2008 Shepherd’s Conference – Session #4, Rick Holland

Dr. Holland is the Senior Associate Pastor a John MacArthur's church, having been there for 26 years. He gave an excellent talk this morning using Leviticus 9:22ff as his text. It was based on the admonition that we can, if we allow ourselves, default to our own instincts instead of listening carefully to what God has already told us. One of his opening comments was, "God has no desire to be a 'part' of our lives….His desire is to be the 'point' of our lives."

He used the stories of Nadab and Abihu to answer the question, "What is the danger of becoming too familiar with God?" These were two sons of Aaron. They were men who; grew up with Aaron and Moses, were (in Ex 24) singled out by God, saw what God did with Moses on the mountain, had been trained and prepared to be in the Priestly ministry. They knew what god had instructed regarding worship yet, they were about to submit to their instincts regarding what to do and how to do it. They were going to be guilty of taking God too casually….of becoming too familiar with Him.

There are three dangers of becoming too familiar with God;

(1) Redefining what God requires – Lev 10:1. They misunderstood how serious God was about the worship service and wanted to 'get in on the action' by bringing fire that God did not command them to bring. The fire was not the fire that burnt the sacrifice. They had been told that no one but the High Priest should do what they were doing. They entered into the Holy of Holies when they did not belong there. They acted on their own without consulting Aaron or Moses. The text shows us that God did not tell them to bring the fire they brought. God said, "Here's how to worship." And they did something different.

(2) Underestimating how God responds - vs 2. Previously we saw a different fire. Now we see a fire that burns them alive. They died before the Lord, probably in front of the Ark. The fire in 9:24 consumed the sacrifice…this fire consumes the sacrificers. There was no time for an appeal to god's mercy, there was no second chance. God's judgment was immediate but more importantly, it was unpredictable. How often do we, ourselves, presume God's grace is readily ours?

(3) Ignoring what god deserves – vs 3. God repeatedly says, "I am holy and will be treated as holy."He is holy, uncommon, totally unique and totally perfect. He will not be trifled with, nor trivialized, nor taken for granted. Right here in the very first worship service ever conducted, HE cuts off the notion of innovating or changing in any way His instruction on how to worship Him. The mistake the modern church fall into is in trying to treat Him as 'cool' and 'hip'. He is not cool…He is holy and if we don't get that….then we will never understand the impact and meaning of the cross. "God hates sin so much, He defeated it by sacrificing His own Son." We should never take our sin lightly nor should we ever take His holiness lightly. All of the Bible is about the holiness and glory of God.

As believers, we do not have a higher standard…we commit ourselves to the only standard.