and turn with me to the book
of Exodus. Exodus chapter 3. Exodus chapter 3. I'd like to
read the first six verses. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro
his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, And he led the flock
to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God,
even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he
looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush
was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn
aside and see this great sight. Why? the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he
turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of
the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he
said, Draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet,
for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover, he
said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he
was afraid to look upon God. Let's pray together. Our Father, this evening, as
we come before you, we come realizing how inadequate we are to hear. Lord, especially for me to preach,
and I ask that you have mercy. I pray that you would cause us
to hear, cause us to worship. Lord, forgive us where we failed
you. For Christ's sake, amen. Draw not hither, put off thy shoes from off thy
feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. You know there's something amazingly
wonderful when we stop and realize the reality of the Lord telling
Moses, where you're standing is holy ground. Moses was going to turn, and
he saw this great sight. And God Almighty told him, Stop. Draw not nigh hither. Man is not going to approach
God at man's bidding. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father
but by Me. Man outside of Christ dare not
approach God. He is a consuming fire. Draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from all five
feet. The Scripture declares in Ephesians
chapter 2, all others, God's people, before we were converted, and you at the quickened which
were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, a spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience. We need to realize something.
We are hearing in this world today way too much heresy concerning
a man being able to approach God. God's people do come to the Lord.
He bids them come. He that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. But when we approach God, we
approach God in a mediator. We approach God in our great
High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, knowing that, I want us
to consider this evening a few things concerning standing on
holy ground that's relevant to us today. There were some things
in this passage that I saw that were a great blessing to me and
I pray they will be to all of us. The place where you're standing
is holy ground. Do you know this is the first
place in Scripture where the word holy is found? First place. The place where
you're standing, Moses, is holy ground. Holy. Holy is the revealed character
First Samuel 2.2, Hannah was praying and she said in her prayer,
there is none holy as the Lord. Moses' song, Exodus 15.11, who
is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee? Glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. And whenever Isaiah,
in Isaiah 6.3, Heard the seraphims, this is what they cried, Holy,
Holy, Holy is the Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital
D. Holy, Holy, Holy is Jehovah, Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy,
Holy Spirit. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord
of hosts. The whole earth is full of His
glory. So we know, whenever the scriptures
speak of holiness, It's speaking of the essential glory and holiness
of God. There are holy angels, holy brethren,
but essentially, God Almighty is holy. Now, the Lord told Moses,
the place that you're standing, don't draw an eye, don't draw
an eye to me. Take your shoes off. A sign of
respect. Your walk is not that which will
be accepted by God Almighty. We all walk. Take your shoes
off. The place where you are standing
is holy ground. Now I want us to consider for
a moment what the Holy Spirit has revealed concerning standing
on holy ground. Ground. And this is what I want
to know. What does the Spirit of God have
for me tonight? Now, at least four truths are
taught. At least four. I know there's
more. I know I didn't see the depth of this Scripture. But
four glorious truths are set forth in this passage that reveal
holy ground. Holy ground. When a man or woman
regenerated by the grace of God is said to be standing on holy
ground, what made that ground holy? What made that place holy? God was there. God was there. You know, we talk about You know,
where two or three are gathered together in my name, I'm in the
midst of you. Now listen, listen, I'm going
to tell you, this place is holy ground. God is here. God is here. Now I want us to look at these
things just for a minute. We're standing on holy ground. when we're made to see and to
love that a sinner is drawn to be in the place of God's presence. That's holy ground. Verse 1 says, Now Moses kept
the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, And he
led the flock to the backside of the desert, and he came to
the mountain of God, even to Horeb." How did Moses get to the mountain
of God? How did he get there? Well, let
me ask you this. How did you get here? How did you get here? I was dating this girl, I was
dating this guy. My mom and daddy brought me.
The scripture says, Psalm 37.23, the steps of a good in that passage
is in italics. So it was just added to help.
But just listen to it without this. The steps of a man are
ordered by the Lord. and he delighteth in his way."
That word ordered there means established. The steps of a good
man are established by the Lord before the foundation of the
world. The Scripture says God chose a people in Christ and
this is the end result according to God's purpose that they should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. He predestinated,
that is, He determined the destination before. God determined the destination
before. God purposed the reason that
a man or a woman sits under the sound of the gospel in the place
where God Almighty The Lord Jesus Christ is honored. The reason
that they're here is because God Himself drew them here. He predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to
the good pleasure of His will. Psalm 65 verse 4 says this, Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest, and causeth to approach unto
thee, that he may dwell in thy courts, predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will." Moses kept the flock of Jethro,
his father-in-law, and he led the flock to the backside of
the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. According to Scriptures, the
Lord works all things after the counsel of His own will to bring
about His purpose. What is God doing? He's doing
whatsoever He's pleased. And I'm telling you that a man,
a woman, would have the truth of God Almighty If God Almighty
teaches a man or a woman that it's the Lord that has ordered
his steps to be in the place where God is pleased to reveal
Himself and to have a heart by faith to bow to that truth and
say, Lord, You chose me. Lord, You moved me. Lord, You
brought me. Lord, You kept me. God teach
a man or a woman that? Let me tell you something, you're
standing on holy ground right there because what you're saying
is salvations of the Lord. You're in God's presence. Secondly,
we learn from our passage that we're standing on holy ground
when we're made to see by faith the glory of redemption by the
God-man mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 2 says, And the
angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of
the midst of a bush. And he looked, and behold, the
bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. How did the Lord manifest Himself
to Moses? The Scripture declares that there
was a thorny bush. When you look up that word, it's
a midst of a bush, it's a thorny bush. And that thorny bush was
ablazed and it was not consumed. A thorny bush, a thorny bush. Whenever Adam sinned against
God, God Almighty, curse this earth. He told him, he said, now because
of your sin, thorns and thistles are going to come forth and they're
going to grow and you're going to have to work now by the sweat
of your brow. You remember when the Lord Jesus
Christ stood before Pilate and the Roman soldiers took him and
they plaited a crown of thorns, and they put it on the head of
the Lord Jesus Christ. His crown, in His humiliation,
was to wear the curse of His people. He was made a curse to
deliver us from the curse of the law. And how did the Lord
reveal Himself to Moses? What did He teach Moses? That
God Almighty The Word. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word
was made flesh. And here is a thorny bush, but
it's ablaze, it's on fire. There is the deity of Almighty
God. God was manifest. That's the mystery of godliness. God was manifest. God, the flame
of fire. Our God is a consuming fire. And there was God Almighty manifest
in the flesh in a thorny bush. And Moses was standing and the
angel of the Lord appeared unto him. Now get that, He appeared
unto him. He appeared unto him. He made
himself known unto Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a
bush. Here is the manifestation of
the one who would grow up before him as a tender plant and a root
out of dry ground. The Lord Jesus Christ, Jehovah's
servant, the one who humbled himself, made himself of no reputation,
took upon himself as a thorny bush. A thorny bush. But that thorny bush, in no wise,
was none other than God Almighty. Who do men say that I am? Well,
some say this prophet, that prophet. Who do you say? Peter said, you're
the Christ. You're the Christ. And when we
hear or speak or say the word Christ, what we're saying is
God-man. We're setting forth the God-man
mediator. A man that believes Christ to
be God Almighty in human flesh, the finisher of the work given
him by the Father in the redemption and salvation of God's people. That man, that woman that knows
that God Himself made flesh, came into this world to seek
and to save that which was lost, that He's going to save His people
from their sins. That man, that woman that knows
the Lord Jesus Christ to be the particular Redeemer of His people,
He did not come into this world to save everybody. He came into
this world to save His people. Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people, His people from their sins. A man or woman that's
taught that the Lord Jesus Christ finished the work of redemption.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. God Almighty teach
a man that, You listen, you're standing right there on holy
ground. Number three, we're standing on holy ground when we're made
to hear in heart, I know not audibly, but to hear in heart
the voice of God. Now listen, when we hear, when
a believer hears the gospel of God's free grace, When a believer
hears the glory of God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ,
where He is honored, where He is honored, where He is honored,
where all praise is given unto Him, all glory is given unto
Him, You hear the voice of God. You hear the voice of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look at verses 3 and 4. And Moses
said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the
bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he
turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of
the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, here am I. He heard
him. He heard. Moses desired to see that great
sight. Obviously, the Lord had prepared
him to see it by provenient grace. And having stirred Moses to turn,
God spoke to him and called to him. Well, we looked at verse
5. The Lord told him, he said, Moses, stop. Stop. Let me tell you, it's by the
grace of God that Almighty God would speak to any man, any woman,
and speak to them in heart and tell them, you don't approach
me outside of a mediator. Not outside of my precious priest. But he called to Moses. I want
you to look at John 10, verses 1-3. John 10, 1-3. Now these precious Scriptures,
we read these, but we must realize something. Who's speaking here? And when he says things that
are so, they're so. Whether I understand the fullness
of them, that doesn't make them anything other than the truth.
John 10, verses 1 to 3, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
entereth not by the door into the sheepfold will climbeth up
some other way, the same as a thief and a robber. But he that entereth
in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter
openeth, and the sheep hear his voice. And he calleth his own
sheep by name, and leadeth them out." The Lord Jesus Christ says,
I call my sheep by name, and they hear His voice. It's personal. It's a personal call. John 10,
27. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them. And they follow me. They follow
me. Moses. Moses. It's an effectual call. It's not just a blanket statement
out there. Maybe he wants to give their
heart to Jesus. When God calls effectually, He
calls powerfully, and His people come made willing in the day
of His power. Saul, Saul. Who art thou, Lord? He said,
I'm Jesus. And you're persecuting. Zacchaeus,
come down. Lazarus, come forth. Matthew, follow me. Moses, Moses. And Moses heard
him. And the Lord said, My sheep hear
my voice. Moses says, Here am I. One made
to know that God has a people, that He's come to save. and that
He effectually calls them unto Himself, and that they are made
willing in the day of God's power, that they didn't come by their
own will, by their own power, by their own way. God Almighty
teach a man or woman that, give them a heart to believe it, they're
standing on holy ground. The Lord brought you here. And fourthly, lastly, we're standing
on holy ground when we know that God Almighty is a covenant God. That means He does everything
on purpose according to His covenant of grace. He said to Moses in
verse 6, moreover, He said, am the God of thy father, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses
hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God. God Almighty chose to show mercy
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These men were sinners just like
any other sinners, dug from the same pit, humanly speaking, of
depraved humanity. But it was the Lord that told
Moses, when Moses asked to see His glory, He said, I'm going
to have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. I'm going to have compassion
on whom I'll have compassion. David said in 2 Samuel 23 5,
Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me
an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things insured. For this
is all my salvation and all my desire, although he make it not
to grow, although he make it not evident to me right now.
I see my house as a mess, but I know this, God's made with
me an everlasting covenant. And He, by covenant, and His
Word is not going to return void. He's going to accomplish the
purpose for which it was sent. But He made a covenant with me
to show mercy to me, and that's all my salvation right there.
That God chose to show mercy to me. That the Father, according
to the everlasting covenant of grace, would choose a people
that Christ would answer the demands for justice. We're sinners. The soul of sin
is going to die. That Christ was made sin according
to an everlasting covenant that He being the surety that God
Almighty had entrusted to Him the eternal salvation, the souls,
of all that God had chosen to show mercy, that Christ would
answer for them, that Christ would establish righteousness
by His obedience, and His obedience charged to His people, imputed
to His people, robed in His righteousness, and that the Holy Spirit, according
to God's covenant, would effectually regenerate, apply, the blood
that was shed for the sheep that the Lord Jesus Christ laid down
my life for, and teach them that in regenerating grace. For one
to see that God Almighty is a covenant God, and that His counsel is
going to stand, and that all that He's ever purposed to save,
He's going to save. In the person of his blessed
Son, a man or woman taught that, is standing on holy ground. The
Lord taught him that. And Moses hid his face, for he
was afraid to look upon God. Proverbs 9.10 says, The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge
of the holy is understanding. Moses, put your shoes off your
feet. The place where you're standing
is holy ground. Listen, that we know that God
would draw us here. That it wasn't by luck or happenstance. He's doing all things in this
world according to His will and purpose. That God Almighty would
reveal to a man, a woman, that God Himself was made flesh, humbled
Himself, made Himself to be the lowest of the low. The lowest. No servant like Him. No humility
like Him. He humbled Himself. That Almighty
God would speak to His people and the Lord say, My sheep hear.
My sheep hear this. They hear this. And I know them. And they follow me. They believe
me. That God would reveal that He
does everything that He does for His people according to covenant. The Father, Son, and Spirit.
That God would save His people according to an everlasting covenant. David said, that's all my salvation.
God teach you that? You're standing on holy ground.
Lord bless the word to our hearts for Christ's sake.