THE CHALLENGE OF HOLINESS
EXODUS 3:1-3
INTRODUCTION:
START OUT BY TALKING ABOUT HOW NORMAL THIS DAY STARTED FOR MOSES
AT THIS TIME MOSES WAS JUST AN AVERAGE MAN
WITH AN AVERAGE JOB
ON AN AVERAGE DAY
DESCRIBE WHAT HE SAW:
WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH MOSE’S MIND AS HE APPROACHED THE BURNING BUSH
WAS IT A MAJOR FIRE
WAS IT A DISTRACTION FOR ROBBERS
HE HAD TO KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON.
I’VE ALWAYS FELT THAT MOSES WAS ONE OF THE GIANTS OF THE FAITH, BUT HERE HE SEEMS JUST LIKE ANY ONE OF US.
OFTEN DURING THE COURSE OF OUR DAILY WALK, WE ARE SO CAUGHT UP IN WHAT WE HAVE TO DO, IT TAKES SOMETHING LIKE A BURNING BUSH INCIDENT FOR US TO THINK ABOUT GOD.
BURNING BUSHES DON’T ALWAYS HAVE TO BE BAD EVENTS, BUT THEY WILL ALWAYS BE LIFE CHANGING EVENTS. THEY CAN BE:
FINANCIAL CRISIS
HEALTH CRISIS
EMPLOYMENT ISSUES LOSING A JOB
GETTING THAT PROMOTION
DEATH ISSUES
THE BIRTH OF A CHILD
MEETING THE ONE YOU ARE GOING TO MARRY
WHEN YOU BECAME A CHRISTIAN
THESE AND SEVERAL OTHERS CAN HAPPEN DURING THE COURSE OF OUR LIFETIME AND RADICALLY CHANGE THE OUTCOME OF OUR LIVES, JUST AS IT DID FOR MOSES.
THE SECOND THING THAT GOD DID WHEN HE GOT MOSES ATTENTION WAS TO GIVE HIM THE UNUSUAL COMMAND TO TAKE OFF HIS SANDALS.
WHY? BECAUSE THE PLACE WHERE MOSES WAS STANDING WAS HOLY GROUND.
THAT’S WHAT I WANT TO EXPLORE FOR A FEW MOMENTS TODAY. WHAT MADE THAT HOLY GROUND, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHAT IS THE HOLY GROUND IN OUR LIVES?
ON THE SURFACE IT WOULD SEEM LIKE AN EASY QUESTION. IT IS HOLY BECAUSE GOD IS THERE, AND THIS WOULD BE RIGHT. BUT GOD IS EVERYWHERE RIGHT. YET WE WOULD NOT RECOGNIZE ALL PLACES AS HOLY. THEREFORE THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING SPECIAL IN THE INTERACTION BETWEEN MOSES AND GOD THAT MAKES THIS PLACE HOLY. KNOWING THAT, THE THING THAT CREATES HOLINESS IN OUR LIVES CANNOT BE ONLY WHAT WE DO, BUT IT HAS TO INCLUDE OUR INTERACTION WITH GOD AS THE REASON FOR WHAT WE DO. THIS IS WHAT SEPARATES GOOD WORKS FROM GODLY WORKS.
WE’RE GOING TO LOOK AT THIS ISSUE FROM THREE STANDPOINTS. WHAT HOLINESS IS NOT, WHAT HOLINESS IS, AND THE RESULTS OF A HOLY LIFE.
POINT ONE: WHAT HOLINESS IS NOT:
FIRST OF ALL THE GROUND WAS NOT HOLY. IT WAS THE SAME BUSH AND SAND THAT WAS THERE THE DAY BEFORE AND THE DAY AFTER.
THEE IS NO HOLINESS IN A PLACE OR THING. PLACES OR THINGS CAN BE SPECIAL, BUT THEY CANNOT BE HOLY.
ILLUSTRATE: THE EXAMPLE OF GETTING MARRIED IN A CHURCH, BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE GOD’S PRESENCE IS.
IF THERE IS NO INTERACTION THEN THERE IS NO PRESENCE FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS.
ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION. IF THIS CHURCH SHOULD NOT BE HERE TOMORROW DOES THAT MEAN THAT GOD WOULD NOT BE HERE TOMORROW? WHAT ABOUT AREAS THAT DON’T HAVE A CHURCH, DOES THAT MEAN THAT GOD IS NOT THERE? WE KNOW THAT SOME OF THE GREATEST GROWTH AREAS OF THE CHURCH ARE WHERE THERE ARE NO CHURCHES.
HOLINESS WAS NOT IN THE GROUND THAT DAY, BUT IT WAS IN THE INTERACTION BETWEEN GOD AND MOSES.
SECOND, THE PRESENCE OF GOD, DID NOT MAKE THE PLACE HOLY.
NOW ON THE SURFACE YOU MAY WANT TO DISAGREE WITH THAT STATEMENT, BUT FOLLOW ME THROUGH ON THIS.
THE PRESENCE OF ONLY GOD IN A PLACE DOES NOT MAKE THE PLACE HOLY. LOOK AT THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. GOD WANTED HOLINESS FROM THEM, AND ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, AT FIRST, GOT HOLINESS FROM THEM. HE WAS THEIR GOD AND THEY FOLLOWED ONLY HIM, AND WERE BLESSED BECAUSE OF IT.
YET THOSE SAME PEOPLE WHO CHOSE TO FOLLOW GOD AND LIVE IN HOLINESS TO HIM ALSO CHOSE TO TURN THEIR BACKS ON HIM AND WORSHIP IDOLS. DID GOD LEAVE THEM? NO. DID HE DESIRE FELLOWSHIP WITH THEM? YES. THE PEOPLE WERE THE ONES WHO BROKE THE INTERACTION WITH GOD, NOT GOD BREAKING THE INTERACTION WITH THE PEOPLE. TO BE TRULY HOLY THERE MUST BE INTERACTION BETWEEN GOD AND US, NOT ONE OR THE OTHER.
REMEMBER GOD CALLED TO MOSES, AND MOSES ANSWERED BEFORE HE WAS TOLD THAT HE WAS STANDING ON HOLY GROUND. IT WAS THEIR INTERACTION TOGETHER THAT MADE IT HOLY.
HOLINESS IS NOT AN OPTION. WE ARE COMMANDED IN THE SCRIPTURES TO BE HOLY, FOR GOD IS HOLY. GOD WANTS THIS INTERACTION WITH US AND IT CAN BE WITH NO OTHER. ITS ALL RIGHT TO HAVE SPECIAL PLACES AND THINGS IN OUR LIVES, BUT WHEN THEY GET TO THE POINT OF MAKING THEM HOLY ABOVE AND BEYOND GOD THEN IT BECOMES IDOLATRY.
POINT TWO: WHAT THEN IS HOLINESS
START WITH A SIMPLE DEFINITION OF HOLY. TO BE SEPARATE
GIVEN OVER
THIS IS THE ESSENTIAL CHALLENGE OF HOLINESS, TO LIVE OUR LIVES TOTALLY FOR GOD, AND TO HAVE THAT “BURNING BUSH” INTERACTION IN OUR DAILY LIVES. IT’S A TALL ORDER BUT IT CAN BE DONE.
MOSES WAS AN AVERAGE MAN ON AN AVERAGE DAY. YES HE HAD SPECIAL TRAINING WHICH HE WOULD USE LATER. YES HE WAS CHOSEN BY GOD TO BE GREAT. BUT ON THIS DAY, THE DAY THAT GOD WOULD CALL HIM, IT WAS AN AVERAGE DAY FOR AN AVERAGE MAN.
SO WHO ARE WE TO SAY THAT THIS CALL CAN’T HAPPEN TO US. OH THE WONDERFUL JOY TO COMMUNE WITH THE LORD. WE NEED NOT LIMIT OURSELVES TO SUNDAY MORNING FOR THIS JOY. WE CAN KNOW IT IN OUR KITCHENS, OUR CARS, OUR PLACES OF WORK. WE CAN SEE THE MARVELS OF THE LORD.
SITTING BY A WELL BECAME A HOLY PLACE FOR A WOMAN TALKING WITH JESUS.
AFTER AN EVENING MEAL, THE DINING ROOM BECAME A HOLY PLACE FOR A WOMAN WITH AN ALABAXTER JAR OF PERFUME.
A GREASE PIT IN A GARAGE BECAME A HOLY PLACE FOR A FRIEND OF MINE WHERE HE WAS LED TO THE LORD.
HOLY PLACES ARE NOT PERMANENT, BUT THE EFFECTS OF THE INTERACTION BETWEEN GOD AND US THERE CAN BE, AND WITH GREAT RESULTS.
POINT THREE: RESULTS OF HOLINESS:
THE RESULTS OF A HOLY ENCOUNTER ARE ALWAYS ENCOURAGING. THEY WILL ALLOW US TO FACE THE WORLD WITH GREAT COURAGE.
IN A TRULY HOLY ENCOUNTER WITH GOD WE WILL EXPERIENCE AT LEAST THESE FIVE THINGS:
1. WE WILL REMEMBER THE CHARACTER OF GOD (8,18,22)
2. WE WILL REMEMBER THE COMPASSION OF GOD (4-6)
3. WE WILL REJOICE IN THE CELEBRATION OF GOD (V.6-8,14,15)
4. WE WILL RENEW OUR CONSECRATION TO GOD (V.18)
5. WE WILL RECLAIM OUR CONFIDENCE IN GOD AND THE FUTURE (V.21)
HOLY PLACES NEED NOT BE A CHURCH. FOR MOSES IT WAS A BURNING BUSH. FOR US IT CAN BE A CAR, A HOSPITAL ROOM, A FUNERAL PARLOR, OR A NURSARY. HOLY PLACES ARE WHERE WE INTERACT WITH AN AWESOME GOD, WHO HAS AN AWESOME PLAN FOR OUR LIVES.
