THE PRESENCE OF GOD (2)

INTRODUCTION:

Have you ever thought about what sets Christianity apart from all other religions? Whether you’re a believer or a not, that can be a somewhat difficult question to ask even tough the answer is so simple.

We carry with us the presence of God in every place we go…that’s the greatest thing that sets us apart from all other religions.

We don’t need someone to pray on our behalf…we don’t have to prove ourselves to some person or some God…it’s not about how the stars or planets align or what some zodiac symbol says…WE CARRY WITH US THE PRESENCE OF GOD.

That’s what Jesus‘ name literally means for us…

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

This was a promise given to the Israelites thousands of years ago…a promise sealed with the birth of Christ, the death of Christ on the cross, and His resurrection. Jesus entered to demonstrate the presence of God, and after he died, he left His Spirit for us to continue to experience him.

Yet I feel as if, for many Christians today, we feel as if the presence of God is nowhere near us. We feel like the presence of God is leaving us, or has left us because of something happening in our lives.

Allow me to ask an honest question this morning:

When was the last time you felt the presence of God so richly that it drove you to your knees; that it brought a new sense of joy in your life; perhaps you couldn’t help but laugh as you were in God’s presence? Or even felt God’s presence of comfort when you needed it most?

Or perhaps there are some listening to this today or sitting here in this room that you feel like you don’t even belong in God’s presence, or even want to experience God’s presence? I can understand you’re feelings in that.

Fact is, I don’t know what it is that so often keeps us from entering into God’s presence. I don’t know if we don’t feel worthy, or perhaps we feel there is something wrong with us as to why we can’t enter his presence, or maybe we’ve been told we aren’t allowed in God’s presence because of what’s happening in our lives. Yeah, I’ve heard that before, and I’m confident no one in this room has ever treated someone like that before.

But here’s the thing, the truth is that kind of attitude could very well be an issue for some people.

We’re in the final week of our series, RESET: Discovering a Heart of Worship. And this week, I”m concluding the series on entering the presence of God. Let’s look at the central Scripture we’ve been paying attention to throughout this series. This was Jesus’ interaction with a Samaritan woman while at the water cooler (let’s face it, anything can happen at a water cooler discussion). In this conversation, the woman voices her frustration with the fact that the Jews were telling the Samaritans they were worshiping all wrong and they weren’t welcome to worship with them. Pretty messed up. But then Jesus says something entirely different. Check it out:

John 4:21-24

Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Jesus tells the woman here that God is spirit and that God isn’t going to be held up in a tabernacle for much longer. As a matter of fact, God is already on the move. The Israelites taught that deep in the tabernacle, set comfortably in the holy of holies behind a giant 3” thick curtain called “the veil” is the Ark of the Covenant, the place where God’s presence sits on earth. God doesn’t go anywhere the Ark doesn’t go. So because of that, the Jewish teachers required attendance at the tabernacle mandatory at least once a year for worship and sacrifice.

But Jesus is now redefining what that looks like. Jesus is teaching that God is omnipresent - a fancy word that means God is EVERYWHERE.

Yes, what I’m saying is true. God is SPIRIT and he exists everywhere and that proof is shown in the fact that God entered this world through Jesus on earth and when Jesus died and rose again, he left the Holy Spirit behind - his spirit - so that God’s presence would be active in all places at all times.

Jesus came to this world to reach the despised, the rejected, the sick, and the shut off - just like this woman at the well - because God longed for All PEOPLE to know His presence.

But why did the Israelites teach this kind of thing? Why would they teach that if you aren’t of pure Jewish lineage and that if you didn’t come to the tabernacle to worship then you wouldn’t experience the presence of God. Well, that all existed in the Ark of the Covenant.

The Ark of the Covenant (put up a picture).

Made of acacia wood and covered in gold (Jesus humanity and deity and purity).

Had a gold crown around it, representing his kingship.

The two cherubim sitting on top of it, showing the two times God mixed humanity with his Spirit - the birth of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus.

Inside the Ark were three items:

Aaron’s staff…solid wood stick that budded with almond blooms (showing life can still come from death)

The jar of manna - showing God’s provision for his people (Jesus is the bread of life)

The tablets with the 10 Commandments on them (showing that holiness is achieved through following these things and lived out completely through Christ for our lives).

And here is the thing with the ark; wherever the Ark went, the glory of God went. Victory went ahead of the ark, protection followed the ark, blessing was found in every step they made. So when the Ark rested in the tabernacle, the thought process was that the presence of God was there and they weren’t letting him go anywhere else.

But something new burst on the scene: JESUS. His name was called “Immanuel, God with us.” God was not content with being held in a box. And when Jesus left this earth, he left the Holy Spirit behind after his resurrection so that all those who came to know Him would carry with them the presence of God everywhere they went.

Instead, what I’ve seen from many over the years. We have a tendency to still keep God in a box, holding him away from those we don’t deem worthy to receive, or to simply pull God out when we need him, keeping him from fully activating His Spirit in our lives.

Jesus said God is Spirit, and we are to worship him in that SAME spirit - that happens when God activates his presence in our lives. The Woman at the Well felt separated from God, BUT JESUS is telling her that God is free to go where He wants to go and she is going to be one of the first ones to encounter this.

SO WHAT ABOUT GOD’S PRESENCE FOR US TODAY? WHY IS THE PRESENCE OF GOD FOR OUR LIVES SUCH A BIG DEAL FOR US NOW, SO BIG IN FACT THAT JESUS WOULD BE WILLING TO ENTER THE EARTH AND EVEN DIE FOR US TO ENCOUNTER IT?

Well, what I see in Scripture over and over again - the reason people long for it, the reason people fought over it, and the reason people desired it is because:

GOD’S PRESENCE IS ALL THAT MATTERS.

The church is called to be a manifestation - a showpiece if you will - of God’s presence. That community is fed by the presence of God which is found in communion between the worshiper and the one we worship - God. Any time in the OT you saw the presence of God removed from the people, it was constant tragedy, calamity, and difficulty. But when the the presence of God was there because the people turned their worship back to him and they cried out to him, it was blessing and hopefulness building up in their lives.

But why does God’s presence matter that much in the life of the believer? Isn’t it enough to simply know Christ and call it a day? Yeah it is, but knowing and understanding God’s presence and how He works in our lives is crucial to our worship and our walk of faith with Him. And the first thing to keep in mind is:

GOD IS EVERYWHERE.

God goes beyond all limitations (whether we impose them or feel they are being imposed by another).

1 Kings 8

But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built!

God is not frozen in one place, unable to move about. He’s not contained in a golden box or in the box we’ve created, God is everywhere. That’s what the writer of 1 Kings is saying here, “I’ve built this temple, but even this temple can’t contain Him.”

God is present throughout heaven and earth. The Ark may have been a guarantee of the presence of God, but when Jesus left this earth he left us His Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is moving all around this world, impacting lives and touching hearts…and here’s the thing, as a believer in Christ, there is no way to escape Him.

The Psalmist put it perfectly:

New Living Translation (Psalm 139:7-12)

I can never escape from your Spirit!I can never get away from your presence!8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;if I go down to the grave, you are there.9 If I ride the wings of the morning,if I dwell by the farthest oceans,10 even there your hand will guide me,and your strength will support me.11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.To you the night shines as bright as day.Darkness and light are the same to you.

While it’s easy to read this and let it put fear in us, this should really serve as an encouragement to us. The idea that any place we go, any person we come in contact with - God is surrounding us, carrying us, leading us, and protecting us.

And because of that:

GOD INHABITS OUR PRAISE

I hope you didn’t think I was just going to push worship aside here. The tabernacle was all about praising and worshiping God. Right as you are about to enter the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant is, there is the bowl of incense.

This bowl of incense represented the prayers of the people, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Remember that outside the tabernacle is the altar of offering for the sins of the people. The smell would have been awful: burning flesh, entrails, fur, feathers, whatever was being offered there.

But here, the prayers of the people were a pleasing aroma before the Lord. It was the heart of the individual, expressing the need through praise for the presence of God in some area of their lives.

New Living Translation (Psalm 22.3)

Yet you are holy,enthroned on the praises of Israel.

God inhabits the praises of His people. And we carry this praise with us into the world - a pleasing aroma of worship.

This creates peace between our brothers and sisters. Gives a breath of hope in a broken and messed up worlds.

Worship sets our hearts in the right place before the Lord.

REMEMBER: There is a direct correlation between your appreciation of what Christ has done for you and the expression of your worship.

Worship starts with seeing something great and then reflecting it to the world - and that’s the presence of God.

I long for us to see God so we can better reflect God in our world.

AND THAT BRINGS ME TO ANOTHER THOUGHT ON THE PRESENCE OF GOD, AND THIS WAS SOMETHING JESUS WANTED THE WOMAN TO KNOW, AND IT’S EQUALLY AS IMPORTANT TO US:

GOD’S PRESENCE IS WITH HIS PEOPLE - ALWAYS.

If this doesn’t scream why the presence of God matters above all else, I din’t know what would.

New Living Translation (John 4:21)

Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem

The priests in the tabernacle. felt they had God locked in one place - the only way to experience God is to come to the Tabernacle to praise. But here’s the thing about God’s presence, it’s an everyday presence. As followers of Christ, he is with us everywhere we got - every interaction, every moment - God is never more than one breath away.

When God led the Israelites out of 300 years of slavery in Egypt, God’s presence went with them.

God went as a pillar of fire ahead of them, and the glory of God in a cloud behind them. They were protected on all sides because of the presence of God.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (Exodus 2945:46)

I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God.46 “They shall know that I am the LORD their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the LORD their God.

God promised to be present with His people then, and Jesus made that same promise for us today:

John 28:20, … “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

No matter the situation, no matter the struggle, no matter the difficulty, no matter the sickness, no matter the trial…Jesus promises to always be there.

the Presence of God will face every situation with you - head on.

Zephaniah 3:17,  “For the LORD your God is living among you.He is a mighty savior.He will take delight in you with gladness.With his love, he will calm all your fears.He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

How incredible a promise for all believers today!? And here’s the thing, you don’t have to wait around for it, it’s already available to you.

I Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

YOU ARE A TEMPLE…YOU ARE THE TABERNACLE. The presence of God is alive and active and dwelling in YOU!

Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit, his very own Spirit so that we could experience of God anywhere and everywhere we go.

Jesus makes God’s presence known in YOU so that you can be a walking, talking, worshiping, Ark of the Covenant - leading others into a relationship with Jesus.

CLOSING:

Here’s the thing about the Ark of The Covenant that I didn’t explain at the beginning…only the priests were allowed to transport the Ark. And even then, they had to carry it by poles set a certain distance from it. Yes, if the priest touched the Ark, it could mean death because man isn’t meant to touch the glory of God. And the only people who could enter the holy of holies to be in the presence of the Ark was the priests. The presence of God was hidden, separated from man by a 3” thick curtain.

BUT JESUS…when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain was torn in two…the temple was shaken on its very foundation…and suddenly, anyone could enter the holy of holies.

We don’t know what happened to the Ark of the Covenant, it’s been long gone - and I think that’s a good thing. And I think it’s a good thing because if we had it, we’d try to trap the presence of God again.

But God’s presence is free to move about, and we are free to come into God’s presence - stained by our sin, brokenness, and hurts - and feel His presence. Jesus died for that…and when that curtain was torn and God’s presence was exposed for all to see, that’s when God’s presence became the most important thing for our lives.

And you can enter into God’s presence. All it takes is a relationship with Jesus.

And once we ask Christ into our hearts, His presence is released into our lives, releasing us from sin and giving us the right to be called children of God.

It’s there in God’s presence we are washed and restored - clean and right before God so that we can carry His presence with us.

And from there, we can carry that presence to others - everywhere we go. Giving all people the opportunity to come to know His presence.

<PRAY>

<ALTAR CALL>

First for salvation…ready to feel God’s presence in your life…have him walk with you in the tough moments so that you can finally find peace...

Second…struggling to carry the presence of God. He wants to change that in you…feel the presence of God again so that you can carry that out into the lives of others.