With all due respect to the keynote speakers and the preaching of God’s Word, it seems inadequate to simple title these general session posts by the speaker name alone. This is more than just a classroom, or a sermon; it’s a genuine corporate worship experience. I came in Wednesday morning already feeling “full” from the rich fare of Bible teaching and corporate worship I experienced all day yesterday (from 10am until 8:30pm)! I feel like I could hardly take in more, and yet am excited at the prospect of more of the same.

We arrived this morning about an hour before the general session started to get our bearings and appreciate more of the hospitality of the church, mostly provided by volunteers who are members of Grace Community Church. This includes the conference bookstore, gift store, and various food tables:

The session began with a small band leading us in worship with piano, bass, guitar, and drums; singing “Indescribable,” the beautiful hymn “I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous),” and the moving “The Power of the Cross.” I was choked up by these beautiful meditations on the cross, surrounded by so many others in love with Christ!

John Martin, who played at the piano and led the congregational singing, then shared a song with us called “Were It Not for Grace.”

Terrific voice, terrific reflection on the powerful grace of God. Here are the lyrics:

Time measured out my days
Life carried me along
In my soul I yearned to follow God
But knew Id never be so strong
I looked hard at this world
To learn how heaven could be gained
Just to end where I began
Where human effort is all in vain

Chorus
Were it not for grace
I can tell you where Id be
Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere
With my salvation up to me
I know how that would go
The battles I would face
Forever running but losing this race
Were it not for grace

So here is all my praise
Expressed with all my heart
Offered to the Friend who took my place
And ran a course I could not start
And when He saw in full
Just how much His would cost
He still went the final mile between me and heaven
So I would not be lost

(repeat chorus)

This was followed by a video promoting the upcoming Resolved conference in June 2008 at Palm Springs. The video highlighted several clips of preachers (including C.J. Mahaney, John MacArthur, Rick Holland, Steve Lawson, John Piper) proclaiming the reality and aspects of Christ’s death.

John MacArthur then again took to the pulpit with a joke about the massive thunderous bass from the Resolved video (yes, we all felt it). He then proceeded to introduce the keynote speaker for this session, Rick Holland. Rick was recently moved into the role of senior associate pastor after years of overseeing the student ministries of Grace Church.

(Here begins Rick’s message)

It is an immense privilege to minister at Grace Church… though I have the daunting task of having to preach after John MacArthur every Sunday! I first came to this church in 1982, and I’m so humbled at the chance to look into God’s Word together with you.

Let’s begin by opening God’s Word to Leviticus 9:22-10:3:

22 Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he stepped down after making the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings.

23 Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.

24 Then fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

Leviticus 10

1Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.

3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the LORD spoke, saying,
‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy,
And before all the people I will be honored.’”
So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

Climbing Mt. Everest is a massive task. The final climb involves going step by step up base camps to get used to the changing air atmosphere. What makes it so incredible is that it’s impossible to get rescued above base camp. Once you leave base camp it’s like going to the moon. In May 1996, a team climbed, and Jon Krakauer wrote about the fateful trip and his guide’s advice. The previous year, Krakauer had tried to summit and at 2pm turned around, sticking to their strict safety standards (to avoid storms and getting stuck). This time, it was well after 3pm they hadn’t made it, but kept going. It’s likely this time that Doug Hansen, the “client” involved in this climb, insisted going up. And as a result, worst fears became reality. A storm came in after they got to the top and trapped them in thin air. These two men along with four attempted rescues died that day. These were all experts, well-equipped, but something went terribly wrong. Analysis by other experts pointed to one simple fact: in the moment of crisis, they thought they knew better than the instructions they brought with them up the mountain. The same could be said of Nadab in the passage we read.

Being in spiritual leadership is wonderful, but it’s incredibly dangerous. To be around things of God for a long period of time can lead to a familiarity with God that can cause us to forget God’s instructions and default to our instincts which are never reliable. For those of us who’ve been around the Scriptures for a long time, it’s easy for the Bible to become a source of sermons, instead of food for our soul; for appointments on the calendar to be burdens, rather than sheep to shepherd. And above all that, God can become a manageable component, instead of our glorious Redeemer and King. Put another way, God doesn’t want to be part of our lives, but the point of our lives.

Today I want to talk about the dangers of growing too familiar with God. We find out by looking at Nadab and Abaihu. It may seem familiar but maybe not really. They were the oldest of two sons, whose uncle was Moses himself. They had two brothers, and all four of these men had been set aside as Levitical priests. Think about them: their dad is Aaron, uncle is Moses. What a privileged upbringing they had. Think about them chatting with their uncle about Moses’ experience on the mountain. In addition, they were singled out by name (Ex 24:1). They had a front row seat at what God was doing with Moses on the mountain, part of a select group; invited by name! Men with very large reputations for being “in ministry.” They were spiritual celebrities. Walking around camp, they were probably asked for autographs by the children! As freshly ordained priests, they’d spent the weeks previous preparing for priestly service, getting all the specific instructions on how they were to worship the Lord. They’d just seen the fire of God dart out in a spiritual feat (Lev. 9:24)! What we look at when we see Leviticus is the “pastoral epistle” of the New Testament. These two men were instructed by the Lord on what they were to do, and they had agreed. They agreed not to “innovate” but to obey the Lord’s instruction.

If you look at this flow, this is actually their first day on the job. It was their first time entering the temple on official worship duties; which I think they took upon themselves, as we see in a moment. God has never left it up to us to figure out how to worship Him. God is not struggling to communicate with us, a verbal God locked in Scripture, His eternal mind which invites us into knowing Him. In this text, we’ll find three dangers of careless familiarity with God. It’s easy to throw rocks, than to see ways in which we do similar things.

The first danger is redefining what God requires. Lev. 10:1. The consecration of Aaron’s sons had just been completed; fire had shot out from the Holy of Holies and consumed the sacrifice. The people had fallen on their face out of worship — which is another way of saying “fear” — because they’d seen something supernatural and unexpected. Their shouldn’t be a break in chapters between 9 & 10. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Nadab and Abaihu “jumped on stage” after this amazing phenomenon. It’s not surprising that they saw this amazing thing and wanted to be a part… to offer their “strange fire.” Commentary imaginations run wild, there are at least five ideas what this was:

• The coals hadn’t been removed from the burning altar, which may been the source
• Only the high priest should’ve been lighting incense from the coals, that may have been it
• They may have attempted to enter the Holy of Holies itself, which was prohibited since they weren’t the high priest
• They acted on their own
• The admonition following this account is for priests to abstain from alcohol, so they might have been drunk

After several weeks of studying, I think perhaps all of these were in play. And they misunderstood God. They thought, “God wouldn’t mind! Surely He is a God of grace.” They misunderstood God’s instruction. “Maybe God wasn’t clear…” We can surmise what was going on, but the text tells us why they were in trouble. What they had done was not what God had commanded them! God said “do this,” and they did something different. We need to find out what God requires all the time, but adding our nuance; acting with him, alongside, and even for Him!

The second danger is to underestimate what God requires… to say they were immediately disqualified might be an understatement. A fire went out from the Lord and devoured them (v. 2). The fire in 9:24 was to consume the sacrifices; this fire consumed the sacrificer. This was no ordinary fire. Jewish commentators say it was a lightning bolt. Why? They were burnt up, but their clothes weren’t even singed.

This passage scares me. They had no time to ask for mercy, to ask for a second chance, to say, “We’ll do it better next time!” No time to presume on God’s grace. The timing of God’s judgment is not predictable. Ecc. 11 tells us:

Why does “fear” show here? Fear of judgment. It’s talking about fearing God as judge. Yes, He’s a God of mercy, of the cross; but we still have a God whose robe will be dipped in blood from judgment. He’s not a “different” God from the OT — he’s still the same. God’s holiness is utterly dangerous. Easy to apply this to unbelievers, but how often do we presume on God’s grace.

One of the things I love about our church is how the Lord’s table is a time of remembering God’s Savior; and we’re reminded to confess our sins. And we’re asked, “Are you confessing the same sins this month as last?” We presume on God’s grace so deeply, so often. Romans 6, end of Romans 5, “Shall I continue to sin that grace may about? May it never be!” Redefining what God requires can only take place in someone’s heart who doesn’t know what God requires. Not defining but redefining. Do you believe that people still die because of sin? Do you believe people still get sick from taking the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. Don’t underestimate how God responds; we need to be the first men to be humble and tremble at His Word. Our familiarity with God’s Word can lead us to carelessness.

First time I came out to Grace Church, I came upon the Grand Canyon and was utterly unable to convey it to my parents in TN. This was just a “huge hole!” On that day, my brother and I took a tram ride around the rim of a canyon, and I was so aggravated by the lack of enthusiasm by the tour guide. My face was glued to the canyon. I was so aggravated by how bored the guide was, “There’s dirt, there’s rocks…” You don’t describe majesty like that! You don’t underestimate what God is like, or how God responds.

The third danger is ignoring what God deserves. (Lev 10:3) What does Moses say to Aaron? Does he try to comfort him at his loss? No, he says, “This is what the Lord spoke.” What? This is what God spoke that my boys would be dead? This morning I was kissing my three sons goodbye. They were telling me they’d pray for me, and listen to the sermon on the Internet. And my last thought was, “What would it be like to watch your sons killed in front of your face? What if it was God who did it?” Yet Moses didn’t console, he said:

It is what the LORD spoke, saying,
‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy,
And before all the people I will be honored.’”

They forgot the statement of Ex. 19:22 that priests were to consecrate themselves and treated God as holy! It doesn’t matter what the fire was, but why it came. They’d treated God as mundane. Under a cloud of their own unrighteous incense, these two men died. “This is what the Lord said, Aaron.” Aaron was not allowed to grieve in subsequent verses.

I often think that day finishes, Aaron takes home his two sons, and Mom asks, where are Nadab and Abaihu? “God killed our boys.” If you’re like me, your heart wants to feel bad, ask for another chance for those boys. God wanted to set the angle so precise at the beginning of the priesthood — knowing that any innovation would lead to another. Compare also to Uzzah who touched the ark when transporting, and died instantly. Also, Ananias and Sapphira. At critical points in redemptive history, God is going to send a message about how He is to be treated.

Men that’s you and me, those who are spiritual leaders, who are to treat God has holy! Allowing for the priesthood of all believers, but we are called as leaders for our people. Those who approach God must approach him as holy. The most stunning part of this story is Aaron who says nothing. Which meant he got it. He understood, he agreed. What does “holy” mean? It means God is not trite, to be trifled with; He is set apart, uncommon (1 Sam 2:2, Ex. 15:11). Can you think of the holiness of God without your mind going to Isaiah 6? Isaiah’s response to God wasn’t a “conversation,” because in the light of God’s holiness all he could see was the blackness of his own sin. Fast forward to Revelation 4, and see the strange creatures around the throne as in Isaiah 6. And they’re all saying one thing: “Holy, holy, holy.” Someone said, “Well that’s how the song goes!” *grin* In the Hebrew to repeat something 3 times in a row is to put the biggest possible exclamation point on it. In Revelation 4, these angels are still doing the same thing as 850 years prior in Isaiah: not exhausted praising the holiness of God. And the next thing that happens: the elders fell down and worshiped.

The roots of the holiness of God are in Exodus. A.W. Tozer wrote:

We cannot grasp the true meaning of the divine holiness by thinking of someone or something very pure and then raising the concept to the highest degree we are capable of. God’s holiness is not simply the best we know infinitely bettered. We know nothing like the divine holiness. It stands apart, unique, unapproachable, incomprehensible and unattainable. The natural man is blind to it. He may fear God’s power and admire His wisdom, but His holiness he cannot even imagine.

Jonathan Edwards said we cannot grasp the love of God without first grasping His holiness.

A.W. Pink: “An unspeakably ineffably holy God who has the utmost abhorrence for sin was never invented by any of Adam’s fallen descendants.” No human would ever invent this kind of God, who took care of sin by His own son’s death! That’s why it’s foolishness. No one would make this up. Read Greek mythology: substitutionary atonement doesn’t exist.

The trend today is to treat God as cool, and to be as cool as possible. This passage loudly announces that God is not cool, He is holy. Jesus is not our homeboy, He is our sovereign. When you understand the holiness of God, then you can understand the wonder of the cross. That He would satisfy His wrath by Himself ?! My son put it this way, “Dad, the gospel isn’t fair to Jesus. He gets our sin, we get His righteousness? That’s not fair.” My response, “Aren’t you glad God’s not fair, because then we’d be in hell.”

Thomas Scott said in 1818:

Leave out the holy character of God, the holy excellence of his law, the holy condemnation to which transgressors are doomed, the holy loveliness of the Saviour’s character, the doctrine, and the holy tempers and conduct of all true believers: then dress up a scheme of religion of this unholy sort: represent mankind as in a pitiable condition, rather through misfortune than by crime: speak much of Christ’s bleeding love to them, of his agonies in the garden and on the cross; without shewing the need or the nature of the satisfaction for sin: speak of his present glory, and of his compassion for poor sinners; of the freeness with which he dispenses pardons; of the privileges which believers enjoy here, and of the happiness and glory reserved for them hereafter: clog this with nothing about regeneration and sanctification, or represent holiness as somewhat else than conformity to the holy character and law of God: and you make up a plausible gospel, calculated to humour the pride, soothe the consciences, engage the hearts, and raise the affections of natural men, who love nobody but themselves.

It’s almost like he’s describing today!

Back to the text, “those who come near me must treat me as holy.” And then the NAS says, men must treat me as glorified, “kuvoh.” All of the Bible is about the glory of God. This word means something that is heavy, heavier than it looks. Substantialness. The Septuagint uses “doxa,” brilliant glory, brighter than the sun. If you even glance at the sun for a split second, if you close your eyes, you can still see the brilliance of the sun because it has paralyzed your retina. We should be paralyzed by the holiness and glory of God!

This passage consequences for us as followers and especially as leaders. Thereis nothing small in worship. Just ask Uzzah. Ask Nadab. Ask Abaihu. Footnote: God is no respecter of persons. If I were God, I would’ve let it slide for Moses and Aaron. Passed over? Yes. Punished for? Yes. Which keeps us close the crucifixion of our Lord. This passage is not about God’s judgment on the wicked, but his discipline on spiritual leaders! There’s nothing in the standards in 1 Tim that’s unique to leaders, but there’s a higher accountability to the only standard.

Let’s not live in the midst of the majestic scenery of heaven and forget to treat God as holy. God’s holiness should affect our lives: we should be holy. Back in August, I was traveling in NC, and a friend was in a hospital room with a grim cancer prognosis. This friend had a developing team, eldership, and asked for prayer from James 5 for healing. And what struck me as I read that passage was “the effective prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” Our righteousness matters. The holiness of God will and should affect us, by making us more holy and righteous in our lives.