Reverence in the temple – Preaching
Preaching Outline on Exodus 3:5 – “… Take off your sandals from your feet; for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
2 – HOLY LAND
Introduction to Exodus 3:5
From the time he was a boy until he reached adulthood, Moses had not had an experience with God. He was the son of Hebrews, but was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter He had every chance of becoming a Pharaoh.
One day, Moses made a decision when he interfered on behalf of a Hebrew man while he was fighting an Egyptian. This later came to Pharaoh’s attention.
From being loved and cherished in Egypt, he became hated and persecuted. So Moses fled to Myriam, because Pharaoh wanted to arrest and kill him. It was there that Moses had his first andgreat experience with God.
Development
The death of the Egyptian and the survival of the Hebrew point to the decision to let a new life prevail. It’s dying to the world and being born to God. It is the choice to leave the world and follow God.
When someone makes a decision to come to church, God takes them into his arms. In the wilderness of Media, Moses had in his life the beginning of the great work to be done.
It couldn’t be any different, because his experience was with fire (the blessing of the Holy Spirit). On Mount Horeb, Moses sees the bush on fire.
What caught his attention was not the fire, but the fact that the bush caught fire and didn’t burn. – The bush, being a dry shrub, catches fire easily, so God gives Moses an extraordinary lesson with the fire on the bush.
This is the story of the believer who kills the old man inside him, leaving the world, going to the church (holy land) to have an experience with God. As much as Moses’ mother spoke to him about God, he lacked experience.
Is bush a shrub? It’s dry and lies in the desert – lifeless and very fragile, it breaks easily. That’s what man is like away from God, he’s like the bush in the desert, fragile and lifeless.
The fire of the world consumes, but God’s lesson to Moses was:
God’s fire burns over man so that he can know the secrets of his eternal dwelling place. What preserves us and delivers us from the world is the fire of God.
We glorify the Lord from the day he brought us up to his holy mountain – the holy land.
God called: Moses, Moses? God knows you. He knows your name.
And God said to Moses, ” Before you come to me, take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
LESSON TO BE LEARNED:
Lesson 1 – God chooses the bush to pour out the fire
God has prepared a people to pour out the fire of his Spirit
We are a bush, small, fragile, but the glory of God is upon us to preserve us. It is the fire of God’s glory on our lives.
Does God use the bush he chooses? God uses you to speak of Him to another in need of salvation.
Just as God chose that day to reveal himself to Moses, he has chosen today to speak to you.
Lesson 2 – “…Take off your sandals from your feet; for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
Is there a secret to this work? It is holy, immaculate and redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
We can’t just come before God. – Take off your sandals
The sandal points to the path you’ve been walking on up until now, which hasn’t been pleasing in God’s eyes. Man has to feel the difference of the place he steps on. When you have your experience with God, you know what is holy ground and what is not.
God’s Holy Spirit (fire) on the bush (your life) makes you see the holy land, the right place to walk.
Therefore, whether we are on the street, at home, at work, at school or in the church (house of the Lord), we are on holy ground, because we are the burning bush, clothed in the glory of God that burns in the desert (world), but is not consumed (because we have received the protection of the Holy Spirit).
Take off your sandals and walk around the world. The place where you are now is holy, because God is in this place.
Moses, Moses, God said: “This place is holy ground, take off your sandals. Leave behind the filthy things of this world. You will be holy as I am holy. God has called us to be with him on his Holy Mount (which is the church).
Taking off your sandals?It’s a change of direction, a change of life.
The land (church) you are on is holy. Leave behind your shoes (your path); God wants to give you a new path , a new direction, an experience of life. The place to which God is calling you is holy ground.
When God, in a tone of rebuke to Moses, says that the land is holy, God is affirming the need for fear and reverence in the place where he reveals himself (the church – the Body of Christ).
Like Moses, Jacob also experienced fear in the presence of God (Gen 28:17).
Conclusion of Exodus 3:5
For us today, the symbolism of “taking off our sandals” is living a life of constant fear and reverence for God.
Preaching Outline on Exodus 3:5 – “… Take off your sandals from your feet; for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
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