Exodus: Into His Presence

*****

I’m a sucker for homecomings…military homecomings…or like this mom who was reunited with her child down in south TX. I’m not getting political today, but It must be awful to be separated from your kids.

Reconnecting to our loved ones or someone you have been longing to meet moves us because presence is a very real thing. Presence affects us at every level.

On Thursday we had a charge wide meeting to plan some ministry efforts with our sister churches here in Rock Hall and we got to talking about how folks who aren’t as mobile as they once were tend to struggle with loneliness, and how we as a charge might be able to help show our neighbors some hope, simply by visiting them. It’s called the ministry of presence.

You remember when you couldn’t get the kids to go to sleep, but if you just walked in they would calm down…ministry of presence.

You are going in for surgery, but having friends and family with you brings comfort, ministry of presence.

Stressful events in life, you want someone to go with you, ministry of presence.

You can trace it back all the way to the way we were created, together - in the Garden with God. This presence of God is what we were created to experience. And until we are in His presence, we will always long for it, we will always be missing something because we were created to be in his presence.

This is where our study of Exodus is moving. God redeeming the nation of Israel, Making them His people, God showing them how to live.

Last week we saw the Tabernacle as we learned how unique it was that God had chosen to be with us.

The problem is, for the Israelites just what it has always been, our sinfulness.

So here we have God with Moses up on the mountain explaining how the Israelites would live as a holy nation, a people set apart by God.

Tabernacle: Dwelling place of God…God with us. But what about the people coming into the presence of God?

We will see here today that there were all sorts of requirements to come into the presence of God.

Holy Garments

Exodus 28:1–5 NIV84

“Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests. Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron, to give him dignity and honor. Tell all the skilled men to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests. Have them use gold, and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen.

Exodus 28:1-5

Ephod - Breastplate - Robe - Turban - Headband - Tunic - Sash - Undergarments

Only one to serve as high priest at a time…and the other priests

Consecrated Priests

Exodus 29:1–9 NIV84

“This is what you are to do to consecrate them, so they may serve me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without defect. And from fine wheat flour, without yeast, make bread, and cakes mixed with oil, and wafers spread with oil. Put them in a basket and present them in it—along with the bull and the two rams. Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. Take the garments and dress Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself and the breastpiece. Fasten the ephod on him by its skillfully woven waistband. Put the turban on his head and attach the sacred diadem to the turban. Take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head. Bring his sons and dress them in tunics and put headbands on them. Then tie sashes on Aaron and his sons. The priesthood is theirs by a lasting ordinance. In this way you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

Exodus 29:1-9

Atonement of Sin

Exodus 29:36–37 NIV84

Sacrifice a bull each day as a sin offering to make atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it. For seven days make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it will be holy.

Exodus 29:36-37

Lamps and Incense

Exodus 30:1–10 NIV84

“Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense. It is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high—its horns of one piece with it. Overlay the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it. Make two gold rings for the altar below the molding—two on opposite sides—to hold the poles used to carry it. Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Put the altar in front of the curtain that is before the ark of the Testimony—before the atonement cover that is over the Testimony—where I will meet with you. “Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the Lord for the generations to come. Do not offer on this altar any other incense or any burnt offering or grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it. Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering for the generations to come. It is most holy to the Lord.”

Exodus 30:1-10

Representing us before God.

Bringing our sin before God.

Bringing our needs before God.

We want a priest for that very reason.

We want a priest who understands us…like us.

But that’s not what we need.

Hebrews 4:14–16 NIV84

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

The priest you need isn’t the priest you want.

High priest could sympathize with us…he sinned too. He felt sorry for us, had compassion on us, because he was one of us.

After he served he went back to being a man

He continued to struggle with sin. So before he could approach God he had to purify himself…put on our names in order to remember our burden.

What we needed was a reliable presence before God.

Look at what Jesus did.

After Jesus served, he went to sit with God.

The High Priest had no where to sit in the Holy of Holies…but Jesus does.

Hebrews 10:10–18 NRSV

And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,” and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.” For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,” he also adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

God is always there…the Lamp

God hears our prayers

Presence and Power

I shared earlier how the presence of God is such a powerful reality. Where does that power come from? It comes from our connection with How are we to enter in to this presence and experience this power today?

The Presence Based Church…about becoming a church that seeks the presence of God in everything they do.

In Jesus God displayed his power and authority.

I am

In Jesus God communicates his will for us.

Prayer

IN Jesus God gives us victory over our enemy

“You are the son of God”

In Jesus God demonstrates his favor toward us

Blessing/accepting us right where we are

In Jesus God confirmed his mystery

Torn Curtain

In Jesus God offered atonement for sin

1 Peter 2:9–10 NIV84

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

It is His presence that is truly powerful

What does it mean to seek His presence?

The power of His presence

Acceptance - a first step - a decision

everyone has opinions about who Jesus is…what we are called to have is a decision?

Who do you say that I am?

Not what do you think??? What have you decided?

Surrender - a series of decisions

daily seek his presence in your life