Holy Ground

It has been about 20 years since I walked onto the property next door and asked the Lord for it. I wrapped some Bibles and buried them at the corners of the property. Those 4 acres would give us the space needed for us to expand when the time comes. We bought this property in 1995 for $15,000 an acre. Properties up and down this road are sold by the foot now. I can only imagine how much those 4 acres are worth now. But it doesn’t bother God! I believe it is holy ground – intended for the Kingdom of God.

 As we continue deeper into our sermon series on the Presence of God, we will deal with Moses again and his encounter with God in the wilderness.

 I feel very strongly about the Spirit’s emphasis on understanding and experiencing the Presence of God.

 How happy we would be if we could find the treasure of which the Gospel speaks; all else would be as nothing. As it is boundless, the more you search for it the greater the riches you will find; let us search unceasingly and let us not stop until we have found it. ― Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

The truth is, we could spend the rest of the year looking at encounter after encounter with God. The Bible is a redemptive story of man being drawn back to God so it makes sense that the Bible would be filled with it – Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Elijah, Isaiah, Paul, the disciples, and Revelation just to name a few. I think there is a big difference between a Christian who intellectually believes and a Christian who is willing to practice the Presence of God. If we will pursue the Presence of the Lord, we are on a path that is life changing!

God Wants Us to be In His Presence

We are going to explore the 1st encounter that Moses had with God in the wilderness as a simple shepherd. At this point of Moses life, he was a fugitive from the murder he had committed in Egypt. He had gone to Midian, came across some women being harassed by shepherds, and then drove the shepherds away. He would marry one of the women and begin work as a shepherd for his new father-in-law.

That was his life until he found himself in the Presence of the Lord. It would be in the Presence of the Lord that he would find God’s divine purpose and plan for his life.

Exodus 3:1–4 NIV

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 wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 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. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 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.”

I want to work our way through to the 15th verse this morning because I believe there are a number of truths that are exposed in this encounter- things like (1) God wants us to be in His Presence, (2) God will be honored, (3) God is Empathetic, and (4) God wants to be known.

 In these 1st 4 verses we see what is called a theophany, a revelation of God to man. In a nutshell the Bible is a call to redeem mankind from the slavery of sin. Whether it is God showing up after Adam and Eve’s fall, the rescue of Noah and his family, or the deliverance of the Israelites (2x), the incarnation, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, God is constantly drawing us back into His presence. In the Christian classic, The Practice of the Presence of God we are reminded of the benefits His Presence brings into our lives:

 I regard myself as the most wretched of all men, stinking and covered with sores, and as one who has committed all sorts of crimes against his King. Overcome by remorse, I confess all my wickedness to Him, ask His pardon and abandon myself entirely to Him to do with as He will. But this King, filled with goodness and mercy, far from chastising me, lovingly embraces me, makes me eat at His table, serves me with His own hands, gives me the keys of His treasures and treats me as His favorite. He talks with me and is delighted with me in a thousand and one ways; He forgives me and relieves me of my principle bad habits without talking about them; I beg Him to make me according to His heart and always the more weak and despicable I see myself to be, the more beloved I am of God. ― Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

I think some people are afraid of being in His Presence – I love how the author describes God’s goodness and mercy, His loving embrace, a place at God’s table, and an ongoing personal relationship. God invites us in!

God Will Be Honored

All the good things that were just described does not mean that God is to be taken for granted.

Exodus 3:5–6 NIV

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 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.

Although Moses was invited in, he was still required to present himself correctly. I remember going into a Soldier’s board which would have helped me promote faster. I studied like crazy and went over my uniform meticulously. My platoon sergeant quizzed me and went over my uniform. I was ready and went into the Board when called. I stood at attention, saluted the Board, and then got DISMISSED. I had forgotten my nameplate. I wasn’t complete. It wasn’t that the Senior NCO’s on the Board weren’t good people. I wasn’t complete.

There is a temptation today to offer “religion without reality. To expect God to tolerate our sins. Many want religion without righteousness. They have a form of Christianity but deny its power. There is a big difference from being religious and being righteous. Religion without God is, (1) Foolish. Who is man to live without God? (2) Faithless. Without faith, we cannot know God. (3) Futile. What profit in religion, if it does not help and change you? We have religion without God because man had added his viewpoints and inventions.”[1]

2 Timothy 3:1–5 NIV

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

Knowing God is present should keep our behavior respectful and humble, for God hears our every word and holds us accountable . He will not tolerate pride and will bring our speech under his judgment. However, he will exalt those who humble themselves before him.[2]

James 4:10 NIV

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

God is Empathetic

So, we see that God gets Moses’ attention and demands his reverence. What we see next is that God is really concerned about his people struggling in Egypt.

Exodus 3:7–10 NIV

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. 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. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

This reality can change your prayer life! “Lord, you saw the misery of the Israelites in Egypt. You know what I am experiencing right now!” This is why the Psalms are so much a part of the Christian experience. They recognize the pains and triumphs of life but place both the good and bad under the authority of God.

God planned to bring His people out of the misery of Egypt and bring them into a wonderful land filled with “figs…and grapes, and more wine than water. Its honey was abundant, and its olive trees numerous. On its trees were all varieties of fruit. There were barley and emmer, and there was no end to all varieties of cattle.”[3]

 What can you imagine that God wants to bring you “out of” and “into”?

 God Wants to Be Known

On top of the truths that God wants our attention, our reverence, and understands our “plight”; God wants to be known. This is more than attention…it is presence and relationship. Listen to the statements in the 4th verses.

Exodus 3:12–15 NIV

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.” 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?” 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.’ ” 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 you shall call me from generation to generation.

This is such as interesting introduction. One truth Moses (and we) can take away is that God is with us (Immanuel). That is good news! But Moses had another problem, and that was convincing his fellow Israelites that God had a plan because he knew that they were going to ask, “What legitimizes your claims?”

The reality is the world is asking the Church the same question. “You claim Jesus is Lord. What legitimizes your claim?” We can offer logical defenses (and I think we should be able to), but I think the thing that solidifies our faith more than anything else is the reality of His Presence because within His Presence we are impressed with God who is uncreated, always existing. It is in His Presence that He makes himself “known” – “I am who I am”. In NT terms it is the same, Jesus said

John 8:58 NIV

“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

It is a miracle in itself that Moses even turned aside. He could have just stuck to tending the sheep. We have lots of distractions, don’t we? It might seem easier for us to try to ignore God, but when the opportunity presents itself to see, hear, and experience the Presence of God, how can we pass it up? As we have seen, God wants us to respond to His presence, honor Him, understand that He cares, and begin a personal relationship with the Designer of the universe.

 I cannot imagine how religious persons can live satisfied without the practice of the presence of GOD. For my part I keep myself retired with Him in the depth of centre of my soul as much as I can; and while I am so with Him I fear nothing; but the least turning from Him is insupportable.

― Brother Lawrence, The Practice of thePresence of God

Will you know Him?

·     Be saved!

·     Religion is not the goal, relationship is…press in to His presence.

[1] Croft M. Pentz, Evangelistic Sermon Outlines, Dollar Sermon Library Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1970), 60.

[2] Bryan E. Beyer, “Presence of God,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, electronic ed., Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 629.

[3] Craig S. Keener and John H. Walton, eds., NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 110.