A Holy God Dwells with A Sinful People | Chip Stallings | July 5, 2026

Jul 05, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Flashlight to Sun: Grasping God’s Incomparable Holiness

The difference between God’s holiness and human imperfection isn’t incremental but categorical. Like comparing a paper airplane to a rocket or a puddle to the ocean, God exists in a realm beyond human measurement. His holiness isn’t merely moral superiority but a radiant purity that exposes every shadow. This reality humbles humanity while magnifying divine grace. To encounter God’s holiness is to confront both awe and inadequacy, yet discover the wonder of His pursuit. [43:54]

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth.” (Isaiah 6:3, CSB)

Reflection: When have you reduced God’s holiness to mere “better behavior” instead of bowing before His transcendent nature? How might seeing Him as the sun to your flashlight reshape your worship?

Day 2: Trembling at the Foot of the Mountain

Thunder, smoke, and a shaking mountain made Israel shudder—a visceral response to encountering holiness. Their instinct was retreat: “Don’t let God speak to us!” Yet God’s holiness doesn’t repel to abandon, but to prepare. The trembling at Sinai reveals our natural distance from purity, yet points to our need for a mediator. Holiness terrifies not to crush, but to clarify our dependence on divine initiative. [59:51]

“All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the ram’s horn, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. ‘You speak to us, and we will listen,’ they said to Moses, ‘but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.’” (Exodus 20:18-19, CSB)

Reflection: Where do you instinctively “stand at a distance” from God’s holiness? What would it look like to let your awe draw you toward Christ rather than away?

Day 3: Blood Splattered on the Altar and the People

Covenants require sacrifice. Moses splattered blood on both the altar (representing God) and the people, a graphic symbol of binding agreement. This messy ritual foreshadowed a greater exchange: holiness meeting humanity through spilled blood. The act acknowledged both God’s worthiness and human inability, while pointing to a day when blood would bridge the chasm permanently. [01:06:18]

“Moses took half the blood and set it in basins; the other half he splattered on the altar. He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, ‘We will do and obey all that the Lord has commanded.’ Moses took the blood and splattered it on the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you.’” (Exodus 24:6-8, CSB)

Reflection: How does the physicality of blood in the covenant deepen your gratitude for Christ’s sacrifice? Where might you be tempted to treat grace as casual rather than costly?

Day 4: God Moves Into the Neighborhood

The tabernacle blueprint—“Make a sanctuary for me so I may dwell among them”—shocked a people who’d trembled at Sinai. Holiness didn’t demand isolation but incarnation. God’s detailed design for proximity required both reverence and relationship. Every thread and gold loop whispered, “I want to be near you,” foreshadowing a greater tabernacle—God in skin, pitching His tent among us. [01:09:55]

“They are to make a sanctuary for me so that I may dwell among them. You must make it according to all that I show you—the pattern of the tabernacle as well as the pattern of all its furnishings.” (Exodus 25:8-9, CSB)

Reflection: How does God’s choice to dwell in a wilderness tabernacle challenge your assumptions about where holiness belongs? What ordinary spaces might He want to inhabit through you today?

Day 5: Helpless Sinners and the God Who Ran

Peace with God comes not through self-improvement but surrender to Christ’s sacrifice. Paul’s “while we were still helpless” strips away illusions of earning holiness. Jesus didn’t wait for cleanup crews; He died for rebels mid-rebellion. The cross turns Sinai’s trembling into embrace, proving holiness pursues even when we’re too shattered to reach back. [01:15:22]

“For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8, CSB)

Reflection: Where are you still trying to “help” Jesus save you? How might accepting your helplessness free you to receive His finished work?

Sermon Summary

Exodus shows God carrying Israel on eagles’ wings to himself and naming them his treasured possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The text does not compare God’s holiness to human goodness by degrees. It sets God and sinners in different categories. The images tell it straight. A flashlight to the sun. A puddle to the ocean. A paper airplane to a rocket. At Sinai, thunder, lightning, furnace smoke, a shaking mountain, and a trumpet that will not quit make the point. God is not just powerful and present. God is holy.

The holiness that reveals God also prepares Israel to hear God. So the law comes. No other gods. No idols. No misuse of his name. Keep the Sabbath. Honor father and mother. No murder, adultery, theft, false witness, or coveting. The first four order life with God. The last six order life with neighbor. Israel trembles and stands at a distance, saying, Do not let God speak to us or we will die. That fear exposes the gap. Yet God’s holiness does not step back. God moves toward them. Chapters 21 through 23 shape a people whose ordinary life carries God’s presence into justice, mercy, compassion, integrity, and care for the vulnerable. Holiness is not fenced inside a tent. It spreads through a people into a community.

Israel answers with one voice. We will do everything the Lord has commanded. Blood seals the covenant. Blood on the altar. Blood on the people. Leaders eat and drink in God’s presence. Moses enters the cloud that looks like consuming fire and stays forty days and forty nights. Then God says, Make me a sanctuary so I may dwell among them. Not above them. Not far from them. Among them. The pattern is God’s. The cost is Israel’s. The purpose is life with God.

Romans 5 shows how that purpose holds for sinners forever. Justified by faith, the Christian has peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. While helpless and ungodly, the sinner does not meet God halfway and God does not become less holy. Jesus makes peace. His sinless life and sacrificial death satisfy the debt. Peace with God becomes a settled reality in Christ, and only then does the peace of God rest on the soul. The story behind every story is this. A holy God chooses to dwell with sinful people through Jesus.

Key Takeaways

1. Holiness is a different category [44:10] The text refuses to grade God on a curve next to sinners. It places holiness and sin in different worlds, which keeps the heart from shrinking God or excusing sin. Seeing that difference is not discouraging. It is clarifying, because grace only makes sense when the distance is real. [44:10]
2. God’s presence brings fear and distance [00:59:23] Israel trembles and stands back, which is a sane response to consuming glory. That fear is not the end of the story. It trains the heart toward obedience and honesty about need. Awe that does not move to trust will harden, but awe that yields to God becomes wisdom. [59:23]
3. The law sketches love’s design [00:55:26] The commands first teach love for God, then love for neighbor. They do not save, but they show the shape of a life that knows God. The law exposes what the heart prefers and invites repentance by giving concrete, everyday ways to love. [55:26]
4. Covenant blood hints at a feast [01:06:18] Blood on the altar and on the people seals the bond, then leaders eat in God’s presence. Atonement and communion sit side by side, pointing forward to a better table. Christ’s blood both covers guilt and invites fellowship, so forgiveness becomes shared joy, not a private transaction. [66:18]
5. Jesus secures peace for the helpless [01:15:11] Romans 5 calls the sinner helpless and ungodly, then announces peace with God through Christ. Peace is not a mood but a position, because Jesus satisfied holy justice. God does not lower holiness and the sinner does not raise himself. Christ bridges the distance and keeps it closed. [75:11]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[26:00] - Open Bibles to Exodus 19
[42:22] - Nobody’s perfect vs holy God
[47:16] - Israel arrives at Sinai
[51:09] - God descends in fire
[55:26] - The Ten Commandments given
[59:23] - People stand at a distance
[62:29] - Justice, mercy, ordinary life
[64:24] - Covenant affirmed in blood
[69:55] - Make me a sanctuary
[73:41] - Jesus, our access to God
[79:57] - While helpless, Christ died
[84:55] - Death loses its grip
[86:42] - Run to the Holy God
[94:22] - Closing prayer

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
Exodus 19:3-6 (CSB)
“Moses went up the mountain to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain: ‘This is what you must say to the house of Jacob and explain to the Israelites: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.”’”

Romans 5:6-8 (CSB)
“For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Observation questions

In Exodus 19:16-19, how did the Israelites physically react to God’s presence at Mount Sinai, and what specific details describe God’s appearance? [51:09]
How do the Ten Commandments divide into two categories of relationships (with God and others), and what commands fall under each category? [55:26]
What two actions involving blood sealed the covenant between God and Israel in Exodus 24:6-8? [06:18]

Interpretation questions

Why did God command Israel to build a sanctuary (Exodus 25:8) after establishing the covenant, and how does this reflect His desire to relate to His people? [10:38]
The sermon states, “Peace with God is a settled reality in Christ, not a mood.” How does Romans 5:6-8 explain the basis for this “settled reality”?
What does Israel’s fear and distance from God (Exodus 20:18-19) reveal about the natural human response to holiness, and how does God address this gap? [59:23]

Application questions

When have you felt the tension between God’s holiness and your own sinfulness, like the Israelites at Sinai? How does Jesus’ sacrifice shift that tension from fear to trust? [26:42]
The law outlines love for God and neighbor. What is one practical way your daily choices could better reflect love for God this week? For your neighbor? [55:26]
The sermon says, “God’s holiness isn’t confined to a tent—it spreads through a people.” How could your community visibly demonstrate God’s justice, mercy, or care for the vulnerable? [03:11]
Romans 5:6 says we were “helpless” when Christ died for us. Where do you still try to “help yourself” spiritually instead of resting in Christ’s finished work?
The covenant included a meal with God (Exodus 24:11). How does regularly participating in communion deepen your understanding of forgiveness as “shared joy” rather than a private transaction? [06:18]
Israel responded to God’s commands with, “We will do everything the Lord has spoken.” What area of obedience do you struggle to surrender to God with that same confidence?

Sermon Clips

63s

#RunToHoliness

“``Run to the holiness of God. And in doing so, we get to experience peace with God. What or who are you depending on for your peace with God? We do not wanna lower the standards of God's holiness to fit into our sinfulness, and we don't wanna dismiss our sinfulness so that somehow we think our self proclaimed holiness is good enough to please God. It's not. And it doesn't have to be. But we can run to God because God has run to us. He's the only one. Jesus is the only one who can make peace between sinful man and holy God. And the good news is he wants to do that for you today.”

56s

#PeaceThroughJesus

“Jesus through his sinless life and sacrificial death is the Prince of Peace and has created a pathway for us to be made in a right relationship with the father. Again, Jesus is the story behind every story. He is the behind the big story of the Bible. See, god has not just looked past our sins so that we can have peace with the holy god. Jesus has paid for our sin and satisfied the debt that is owed to our holy God. Look how Paul put it. He said, our peace with God is through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

64s

#JesusRanToUs

“I wanna challenge you today. I wanna challenge you to allow God's holiness to lead you to honor him and not simply to just stand at a distance. Because we have Jesus, and Jesus has run to us. That God took on flesh and dwelt among us and maintained all of his holiness while being tried and tempted in every single way. And his holy God chose to die on the cross, taking all of the past sin, all of the present sin, and all the future sin of all of humanity, your sin, my sin, all the sins of the world. So that what was done in the Garden Of Eden would be eternally undone.”

69s

#HelplessWithoutJesus

“It was in our helpless state that Christ died for us. Outside of Jesus, Please hear me. You may be the strongest person in the room, most accomplished person in the room. You may be the smartest person in your family. But apart from Jesus, all of us are helpless. And the key to you experiencing the fullness of life and peace with God is for you to accept that reality. Or you may think even in the smallest fraction that you were doing God a favor by coming to him. God is incredible kindness and love has humbled himself and chose to come to us.”

45s

#LovedUsWhileSinners

“So we have hope because the only person who could love us enough to pay our cost has done it. He proved his love for us that while we were still sinners. This is so important because we didn't get cleaned up first and then Jesus died for us. No way. We cannot clean ourselves up enough. Remember, we are helpless. That is this condition. That is the state in which Jesus died for us. While we were still in our state of sinning, directly rebelling against God is the condition in which Jesus died for us.”

43s

#PeaceIsInChrist

“Because of what Jesus did for us, the Christian's peace with God is not a passing emotion, but a concrete reality of our position in Christ. See then Paul describes kind of our spiritual state. Notice he's he's he's using a past tense. He's including himself also along with all the Romans, the Christians in Rome, and all of us. He says that while we were still helpless, I just circled that. It's so important. We could not do anything to help ourselves. We were spiritually helpless. And it was in that condition that Christ died for the ungodly.”

60s

#HolinessTransformsCommunity

“You see God is shaping Israel into a different kind of nation. What Jesus would describe what we're supposed to be in the sermon on the mountain is like a city sit on a hill. To see this holy presence changes every area life. His holiness isn't confined to the tabernacle, which will be introduced in the next chapters. It transforms the people, and the people transform the community. This is why we work hard. And every week we talk about this, that we wanna be the church in here and then go and be the church out there. Remember he is blessing Israel, so that through them all the nations of the earth would be blessed.”

64s

#GodAmongUs

“Can you imagine with me for a moment how significant this would have been? The God who revealed his holiness, then communicated his expectations to Israel, that they will never be able to fully keep is now desiring to move his presence, to move himself among Israel, among his people. He's not sending an angel or planning to send a short term renter or someone who's just gonna be there on occasion. See ever since sin entered into the Garden Of Eden and shame sent Adam and Eve hiding from God. There's been a separation between sinful man and holy God. See the holy God desires to be near his people, not above them, not far from them, among them.”

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How does God's holiness differ from human goodness

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A Holy God Dwells with A Sinful People | Chip Stallings | July 5, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Flashlight to Sun: Grasping God’s Incomparable Holiness

Day 2: Trembling at the Foot of the Mountain

Day 3: Blood Splattered on the Altar and the People

Day 4: God Moves Into the Neighborhood

Day 5: Helpless Sinners and the God Who Ran

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

A Holy God Dwells with A Sinful People | Chip Stallings | July 5, 2026

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