening. When my favorite team plays, I’m too excited to wait for television, so I’ll listen to the game on the radio, which broadcasts it live. Then, because they are my favorite team, I’ll watch the game on television too. If I know my team has won the game, it influences how I watch it on television. If my team fumbles the ball or throws an interception, it’s not a problem. I just think, That’s bad, but it’s okay. In the end, we’ll win."
WE ARE STANDING ON HOLY GROUND
