STANDING
ON
HOLY GROUND
Text: Ex.3: 1-5
Intro: Moses, the man of God, fled the land of Egypt after having incurred the wrath of Pharaoh by killing an Egyptian in defense of his people. He now finds himself in the land of Midian following a flock of sheep belonging to his newly acquired father-in-law, Jethro.
As Moses followed Jethro’s sheep, he no doubt often reflected upon the recent events of his life. According to Acts 7: 25, Moses had hoped that the Israelites would have understood that God had chosen him as their leader by his killing of the abusive Egyptian. However, not only did they not understand, but he was forced to leave Egypt, fearing for his life. How disappointed and confused Moses must have felt.
In retrospect, we can see that had Moses not left Egypt and gone into the desert, he would have missed his appointment with God at the burning bush. It was here that he found himself on holy ground. It was here that he came to know God in a new and personal way.
I don’t believe that Moses ever forgot that particular experience with God. I believe that Moses learned that wherever we experience God’s presence in a new and vital way is certainly worthy of being called holy ground. I want us to consider some places that should be considered holy ground today.
Theme: We are on holy ground when we are:
I. AT THE CROSS
A. Because Of The Body That Was Broken For Us.
Isa.50: 6 “I gave my back to the smiters (Matt.27: 26), and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting (Matt.26: 67).”
Isa.52: 14 “As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:”
Isa.53: 5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
NOTE: Folks, may we never forget that Jesus suffered to set us free. He died for us.
When Lincoln’s body was brought from Washington to Illinois, it passed through Albany and it was carried through the street. They say a black woman stood upon the curb and lifted her little son as far as she could reach above the heads of the crowd and was heard to say to him, “Take a long look, honey. He died for you.” So, if I could, I would lift up your spirit to see Calvary. Take a long look, He died for you.
Craig Glickman, Knowing Christ, pg. 89.
B. Because Of The Blood That He Bled For Us.
Eph.1: 7 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”
Heb.9: 14 “How much more shall the blood of Christ (Heb.9: 22—“…without shedding of blood is no remission”), who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
NOTE: This story illustrates my point:
In his book Written In Blood, Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor explained that she had the same disease the boy had recovered from two years earlier. Her only chance for recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease. Since the two children had the same blood type, the boy was the ideal donor.
“Would you give your blood to Mary?” the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, “Sure, for my sister.” Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room—Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned. As the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny’s smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube.
With the ordeal almost over, his voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence. “Doctor, when do I die?” Only then did the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated, why his lip had trembled when he’d agreed to donate his blood. He thought giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life. In that brief moment, he’d made his great decision. Johnny, fortunately, didn’t have to die to save his sister. Each of us, however, has a condition more serious than Mary’s, and it required Jesus to give not just His blood, but His life.
Thomas Lindberg.
C. Because Of The Burden That He Bore For Us.
II Cor.5: 21 “For he (God, the Father) hath made him (God, the Son) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Isa.53: 6b “…and the Lord hath laid on him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all.”
NOTE: [1] It’s hard for our finite human minds to comprehend the fact that Jesus did not merely pay the price for the sins of the world, but, according to the scriptures listed above, He bore the weight and shame of every dirty, rotten thing sinners had ever, or would ever, do. Christ Jesus took upon Himself all our sin.
[2] Jesus, “…endured the cross, despising the shame…” (Heb.12: 2). Can we possibly grasp the utter shame that the sinless Son of God must have felt, as He bore on the cross the awesome sin-burden of the world?
[3] Oh the boundless grace and love of God that was displayed on Calvary. Note this meager illustration of Christ’s vicarious death:
I read about a small boy who was consistently late coming home from school. His parents warned him one day that he must be home on time that afternoon, but nevertheless, he arrived later than ever. His mother met him at the door and said nothing. At dinner that night, the boy looked at his plate. There was a slice of bread and a glass of water. He looked at his father’s full plate and then at his father, but his father remained silent. The boy was crushed.
The father waited for the full impact to sink in, then quietly took the boy’s plate and placed it in front of himself. He took his own plate of meat and potatoes, put it in front of the boy, and smiled at his son. When that boy grew to be a man, he said, “All my life I’ve known what God is like by what my father did that night.”
J. Allan Peterson.
D. Because Of The Battle That He Braved For Us.
Rom.6: 6 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
Col.2: 15 “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”
I John 3: 8b “…for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”
NOTE: [1] The word translated “destroyed” in Rom.6: 6, means, “…to render idle, inactive, inoperative, to cause to cease” (Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies From The Greek New Testament, Vol. I, Romans In The Greek New Testament, published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49502; pg. 101). In I John 3: 8, the word “destroy” carries a slightly different shade of meaning. Here, the idea is that of “…to loosen, dissolve” (Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies From The Greek New Testament, Vol. II, The Exegesis Of I John, published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan; pg. 149).
[2] Truly, as we go back in our mind’s eye, and stand at the foot of the cross, remembering what Christ did for us there, should we not view it as holy ground? Jesus literally braved the suffering of the cross of Calvary that our sin nature might be rendered inoperative, deprived of power, and its hold upon us dissolved. Praise God!
II. IN THE CHURCH
NOTE: Folks, God sees His Church as vitally important. It’s too bad that people don’t often see it the way He does. Someone has made the following observation and suggestion:
When you were born, your mother brought you to church. When you were married, your wife brought you to church. When you die, your friends will bring you to church. Why not try coming on your own sometime?
Source Unknown.
A. Because Of Its Great Price.
Acts 20: 28b “…feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”
Eph.5: 25b “…Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”
B. Because Of Its Great Power.
Matt.16: 18 “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Eph.2: 19 “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;”
NOTE: [1] Matthew 16: 18 is Christ’s response to Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. In other words, Christ, the Son of God, is the foundation upon which the Church is built. Because the true Church is built on the unmovable foundation of Christ, “…the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16: 18b). This does not make reference to attacks by the forces of hell upon the Church, but rather, it is a reference to the onslaught of a militant and victorious Church, against the strongholds of Hell, empowered by Christ Himself.
[2] Ephesians 2: 19-20 bring to mind one basic thought: Before Satan can destroy the Church, he’ll have to destroy its Cornerstone—Jesus Christ. That, of course, will never happen. One day Satan will have to bow and “confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father” (Phil.2: 11).
C. Because Of Its Great Purpose.
1. The Church is to meet with the Lord.
Matt.18: 20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Ps.100: 2 “Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
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4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”
2. The Church is to minister for the Lord.
Mark 16: 15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
II Cor.5: 20a “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ…”
III. IN CHRIST
NOTE: Here’s an all-important question for you today. Are you in Christ? I’m not asking if you believe in salvation or if you believe that Jesus lived. I’m asking whether you personally know Him as your Savior.
“The life of Christianity consists of possessive pronouns,” says Martin Luther. It is one thing to say, “Christ is a Saviour;” it is quite another thing to say, “He is my Saviour and my Lord.” The devil can say the first; the true Christian alone can say the second.
Resource, July/August, 1990.
A. Because We Are Cherished By Him.
John 15: 9 “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
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12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
B. Because We Are Confident In Him.
1. We are accepted by Him.
Eph.1: 8b “…he hath made us accepted in the beloved (Jesus).”
2. We have access to Him.
Eph.3: 12 “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.”
Heb.4: 16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
3. We are answered by Him.
I John 3: 21 “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”
C. Because We Are Complete In Him.
Col.2: 9 “For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.”
NOTE: Kenneth Wuest offers some rather remarkable truths found in the words, “And ye are complete in him…” (Col.2: 10a).
“Are complete” is pleroo, the verbal form of our word pleroma. It is a participle in the perfect tense. Literally it is, “And you are in Him, having been filled full, with the present result that you are in a state of fulness.” Paul says in Ephesians 3: 19, “In order that you may be filled with all the fulness of God.” Vincent says; “Not, ye are made full in Him, but ye are in Him, made full. In Him dwells the fulness; being in Him, ye are filled.” Lightfoot says; “Being fulfilled with a direct reference to the preceding pleroma; ‘your fulness comes from His fulness; His pleroma (fulness) is transfused into you by virtue of your incorporation in Him.’”
Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies From The Greek New Testament, Vol. I, Ephesians And Colossians In The Greek New Testament, published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49502; pg. 204.
Theme: We are on holy ground when we are:
I. AT THE CROSS
II. IN THE CHURCH
III. IN CHRIST
