Experiencing God

INTRODUCTION:

One moment in God’s presence can change your life forever.

One encounter with the living God - an authentic encounter wherein God actually speaks - can set your life on a trajectory so that you’re never the same after that moment.

If you don’t believe me then consider the lives of people like Abraham, Jacob, Moses or Gideon. Samuel, King David, Isaiah or Solomon.

In each case there were key moments - encounters with the living God - that utterly changed their life.

One of the core values of Broadview Church is to foster environments where people can experience the same.

We foster tangible encounters with the living God because one moment in God’s presence can utter change your life.

For the next few weeks we’re going to be examining that core value through the lens of Scripture.

If we want to be a local church grounded in God’s Word then we need core values deeply rooted in the words Scripture.

I believe our core values are and I want to show you that out of a key passage of Scripture in the book of Romans.

I really believe we could choose any letter in the New Testament because the NT epistles were written to help New Covenant believers apply the Gospel of Jesus in the context of a local church.

That’s why the last half of the New Testament feels so immediately practical when you read it.

Review Core Values

Before we read today’s passage I want to review our five core values that we shared last week.

We make Jesus known wherever we go.

We foster tangible encounters with the living God.

We teach biblical truth that transforms lives.

We build communities that serve like Jesus.

We welcome people as they are.

Each week we’re going to examine these core values through the lens of Romans 12-13. We began last week with making Jesus known wherever we go out of Romans 13:11-14.

This week we’re going to explore a core value that is near and dear to my heart personally: the presence of God.

1st Hand Experience

Last week during our 10:45 worship service I was so encouraged because this core value of experiencing God’s presence became a tangible reality in our time of worship through song.

We had just finished praying through the first Beatitude about having a poverty of Spirit. Then we sang a song exalting the Lord Jesus Christ who alone is worthy to take the seal and open it’s scroll. Between that song and the last (O Praise the Name) the presence of the Lord began to manifest in a tangible way.

In fact, it was so pronounced that I actually stopped singing and began praying for the Holy Spirit to increase our awareness of God’s presence in that moment. A prayer that he was faithful to answer.

As if to make it painfully obvious after the worship service I bumped into another member of our church in the hallway who said, “I could actually sense the presence of the Holy Spirit in our service today! It was so cool!”

Which was then confirmed by another person and another person and another person.

What is that? What do mean “I sensed the Holy Spirit in worship today?

Is that purely just an emotional response to a song we really like to sing or was there something divine that our spirits were picking up on?

Manifest Presence

I believe there are moments (whether during private worship or corporate worship) where the presence of God becomes uniquely and tangibly pronounced.

There are two kinds of God’s presence: omnipresence and manifest presence.

His omnipresence is a theological truth that God is everywhere and at all times. The latter, however, is a tangible manifestation of God that we sense experientially at special times.

This presence is not the result of emotional manipulation nor of subjective interpretation. It is an objective, experiential, spiritual reality.

Once you’ve encountered it you know it. Once you’ve tasted it, your left longing for more and more.

The Psalms are full of this kind of language. It’s why their so helpful on this idea.

Psalm 16:11 “You reveal the path of life to me; in your presence is abundant joy; at your right hand are eternal pleasures.”

Psalm 27:4 “I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking him in his temple.”

Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him!”

Psalm 84:10 “Better a day in your courts than a thousand anywhere else. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than live in the tents of wicked people.”

Paul describes this dynamic in Romans 8 as

Romans 8:16 “The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children,”

Why Not Always?

I’ve often struggled with the fact that this tangible presence of God isn’t something that we experience on a regular basis.

Honestly, it’s for that reason that I’ve questioned whether this “manifest presence” of God was something that was just “in my head” versus a spiritual reality worth pursuing.

But having experienced God’s presence so many times, in so many different ways - irrespective of my external context or subjective disposition - I’ve come to believe that it IS a spiritual reality and it IS worth pursing.

Not only is it worth pursuing as an individual. It’s worth pursuing corporately AS A CHURCH.

It’s of such great value that one of our core values ought to be “fostering environments” where people have “tangible encounters with the Living God.”

I want EVERYONE in our church to “taste and see” that the Lord is good. (Ps 34:8)

I want EVERYONE to realize that eternal pleasures are found in God’s right hand. (Ps 16:11)

I want EVERYONE to have as their “one thing” that they ask from the Lord be “gazing at his beauty and seeking him in his temple.” (Ps 27:4)

That we ALL might say “better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. (Ps 84:10)

So why doesn’t this happen EVERY TIME we gather? What is required from us so that we we experience God in this way?

That’s what I’d like us to explore this morning in Romans 12:1-2.

READ THE TEXT:

Romans 12:1–2 CSB

1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

We’re going to focus most of our attention this morning on verse 1 and focus on verse 2 next week.

I’ve heard so many messages on Romans 12:1 and preached more than my fair share. But this morning I want us to apply this text to corporate worship in the life of our church.

When our hearts are prepared and our worship is rightly offered, an atmosphere is created for God’s presence to manifest.

In Romans 12:1 this dynamic of true worship has two layers.

Layer 1: The exaltation of Christ.

Layer 2: The Surrendering of Self

THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST

The first layer of true worship revolves around the exaltation of Christ.

All worship is a response to something. Worship and revelation always go together. (even people engaged in idolatrous worship are doing so in response to some kind of revelation)

To what is our worship a response? “The mercies of God.”

But this is not just a reference to the general mercies of God. (although there are plenty of grounds for worship on that alone. Cf. Lam 3:21-23)

The mercies of God in Romans 12:1 are God’s mercies towards us in Christ!

Recognize and respond to God’s mercy towards us in Christ.

Paul has been laying out these mercies in beautiful fashion from the opening pages of his letter.

It’s is the mercies of God …

That the just shall live by faith. (Rom 1:17)

That in Christ, God is both Just and Justifier of those who believe. (Rom 3:26)

That God’s promises depend on his grace and not our effort. (Rom 4:16)

That while we were still weak Christ died for the ungodly. (Rom 5:6)

That the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23)

That we can be delivered from this body of death (Rom 7:24) and made alive in the Spirit of Christ. (Rom 8:10)

That there is therefore now “no condemnation” for those in Christ Jesus. (Rom 8:1)

That nothing can separate us from God’s love. (Rom 8:39)

That everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Rom 10:13)

That the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. (Rom 11:29)

Romans 11:33 CSB

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways!

Romans 11:36 CSB

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

Christ Centered / Gospel Grounded

Worship that invites the manifest presence of God is centered on Christ and grounded in the Gospel.

That’s what Paul means by “in view of the mercies of God.”

What makes Christian worship distinctively Christian? The exaltation of Jesus Christ!

If there is no recognition of God’s mercy towards us in Christ then our worship is not Christian worship and it will not be conducive to the Spirit and presence of God.

Remember, the Spirit of God cannot be controlled but he can be quenched.

One of the ways we quench the Spirit of God is by making worship about ourselves.

The Spirit comes alive when we decrease and Jesus increases. When we magnify the Lord not just for who He is as our creator but for what he has done in Christ to bring us salvation.

Shy Member

It’s sometimes said that the Holy Spirit is the shy member of the trinity because he never wants to bring attention to himself but rather focuses all attention on the Lord Jesus.

I think there is some truth to that. If we want to foster tangible encounters with the living God then our worship needs to be a response to the LIVING GOD.

Who is the GOD WHO LIVES? WHO is our LIVING HOPE?

Our hope is in JESUS. He lives. He lives!

And eternal life for wicked sinners is also found in HIM.

It’s for this reason one of the things we want to emphasize in our worship throughout 2024 and beyond is an explicit Christ-centeredness in everything that we do.

The Gospel isn’t just about us or even predominantly about us.

The Gospel is about God and the glorification of God through the exaltation of Christ.

So let Christ be exalted in the songs we sing, the prayers we pray, the way we preach and the spiritual decisions we make.

When we recognize and respond to God’s mercy in Christ we will do much to foster a tangible encounter with the living God.

THE SURRENDER OF SELF:

The second layer of true worship is surrendering yourself. Exalt Jesus and surrender yourself.

You see this in our passage with Paul describing true worship as “offering your body as a living sacrifice.”

Romans 12:1 (CSB)

1 … I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.

Recognize+Respond to God’s mercy in Christ.

Release+Reserve your life for the Lord.

For those of us not steeped in the Old Testament sacrificial system this language can kinda go over our heads or even seem a little bit unsettling.

What is a “living sacrifice?” What does it means to be “holy and pleasing” to God?

In the Old Testament, people would offer sacrifices for all sorts of reasons but the most common reason was making atonement for sin.

Present Sacrifice

The word translated “present” is the same word that was used in Greek OT for making that kind of sacrifice.

The worshipper would “present” a sheep or bull or pigeon and sacrifice it on the altar before God.

What was being communicated in that offering was

“God I know you’re holy and I’m sinful. I recognize the just penalty for my sins is death and separation from you but I’m asking you in your mercy to receive the life of this animal in the place of my own life.”

Sin demanded punishment and the slain animal represented God’s willingness to accept a substitute so that forgiveness could be extended.

Nobody in the OT believed that the blood of bulls and goats could atone for sin but they engaged in this practice as a way of acknowledge God’s mercy in granting forgiveness.

Ultimately, God was setting the framework for how TRUE atonement would be made through the atoning death of Jesus on the cross.

So whatever “present your body as a living sacrifice means” it’s not the idea of offering up our life as an atonement for our sin. Jesus has done that for us as Romans had made abundantly clear.

So if it’s not that then what is it? Well let’s take it word by word.

Living Bodies

First Paul says present your “bodies.”

That doesn’t mean we don’t also offer God our minds and our heart. He talks about having our minds transformed in the very next verse!

I think the reason he emphasizes the body here is because the BODY really matters to God as it relates to a life of worship.

You say, “My body is wrinkled and overweight and hurts all over!” If God wants a sacrifice without blemish then this body ain’t it!

Which again misses the entire point. We’re not offering our bodies to impress God or atone for sin.

We’re offering our bodies as a spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 2:5)

In other words, we need to display through out bodies a kind of lifestyle and behavior that clearly evidences the mercies of God in our life.

In the OT, when they would offer a goat or a bull it was at a cost to themselves.

In the same way, when we draw near to God in worship we’re doing so in a way that clearly communicates the mercies we’ve received in Christ even at great cost to ourselves.

This could be as practical as a raised hand or humbled posture on the ground or a generous financial gift to help meet the need of another person.

In other words, you’re not just presenting your WORDS. You’re not just presenting your THOUGHTS. You’re presenting real, tangible, sacrificial evidence of your love for Jesus.

Moreover this kind of sacrifice is a “living” sacrifice as opposed to a dead one.

What does that mean? I think it means this offering of ourselves is something that we do continually. Over and over and over again.

It’s not a one and done olive leaf to the Lord. It’s a perpetual sate of worship that has external personal evidences.

Holy & Pleasing

Thirdly this surrendering of our bodies is to be “holy & pleasing” to the Lord.

The word holy means “set apart.” It’s the idea of being “of special use.”

The opposite of holy would be common or profane.

When I think of the word holy I think about the special china that only gets used during “special occasions.” It’s set apart for special use.

In a similar way Paul saying true worship is setting apart your body for holiness.

That doesn’t mean your physical appearance has to look like fine china. It just means you dedicate yourself to the Lord.

You’re not just giving your body TO GOD. You’re also reserving your body FOR GOD.

Recognize+Respond to God’s mercy in Christ.

Release+Reserve your life for the Lord.

Reserve your eyes, your tongue, your hands and your feet so that they are dedicated to righteousness instead of sin.

A life that is continually, fully and joyfully surrendered to God is a sacrifice that is “pleasing to God.”

(cf. Rom 14:17-18 food vs righteousness, peace, joy in HS; Phil 4:18 (generosity); Heb 13:15-16 (praise, doing good, sharing; Col 3:20 obey parents; Eph 5:10 light not dark; )

Summary & Application

So true worship is a continual process of exalting Christ and surrendering self.

Recognize + Respond to God’s mercy in Christ.

Release + Reserve your life for God’s glory

To the degree that we’re doing that is the degree to which we’ll invite the manifest presence of God in our life and our Sunday morning worship services.

So what does that have to do with the way we go about ministry at Broadview Baptist Church?

If this is what positions somebody to experience the manifest presence of God then what does that look like for you in your personal quiet times or devotional life?

I want to close with some points of application that I hope will help shape our life together.

PREPARE, PURSUE, PROTECT

I want to offer these points of application under three headings: Prepare, Pursue and Protect.

To experience the manifest presence of God there are things we must do in preparation, things we must do to pursue that presence and things we must do to protect ourselves from losing it.

Some of these points of application are mentioned explicitly in our text and others are mentioned indirectly.

Preparation: Getting Empty

When it comes to preparing yourself to experience the manifest presence of God there is a biblical process that we must go through.

I believe that our heavenly Father WANTS to fill us with the Holy Spirit. He delights in it! He can’t wait to manifest his presence and fill us with his joy.

But for us to experience that we’ve got to draw near to God on his terms.

What are his terms? We’ve got to get humble before the Lord, honest about our sin, hungry for God’s presence. Emptied of ourselves and eager for the Lord.

There are so many examples of this template/posture in the Scripture but some of the ones I come back to again and again are the Lord’s Prayer and the Beatitudes.

Think about the sequence.

Beatitudes: 1st poor in Spirit b/c God is great, 2nd mourn over sin, 3rd meekness/surrender, 4th hunger and thirst for God - THEN the filling comes.

Lord’s Prayer: 1st hallowing God’s greatness, 2nd alignment w/kingdom, 3rd confession of need/sin. 4th lead us not/deliver (surrender)

Both of these lay out a template of getting humble and honest before the Lord.

Instead of presuming upon God’s presence or thinking it can be manufactured or manipulated we must realize the proper steps of preparation.

I love what Isaiah 57:15 says,

“For the High and Exalted One, who lives forever, whose name is holy, says this: “I live in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the oppressed.”

To experience God’s presence you’ve got to go where God is and that’s with the humble and contrite in heart.

James 4:6 “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Pursuit (Seeking & Finding)

Having properly prepared to experience God in worship you must also intentionally pursue him.

The Lord doesn’t force himself on anybody. He offers himself but it’s an invitation that must be accepted!

Jeremiah 29:13 CSB

13 You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.

So how do you practically seek after the Lord? There are various ways to go about this.

Sing God-glorifying, Christ-exalting songs of praise and worship. The Lord is enthroned on the praises of his people. (Psalm 22:3; Eph 5:19)

Read Christ-exalting passages of Scripture.

Pray - communicate verbally the goodness and greatness of God.

Preach Jesus in the Words of Scripture. Give testimony to the greatness of God.

But these activities are not just things that we do half-heartedly. They are things that we must do “with all of our heart” and with “sincerely of heart.”

It’s just like any other human relationship. The actions of love don’t communicate love if they’re not coming from a place of sincerity and desire.

Once you DO begin to experience the presence of God then keep pressing into what God is doing.

Again - the Lord’s prayer is a template for this. In the Lord’s prayer we’re taught to pray in two stages:.

First, we talk to God about what HE wants to talk about.

Hallowed by YOUR name. YOUR kingdom come. YOUR will be done.

Second, we talk to God about what WE want to talk about.

Give us. Forgive us. Lead us. Deliver us.

If you want to pursue God’s presence in worship you don’t begin with you. You begin with God.

We pursue God by letting God speak first and putting ourselves in a posture of listening and humility.

Find & Linger

When God DOES begin to speak and move then you need to keep pressing in to whatever he’s speaking about / moving through.

Don’t rush out of it. Learn to linger in his presence and allow him to finish saying whatever it is he’s wanting to say.

Another application of seeking after the presence of God is to consider an extended season of prayer and fasting.

There are seasons where God may feel especially distant or your circumstances may just prove especially challenging.

Those circumstances call for a more intense approach to seeking after God.

You might need to fast from all food or most food for an extended period of time.

I think there’s great wisdom to practicing this at least once a week and have a special day of personal consecration before the Lord so that this spiritual muscle gets regularly exercise.

Bible reading plans that plow through large amounts of Scripture.

The more you give yourself to God the more God will give himself to you.

Protecting (Keeping & Growing)

Once you’ve come to a place of experiencing the presence of God it’s important you protect that posture so that you can encounter it again and again.

I want to remind you that the manifest presence of God isn’t something that you can create or manipulate. It’s a special gift and grace from God that he gives as he wills.

But even though the Spirit of God cannot be controlled it can be quenched.

And it’s easily quenched through a series of obvious things.

Disobedience

The first hindrance you need to guard against is disobedience.

When the manifest presence of God shows up in your life it almost always comes with a word from the Lord for your life.

The most important thing you can do is “go where God leads and do what God says in that moment.”

Delayed obedience is disobedience.

Often this will be something that has to do with a relationship or matter of forgiveness. You may need to go confess something to some one or write a note of encouragement or apology.

Disobedience to a clear directive from the Lord will squelch the special grace of his manifest presence in your life.

Distractions

The second hindrance you need to guard against is distractions.

Every step you take towards the Lord in obedience and communion invites a greater level of resistance from your enemy to undermine it.

Satan doesn’t want you growing and flourishing in your relationship with God. To throw you off your plan he’ll create chaos in your life that distracts you from the goal.

The best way to keep distractions from undermining the manifest presence of God in your life is to intentionally create spaces where the distractions are removed!

That’s what makes a daily quiet time so valuable. Unhurried. UNDISTRACTED. Time alone with God.

If you have company over to your house and you want to enjoy the time with them then you clean the house before hand.

You get done all the other things that need to be done around the house so you’re not distracted when your guest comes over for dinner.

If God decided to manifest his presence in your life would there be room for him to stay?

Remember Jesus’ words to Martha.

“Martha, Martha you are worried and distracted by many things but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better portion and it will not be taken from her.

It’s important that you continually go through the process of evaluating the distractions in your life and keeping short acounts with the Lord so that you’re obedient to what God is asking you to do.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, one of the most important things you can do - and WE can do as a local church - is foster environments where we can experience the manifest presence of God.

That’s what we want to do as a church. We want to foster TANGIBLE encounters with the Living God.

Why?

Because churches don’t change people. Sermon’s don’t change people.

GOD changes people.

The living God is our only hope. And if we’ve been given the privilege of drawing near to him knowing that he has also promised to draw near to us - why would we not do whatever it takes to make that happen?

It may be in response this morning that you need to take the first step of being reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

For others it may be a proactive step of making room for Jesus in 2024 and weaving into your life practical ways of pursing the presence of God in worship.

Maybe you’d commit to helping us grow in this area as a church by joining our Wednesday night prayer meeting. Or our Sunday morning prayer gatherings because this is a grace gift that cannot be earned. It must be asked for and received.

Which is what ALL of us can do this morning.

We can ask the Lord for an increased awareness and appitite for his manifest presence in our life. Will you do that now as we close?