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What is the Scriptural Concept of Sacred Space?

• Well, welcome everybody to this week’s edition of Light on Life.
• Today, we are talking about the concept of Sacred Space, what it is, why it’s important, and how it will help you grow in YOUR walk with God.

Sacred Space: Defining Terms

• First, we should define terms.
• What is Sacred Space?
• Sacred Space is space that God visits with His Divine Presence.
• It is His visitation that makes the space hallowed.
• The issue of reverence and respect is what raises the concept of sacred space to a level of importance.
• You have to know that it’s vital to have a wholesome awe for all God and all that He is.
• The Bible gives us several examples of this kind of sanctified space.
• One of the most famous?

Sacred Space: Moses and the Burning Bush

Acts 7:30–33 (NKJV) — 30 “And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32 saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. 33 ‘Then the LORD said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.’

• What made the ground holy?
• Was it just the fire?
• No, look at the scripture closer.
• The Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses IN the fire.
• Don’t get your eyes on the flame – get your eyes on the originator of the flame.
• What made that space sacred was the fact that God Himself walked on that ground.

Sacred Space: Joshua and the Army Commander

• Joshua had the same ‘talk off your shoes, holy ground’ experience Moses had.

Joshua 5:13–15 (NKJV) — 13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” 14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” 15 Then the Commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

• Again, you can see what made the ground sacred, the Presence of the Commander of the Army of the Lord.
• That’s Sacred Space.
• There are other instances where the ground was crowned sacred because of the Presence of God.

Sacred Space: The Ark of the Covenant

• Just think about the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant or the Ark of Presence was.
• The High Priest went into this place once a year to meet God.
• So, think about his approach for a moment.
• Do you think, the High Priest went in there with a cup of coffee in his hand?
• Do you think he made a causal hip hop — follow the yellow brick road kinda stroll behind the veil?
• I don’t think so.
• He went before the Ark fully aware of the reverence and the respect that the moment demanded.

Sacred Space And the Ministry of Jesus

• You can understand what Sacred Space is by looking at the ministry of Jesus.

Luke 19:45–47 (NKJV) — 45 Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” 47 And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him,

• Now all four gospels have a ‘flipping over the tables of the money-changers’ story.
• All four of them, but only one of them add this singular fact.

Mark 11:16 (ESV) — 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.

• Why? — because the Temple was Sacred Space.
• Why was it sacred?
• After all, there was a lot of traffic, a lot of people, a lot of money-changing going on, a lot of stuff happening in that courtyard.
• Do you see it — we read it — Luke 19:47, He was teaching daily in the temple.
• Now, when Jesus taught, He did so with a tangible anointing.
• John 3:34 said, that He had the Spirit of God without measure.
• Believers, as individuals, have the Spirit of God by measure.
• Jesus was anointed as no one had ever been anointed before Him.
• He had the Presence of God without measure.
• Any place where Jesus abides continually is Sacred Space.

Sacred Space: My Personal Encounter

• I had my own personal encounter with this concept of sacred space during my pastoral days.
• One day I had a thought.
• Why don’t we put a book table off the side of the main sanctuary?
• We were endeavoring to get good books into people’s hands to encourage them in faith and in their walk with God.
• As soon as I had that thought, the Spirit God struck me in my Spirit.
• He hit me hard — you know that check that you get when your not supposed to go there.
• Thank God for His leading.
• He was trying to help me not make a huge mistake.
• You see the Presence of God had met us as a congregation so many times in that sanctuary.
• A book table just didn’t belong in that same space.
• The sanctuary was Sacred Space but not because it was a church building.
• It was venerable space because of the visitation of His Spirit.

Bonus Content: Three Quick Tips for Knowing God’s Will

• I told you that the Spirit checked me in my spirit.
• That’s how I knew not to go any further.
• So here are three tips to help you know God’s will even in the smallest details.
  1. Always obey your conscious because your conscious is the voice of your spirit.
  2. When it comes to God’s will, have no mind of your own.
  3. Forget about putting out fleeces; if you don’t you’ll be the one who gets fleeced.

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