The Challenge Of Holiness

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