Are You Walking on Holy Ground?

I'm going to talk a little bit about fire today. That's not my main thrust for the message I have to talk about. Of course, it's a unique fire, as was brought out today as well in the first message.

This fire, of course, is extraordinary as compared to fires that we typically see.

You know, we live in a world today where morality is eroding in society. It seems like it gets worse and worse.

And Christians must keep themselves, the Bible says, unspotted from this world as it disintegrates, as it goes down. And we have to hold fast to righteousness, despite all the pressures that we are under in our lives, that pressure that is brought to bear on us in the various circumstances where we are. And, you know, the story of Moses and his calling relates to what we're going to talk about today. Let's go to Exodus chapter 3 over here. We've gone through this already in Mr. Kohler's message, but I'm going to cover it in a different way here to maybe relate to us and what we ought to be doing in our lives and how we ought to be living today in a world that is cut off from God by and large, where people are going their own way. But it says over here in Exodus chapter 3, and Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel, the eternal, appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. And so he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. So here was a fire that was burning that was not consuming the tree that he was seeing before his eyes, and he wanted to see this great sight as it says. And it says, so when the turtle saw that he turned aside to look, God called out to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, here I am. God wanted to make sure that he had the full attention of Moses here. Then he says, do not draw near the place, take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. And moreover, he said, I am the God of your 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. You know, of course, he felt that if he looked upon God, you know, he would die. So Moses walked on holy ground. You know, many of us, of course, few of us, if any of us, have ever walked on what, you know, Moses walked on that day. But what made that ground holy? And the answer is quite simple, is God was there. God was there. That's what it made it holy. Now, I want to take this, brethren, I want to draw an analogy here, because there's a reason, you know, why this is in the Bible. There's a reason why it is here for us. Let's draw an analogy with what Moses did in walking on holy ground and ask the question, are you standing on holy ground? Are you walking on holy ground? You know, are you in the presence of God even today?

When you came in here today, were you walking into holy ground, holy territory?

It is something to think about, isn't it? You know, are you on a daily basis walking on holy ground, as we're standing on holy ground? And I'm speaking figuratively here. The ground we walk on should be holy, right? Because the ground we walk on should be the right pathway of life that people should walk in this life. And what makes anything truly holy is God's presence in it. And what makes us holy? Well, you know, what made, of course, the first experience of the church on Pentecost holy is the giving of the Holy Spirit. That God's presence was there that day. Motivating us in some sense of our in our lives, of guiding us through our lives, and us following the lead of it makes us holy and makes us walk on holy ground. You know, we know that there is a beauty in holiness, the Bible talks about over in 1 Chronicles 16 verse 29. There's a beauty in it, in people's lives, when their lives are transformed, when they are changed. Now, I want to talk about in the remainder here of this split sermon is how can we make sure we are walking or standing on holy ground in our lives? I have four points or four steps I want to talk to you about, and they're very critical steps in our lives. And if we're going to, again, be standing on holy ground, that our must. And the first step to walk on holy ground or stand on holy ground is, brethren, this. In Romans 3 verse 11, it says, none seeks after God in this world.

No one seeks after God in the world that we live in. There's, you know, I know there's a lot of religious people in the world who claim they do, that they seek after God, but the Bible says none do. So the first step, brethren, if we're going to walk on holy ground and we want God's presence in our lives, is we, the question we need to ask ourselves, have we truly found God? Have we found God? I remember when I was being, I think, prepared to be called, I've told you about it. I would go up and sit at the top of a haystack in the barn across from where we lived, you know, in Mulder, Oklahoma. And I would sit up there and I would think and ponder. And I told you there were time when I read the Bible, I didn't really understand the Bible. It didn't really make sense to me. And I cried out to God. I wanted to understand this book. And, you know, when God heard me, was when I said to Him, I said, okay, God, if you will tell me what this book means, if you will guide me to show me what this book means, I will do what you you lead me to say. I will do it.

And then the lights started going on. And that was the key right there. And that day, as it were, I found God. I thought in reality, brethren, if no one seeks God, the reality is God finds us. And not the other way around. Think about Moses. Moses obviously was a man who was pious. He was fearful. He didn't want to look upon God. He was very humble in that way. And of course, he cared for the Israelites. But there's no real indication that Moses was seeking God when he was out there tending Jethro's sheep. He wasn't looking for God. He turned aside because he saw something that was unusual. And he looked at it. But God revealed Himself to Moses that day.

You know, Moses had sat in majestic courts. He had marched in grand parades. He was a general, remember, in Egypt. He had been on royal grounds as the Prince of Egypt. But not till that day, when he saw the burning bush, had he ever walked on holy ground.

And Moses truly was found of God, or he found God that day on the backside of the desert.

And look at what happened to him when he found God. His life was transformed. So you see what happens when God's presence is finally in our lives, we begin to be transformed. We begin to be changed, unlike ever before in our lives. When I was that teenager sitting up on the hay bales at the top of the haystack in that barn, I had no conception of what it would mean for me to say, okay, God, if you tell me what this book means, I will do it. I never had a conception of that. I think I've told you I didn't want to be a minister. That was not my goal in life. I was going to go into medicine. That was what I was thinking about. But God had something entirely different in my life. And when His presence was in my life, when His presence is in our lives, we change altogether. Our lives are transformed. Moses' life was transformed that day.

He didn't know what he was going to face. He had no conception of it, what he was going to face. In our own lives, God has figuratively appeared to us, you might say, on the backside of the desert. We come to see God, even as Job did. We come to understand God in a different way.

And you know, God has a way of bringing us through the keyhole backwards and bringing us through trials without our being burned that badly. You know, I've been through trials, you've been through trials, and you look pretty good for the trials you've gone through.

And it's sort of like the trials that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went through. Think about there was this flame that was so powerful it burned people who were tossing people in, the ones that tossed in. In fact, Shadrach, Meshach tossed into the fire and they walked, you know, up and down in the fire. And when they came out, they were not burned, they were not singed, they didn't even have the spell of spalk on them. God takes us through trials, brethren, but his kind of fire in the trials that we go through don't burn us too badly. But we can learn a lot. We can really learn a lot. And Job learned a lot. Let's go over to here, Job 42 over here. Again, have you truly found God? Is God with you? Is his presence with you? If you are, you're walking on holy ground. You're standing on holy ground. The book of Job, though, in verse 42, you know, here's another example, brethren, of what I'm talking about, where God takes us through trials and yet we're the better for it. And we know that Job went through a lot. There's no question about that in his life, but the Bible says he was greater at the end than he was from the beginning, you know. But here in Job 42, let's notice this in just a couple of verses here, you know, after God had taken him through the tremendous trials that he went through, notice what Job says when he really begins to comprehend who God is that he worships. I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore, I abhor myself and repent at dust and ashes.

You know, when we find God, brethren, we begin to make changes in our life.

And when I found God, you know, that day, when God began to really open my mind, I made it begin to make those real changes in my life. You know, to go from basically having no religion to keep in the Sabbath, the Holy Days, and tithing, and to change your diet, what you do, you know, what you eat, how you live, how you think, how you act, how you dress, everything began to change in my life.

But that was God's presence in my life that made that difference, that big change. Because when God's presence is with us, brethren, we view God in a personal way. You know, He's not, you know, Israel's God. He's not the church's God. He is my God, my Father, my elder brother. We take God to resist, and we surrender to God, the Father, and Jesus Christ. And when God is with us, by analogy, brethren, we're walking on holy ground. So you want to walk on the ground that Moses walked on?

You want God's presence in your life? You have to find God. And I would say most of us here have found God. We know who He is. And, of course, it's important for us to carry through and make those changes in our lives that we also know we need to make in our lives. A second step to walk on holy ground, brethren, is once you've found God, and this is a problem that people have, is once you've found God, you've got to do more than just find God.

You've got to invite God into your life. You have to invite Him into your life. You know, Moses received a greater awareness of God he had never had before. And that day God taught him what the sacred was, what the holy was. Remove your shoes. You stand on the holy ground. You're standing on the holy ground. If God is there, it's holy. And God can make dirt holy, brethren. What about a human mind?

Can He make a human mind holy? That before was carnal, you better believe it, He can. You know, the Bible talks about the Laodicean. The Laodicean mind is such that it will not invite Jesus Christ into their lives.

You know, the Laodicean mind doesn't think that way. It tends to think carnally. It thinks about the physical accoutrements of life. And the Laodicean hasn't invited Christ into their lives. They're holding off doing that. Over in Revelation chapter 3, let's notice over here, Revelation 3 and verse 18. Revelation 3 and verse 18. You know, God says to the Laodiceans—and the first message covered the first verse there— that God was counseling them to buy gold, pride, and the fire.

And of course, we know that's holy righteous character. That is to be developed, that we need to overcome and to build that righteous character and anoint their eyes so that they could see. Like Job was able to see God. Well, all of us, of course, need to see God and take Him in a personal way. He says in verse 19, as many as I love—this is Revelation 3 verse 19—I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent, he says.

And you know, when we invite God into our lives, that's what happens. We repent. We change. We make a 180-degree turnaround in our lives. We're going the wrong way. We start going the right way in our lives. And it's a permanent decision, not a temporary one. You know what they say down south about Baptist fish. They get baptized on Sunday, and they're spoiled in three days. It don't last very long. He's given his heart to the Lord on Sunday, and by Wednesday night, he's hitting a beer joint. But God wants us to make permanent change. And going on in verse 20, behold, I stand at the door and I knock.

Even God is trying to get into our lives. He's seeking to have that relationship with us. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with me. And God opens the door for a reward, if the lay of the sin will repent, will come to themselves and begin to take God in a very personal way and invite God into their lives. You know, Jesus Christ is the pattern. You know, Paul said that in Galatians 2, verse 20.

He said, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, he says, I live, but yet not I, but Christ lives in me. That he invited Christ to live his life over in him.

It's like the people often have that, you know, saying, what would Jesus do?

Well, what would Jesus do? That's what we need to ask ourselves, you know, in our lives on a daily basis. And are we doing what Jesus Christ would do? Jesus is the pattern we must follow.

In John, John 15, we covered this during the Passover season, but I think it really certainly fits into this point of inviting God into our lives.

But in John 15, let's notice here, just a few verses here in chapter, he said, there is the vine dresser. In every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away.

So God's people, where God is present with us, are active. No, we used to have in the church, the, you know, we had cards we would send to Pasadena. And the card would say active member or inactive member. Now, let me ask you, should any member of the Church of God ever be classified as an inactive member? I mean, how can I let somebody incapacitate it? But even there, you know, if you're at home, you can, you could connect as some do, who are unable to get out due to their health, you could connect to services. I'm sure we have people that are connected here today with us listening in on what's being said because they're actively involved.

But we have to bear fruit, continue to bear fruit, you know, looking for those ways that we can serve.

And it says, you are already clean because of the Word which I've spoken to you.

And down to verse 6, if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. What does it mean, abide in Christ? It means we live with Christ. Maybe put it a different way, He lives with us.

He lives in us. He's a part of us. And we're striving to walk in His footsteps, and He's, even as Paul said, letting Christ live His life in us. Chapter 14 over here of the same book in John 14 and verse 21. Let's note this over here. It says, He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is He who loves Me. So if we're living with Christ, and Christ is living in us, we are keeping the commandments. And He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love Him and manifest Myself to Him. And so if we're doing that, Christ will manifest Himself to us through understanding, of course, of how we can be like Him. In verse 22, it says, And Judas, not as scared, said to Me, Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world? And Jesus answered and said to Him, If anyone loves Me, He will keep My word and make our home with Him. And he who does not love Me does not keep My words, and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me. So notice that, that they will make their home with us, that God lives in us. So, brethren, are you inviting God the Father and Jesus Christ into your life? Are you wanting to live, you know, with God's presence in your life, and, you know, God's presence, we're told God lives with us if we keep the commandments of God. We're, in fact, set apart by the truth and abiding or living in the truth that the Word of God reveals.

The fact of the matter is, brethren, the world isn't willing to live in Christ. It's not willing to. Nor does it want Christ to live in the world, even though many say they do. Many say they do.

Step number three here. Step number three, are you striving to be holy like God is holy?

I know it's a tall order. You know, Moses found holy ground because he aligned himself with God.

From that time on, God and Moses were partners. And this is what the Scriptures tell us that we should do, brethren. Over in 1 Peter, in chapter 1 over here, 1 Peter, in chapter 1, the apostle Peter here says, down in verse 13, Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, because of course the battle begins in the mind, be sober, be serious about your calling, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revealing of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to former lust as in your ignorance, but as he who has called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. That's what God said to ancient Israel.

Be holy as I am holy. And again, God's way of life are expressed through the commandments that Jesus said, if we really love him, we're going to keep.

It's more than just learning about the commandments, it's living the commandments.

Changing your life, transforming your life by the form of your life. Let's go to Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 over here.

And down in verse 43, it says, you've heard that it said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. This is Jesus, of course, talking to here. But in verse 44, but I say to you, love your enemies. Bless those that curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

Brethren, are you doing that in your life?

You know, I've seen people in the church sometimes that get at odds with one another.

They didn't practice this. They didn't live this. And you know, you have too.

And it's discouraging to see that, isn't it? When you see people, brother, not getting along with each other, almost going to war with each other. You feel like, you know, saying to someone, wait a minute, did you not read these scriptures here? You know, when the class was being conducted, you didn't see this one? How do we miss this? You know, and yet people do, don't they?

Verse 45, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for he makes his Son rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore, you shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect. So we want to walk on the holy ground. We have to become like God who is holy, become perfect like God in our lives.

And of course, it's become not that we are perfect. You know, we're not, of course, going to achieve perhaps what we think is perfection. You know, basically doing everything exactly and perfectly. That word perfect in the Greek means complete or mature.

And after a period of time, God's people should act in a more mature manner, shouldn't they?

They shouldn't, you know, fall short of, you know, setting the right example and how they conduct in their lives, if they're wise, they're making for peace, always making for peace in their life.

Now, obviously, again, that word perfection, since it means complete or mature, we're going to sin, we're going to fall down. But the important thing, brethren, to remember, and we don't, again, don't fall down on purpose. But when we do fall down, we do have the grace of God that can be shown us.

Over in Ephesians chapter 1, let's notice over here, Ephesians 1, just one verse here, verse 4, speaking of Jesus, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. So Christ chose us, God chose us before the foundation of the world. Now, again, not that He knew you and I would be here personally, but that there would be certain ones that would be called in this day, in this time, and in this age. But it says that we would be holy and without blame.

And how is it we can be without blame, brethren, if we sinned? Only through the grace of God, through God's forgiveness. Where we go to the Father, we go to before Christ who makes it possible through His shed blood, we say, Father, I've fallen down here. Forgive me, please.

Again, we don't do it on purpose, but it is going to happen, and we're going to have to go before God maybe numerous times as we're dealing with trials or difficulties with our own foibles of the human flesh. And if we're sincere every time, brethren, it's from the heart we really mean that, and we are going to cease from this end, God forgives us. He wipes the slate clean.

You know, it's so that you're as pure as the driven stone. Though, even though you may have sinned in your life, you're not blameable. You're not blameable. I mean, who's going to lay anything your charge if God has forgiven you? It is by His grace He will forgive us.

You know, the Bible tells us to be mimickers of God, to imitate God.

And, you know, the word imitator means we're not merely followers, brethren, but we're imitators of God. If somebody is a, you know, it's like a little kid sometimes, they will look at maybe their father and they will try to, or the mother, and try to imitate them, what they do. You know, they always say that nut does not fall very far from the tree. So sometimes our kids turn out the way they are because of who we are. Maybe we could do a better job, couldn't we? And what we do, but I think all in all, I think our kids are quite wonderful. Again, the third step here, are you striving to be holy like God is holy? Are you imitating Jesus Christ?

Trying to be, you know, the exact replica, you know, that's what we're striving to do.

Even as Jesus is an exact replica of the Father, we seem to be like Jesus Christ.

He's our elder brother, and we're all going to be in the same family.

You know, God wanted ancient Israel to be holy like God was holy. And Jesus Christ says the word of God, brethren, is what sanctifies us, is what sets us apart. John 17 verse 17.

And God wants us, brethren, to be separate from the world. And the fact is, if we obey God's commandments, we will be different and separate from the world. It's just the effect of obeying God. It's like when I was a teenager, you know, I used to run with all the teenagers in my community. You know, we had groups of kids that liked playing football together, basketball, and other things that teenagers do. But when I began to obey this word here, and I couldn't do some of the things that they did, you know, I didn't separate from them, they separated from me.

They figured I would not do what they wanted to do, so they just passed me by.

And, you know, it's sad, but that's the way it works. When we keep God's laws, we will find, automatically, if we're keeping God's laws, oftentimes it makes us different than other people, and it separates us from this world. And God wants us to be different. He wants us to be separate, because He said, come out of the world and be you separate. And He wants us to be His people, as was brought out by Mr. Kohler, there at the burning bush, that they would be His people. And God wants us to be His people, too. So we must invite God into our lives and be separate from the world to be a different people.

And step number four, when we've done all these things, these three other things, brethren, we have to ask ourselves the question, have we committed ourselves to the work of God? Are you committed to the work of God today? You know, the work of God's been going out for in this end of the age for quite some time now. And it's going out differently now than it used to.

If you used to take the Plain Truth magazine, remember Mr. Armstrong did it on a stencil, stenciled it when he pushed it, put it on a window and drew it, basically, the Plain Truth back in those days. And the Plain Truth got up to, what, eight million subscribers worldwide. And we were on television throughout the country and many parts of the world. Now we're, the gospel is being preached via the internet all around the world. And wherever there is freedom in terms of the web, people are going to catch the gospel. They'll see the gospel in those places. And it may be those people that, in fact, will eventually make up what are those are going to be called during the Tribulation period. But, brethren, are we committed to the vast work that has to be done, that has to be accomplished? Let's sort of notice over here in John chapter 4 over here, and John 4 in verse 31.

So there was a time, apparently, where the disciples were concerned about Jesus, that he was not eating. And it says, in the meantime, verse 31, his disciples urged him, saying, Rabbi, eat. And he said to them, I have food to eat of which you do not know.

Therefore, the disciples said to one another, Has anyone brought him anything to eat? And Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to finish his work. Do not say, says there are still four months, then comes the harvest. Behold, I save you. Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white to harvest.

And, you know, here he talked about how I was sending them out as laborers in the field. So, brethren, the harvest is white by what Jesus Christ said nearly 2,000 years ago, and that hasn't changed. Doing the work of God is what Jesus Christ ate, as it were.

It's what he consumed in his life, is he ate and drank the work of God. And if we're imitators of Jesus Christ, if we're letting Christ live his life over in us, brethren, that is what we're trying to do, too, do our part. Mr. Armstrong used to say, there are two reasons why God is calling today. Do you remember what they were? Those two things. Number one, to be a teacher, to accomplish the work. No, God has not called us to be bystanders and just people that view on the sidelines. He's called us to participate. He's called upon us, brethren, to do our part.

You know, Jesus said, where your treasure is, that's where your heart is.

You know, where we spend our time, where we spend our energy, and even our money, brethren, is where our heart is. And when we pray, thy kingdom come, brethren, and that will of God be done upon the earth, we really want that. Do we desire for that to happen?

Do we want the world doing God's will? You know, God wants us to, again, be part of the massive work that is going on today. Over in John 4, in verse 23 and 24, let's notice this.

It says, But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. In other words, we are actively involved, brethren, in the work of God. We're advocates of the work that God is doing. We're partners with God. We're allied with God in getting the work done, of doing our part. And that means every last one of us in this room. Are we doing our part? Consider that Moses allied himself with God.

He said, Here am I. In essence, Moses said, I'm on your side, God. Yeah, I'm here.

President accounted for it. His words were like Paul, who later said, when he was struck down, Lord, what will you have me to do? What do you want me to do?

He was willing to do anything then. And I would say, probably when God called you initially, you were willing to do anything too. I know I was. And I'm still willing to do anything to serve God.

If it'll help. If God wants me to do it, here I am. I'm willing to do it. Without that kind of dedication, brethren, God could not have used Moses.

That kind of a mind that Moses had. Unless Moses committed there, at that time before God, there might not have been an Israel. It was reluctant, but he didn't remain that way.

Each step in the 40 years in the wilderness, he walked on holy ground because he had God's presence with him. And God was there. You think about it, with Moses, when Moses stepped off of holy ground, that's when he had all the problems he had. The one experience where he was told he was not going into the Promised Land was when he took it upon himself.

To do something different than God had told him to do. So when we're not walking on holy ground, and we're just flying by the seat of our pants, brethren, things could go wrong. So make sure you're standing on the firm instructions of God's Word in his commandments in your life.

That you walk on that holy ground if you want the best in result.

Since then, many have followed in Moses's example. You know, the faith of Daniel in his belief and conviction turned a lion's den into a place where a tremendous miracle took place because God's presence was there. Do you remember when Paul and Silas were thrown in prison?

They weren't afraid. They sang hymns and songs because they walked on holy ground. They knew they were going to be delivered. That God would be with them. The Bible records, brethren, many others who found great trials left them with greater faith because they walked on holy ground.

God's presence was in their lives. And God's presence will be in our lives, brethren.

If we do the same thing. You and I live in a crooked and perverse world right now. It's worse, I think, than any of us even imagine. The Bible says evil men and seducers are going to wax worse and worse in the world. And God has called upon us to be holy new creations, brethren, different from this world. Today there is no burning bush that we're going to see in the desert, like Moses did. There he walked on holy ground. Brethren, in a figurative way, we walk on holy ground when God is with us. And God is with us, and His presence is with us when we walk in His laws, His commandments, and His statutes. So let's make sure, brethren, we do those things which allow us to continue to walk and stand on holy ground in our lives so that we can reap the full blessings of our calling and what it means to us.