HOA - Holiness on Arrival

Moving on Up

Fish don’t fry in the kitchen beans don’t burn on the grill took a whole lotta tryin just to get up that hill. Now we’re up in the big leagues, gettin our turn at bat. As long as we live, It’s you and me, baby. There ain’t nothing wrong with that.

Well we’re movin on up, to the east side, to a deluxe apartment in the sky. Movin on up to the east side, we finally got a piece of the pie.

Here we are in the 43rd chapter of Ezekiel, which Ezekiel finds himself reliving his first interaction with God so much so that frightened him again.

“Ezekiel 43:3 “It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw—like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face.”

Nonetheless one thing God is always going to do is reward our faith with the assurance of a glorious future no matter how terrible the present moment is.

1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Ezekiel describes how the glory of God left the old temple.

Ezekiel 11:22-23 “So the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.”

Now in chapter 43 he describes how the glory returns and fills the entire house. No matter how pristine our building looks the beauty and grandeur of the temple means nothing if God is not present.

How does this correlate today, today our body is the temple of God and so is His church.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Ephesians 2:19-22 “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

Just like God revealed his plan to Ezekiel he revealed his plan to us through Christ. We are a holy temple, dedicated to God alone, we are to exude the glory of God for the world.

Same Place, Different Outcome

Here we are again in the inner court of the temple. This time the glory of God filled the temple. This is the same place God left due to the disobedience of the people.

The right spirit in the temple led to the right message from God. God lives here and it’s time we worship like it. We have to be mindful of the fact that our outside impacts our worship together. Praise and worship isn’t a switch I flip on because I dawn the doorsteps of the building.

It’s a surreal moment when God shows up in a similar place of pain and abandonment when we are ready to change.

This is the power of the glory of God. God’s glory is worthy of honor and respect. His glory is a manifestation of power! When we adhere to His power there is a glorious reward attached to it. Politicians don’t dictate the glory of God. The rich and famous don’t dictate who God is. God is God all by himself.

The abomination is when we try to measure anything or anyone next to God.

Ezekiel 43:7-9 “And He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places. When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed; therefore I have consumed them in My anger. Now let them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.”

The same place God hid from Israel is the same place He shows up to offer salvation to the people.

Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east.

And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east.

This is a direct contracts of Ezekiel 10:18 “Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.”

The same place that caused you the greatest pain can be the same place God reveals His greatest Glory! Stay faithful.

A Holy Place Requires a Holy Life

God brought us here today to be better, God provided this word for us to change.

The glory of God when rightly accepted doesn’t just impact the church but the entire geographical area. Jeremiah 3:16 ““Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days,” says the Lord, “that they will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.”

God always shows up at the right time, the theophany or the visible manifestation to humankind of God always appears when we need Him most.

Moses and the burning bush.

The transfiguration a the mountain, this is my son in whom I’m well pleased.

How will you be inspired by the Glory of God to be better not only for God but for the well being of the world!

John 4:21 “Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.”

The Glory of God is not location specific, the earth is his footstool, all of this belongs to God. God can use moments of destruction and turn them into moments of deliverance.

God can use the same place where we failed to be the same place of triumph!

The journey of the crucifixion seemed like a place of failure. Peter denies Jesus, Judas betrays Jesus but the same place that seemed like defeat was the same place the glory of God shows us so much that the people state, this is truly the son of God.

No matter the situation there’s a victory with God. No matter the disobedience if there is breath in my lungs there is still room for repentance!

The action item is continued obedience. God told Ezekiel to write it down in their sight, so that they keep the whole design and all its ordinances. The way to remain faithful is to remain obedient. God shows up because He cares and expects our life to change.

A holy place requires a holy life!