THE PRESENCE OF GOD
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Isaiah 7:14
Isaiah 7:14
We are in the second Sunday in our December focus on Emmanuel, God with us.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
I’ve always have always felt that name of Christ was deeper and wider than just to be celebrated at Christmas.
Yes, when Jesus was born in a manger 2,000 years ago, in what was the greatest and most extreme level of God with us, God with man that had ever happened up to that point in history. God took on flesh! We talked about that last week!
But as Jesus was departing earth and ascending to the Father’s right hand, He said that He would send His Spirit to us and that He would never leave us or forsake up.
He said, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
And we have just came out of a study on the HS and how He is the Spirit of the living God with you! And in you, if you are in Christ.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
You are a temple of the of the Holy Spirit! You have the Spirit of God inside of you.
Last week, we talked about how this is possibly one of the most abused or neglected truths and gifts of God. That if you are in Christ, you have God with you! You are a temple of the living God! He resides in you! You have access to the One, true God!
That fact should change us. We should look different, act, different, speak different, feel different, think different.
The problem is though He is always with us, we are seldom with Him in thought or action. We know that He keeps with promise to never leave us but we are most often that teenager on their phone in the room.Present but not with you.
This morning, we want to put our distractions aside and give God our undivided attention. We want to focus on the presence of the holy God.
This morning before we really get into worship, we wanted to set our minds in the right place to worship in the presence of the living God.
3 points I feel like we need to know and remember as we set our minds on worship the Lord, Emmanuel, God with us.
THE PRESENCE OF GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE
THE PRESENCE OF GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE
As we focus on setting our attention on His presence, we must first remember whose presence we are entering and respond appropriately.
Scripture is full of examples of men in history being met with the holy and overwhelming presence and glory of God.
Moses took his shoes of in the presence of the burning bush because he was on holy ground.
Moses also asked to see the glory of God and caught a glimpse of God robe and his face shone bright enough that the Israelites covered his face with a veil.
Mt Sinai was a mountain on fire with the presence of God and the Israelites were told not to touch the mountain or they would certainly die.
Aaron’s son’s offered unauthorized offering in the presence of the Lord and was consumed by the fire of the Lord because they could not taint the holiness of God.
Uzzah stumbled and touched the ark of the covenant and died because of the holiness of God.
Isaiah came into the presence of the holy God where the angels hid their eyes from the holiness of God and he falls on his face and thinks he is going to die because he is a man of unclean lips.
Peter when he meets Jesus by the sea falls on his knees and asks Jesus to depart from him because he is a sinful man.
Throughout God’s Word are examples upon examples of mankind being in the presence of the mighty God and they are hit with a fear and reverence of the holiness of God.
Yes, according to Hebrews 4:16
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
But we hyper focus on this verse and take it to a place of arrogance,disrespect and forgetting whose presence we are entering!
I believe there is a balance to be found when coming into the presence of the Holy God.
There are those who look at the presence of God as flippant and your right. We bounce into His presence thinking that we have a right to be there with boldness and arrogance. Our focus is more on the fact that we can be there than the truth of whose presence we are entering and who had to die to allow us there. We lack gratitude and humility before the Holiest of Holies.
While we do have the deepest, loving and most intimate relationship available to us through Christ Jesus with our heavenly Father.
We must never forget the holiness, purity and perfection of our God. We must never forget the power and might of His presence through out all eternity. We must never lose reverence and fear of the mighty God whose presence Jesus died to allow us to.
Without Jesus coming to earth and His perfect blood on the cross, we would instantly die in the presence of our God. Because He is righteous and we are not without Jesus.
So, this morning, as we turn our attention to His presence, let us not do so flippantly or arrogantly. Let us acknowledge Him with a proper balance of reverence and relationship. Let us celebrate deepest intimacy with God while maintaining reverence and awe of this might God.
FOR EVERY NEED YOU HAVE, HE HAS A NAME
FOR EVERY NEED YOU HAVE, HE HAS A NAME
As we turn our attention to His presence with proper balance of reverence and relationship, let us not forget that He knows what its like to be human and bids us to come to Him with the weights of this world.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
We still carry this burden of being human and the struggles of life.
But Jesus bid us come to Him. Come to Him if you are tired. Come to Him if you need rest.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Psalm 16:11 (ESV)
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
We have a saying at Connection Church and it says
FOR EVERY NEED, HE HAS A NAME
FOR EVERY NEED, HE HAS A NAME
Even our Hebrews passage from earlier tells us to come to Him in our time of need.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
For every need, He has a name.
(Read through the names of God)
When you come to Him in your time of need, who He is, is the confidence that encourages us and builds us up.
To know God and who He is, or to know His names should give us confidence not in our ability to know Him but in His ability to meet our deepest needs.
To simply call Him the three letter word God, does not do Him justice. Do not just sit there everything about Him. Dive into who He is. Know Him.
To practice the presence of God and allow Him to be all that you need Him to be for you, you must know Him. Not just know about Him but know Him experiencially.
There is a familiarity that comes with experience and time spent with someone. The more time we spend with someone, the more we experiencially know what they are like and who they are, the deeper the connection is.
Jesus says to walk with Him, abide with Him, keep your mind set on Him, know Him.
Set your mind on the Spirit and not the flesh.
He says to come to Him if you need rest.
Because for every need you have, He has a name.
The final point about the presence of Emmanuel, God with us, is that He is still Lord.
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
Before Jesus told His disciples that He would would be with them always, to the end of the age. Jesus told them that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him.
and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Revelations describes a rider on a white horse coming at the end, whose eyes are like flame of fire and on His robe and on His thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of lords.
We can not forget that Emmanuel, God with us, is not simply a 24 hour help line or an around the clock therapist. He is not simply emergency services or 911 on standby waiting for our call for help. Ready to pounce when we have a need. Nor is He a genie in a bottle ready to grant our every wish.
He is Emmanuel, King of kings and Lord of lords WITH US!
All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to Him.
To come into His presence is to come into the ruler of all creation. When He speaks to the waves, they respond. When He speaks to the wind, it obeys.
We have GOT to remember that Jesus is not just our Savior but He must also be our Lord!
The key to the door of the presence of God is submission and obedience.
“That we ought, once for all, heartily to put our whole trust in GOD, and make a total surrender of ourselves to Him, secure that He would not deceive us.”
― Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God
So, as we pray and sing. As we lift up our eyes and fix them on the presence of our God, on Emmanuel, God with us.
Let us remember who we are talking to and come into His presence with reverence and with confidence in Jesus.
Let us remember that for every need we have, He has a name.
And remember that submission and obedience is the key to coming to Him.
Let’s pray