Presence of God – Part 1 | Sunday Service | November 1, 2020

Today we will be learning about, “The Presence of God“.

God created all humanity and He had a desire to have a deep and personal relationship with us.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

The excuses men make to cover and lessen their sins, are vain and frivolous; like the aprons of fig-leaves, they make the matter never the better: yet we are all apt to cover our transgressions as Adam. Before they sinned, they would have welcomed God’s gracious visits with humble joy; but now he was become a terror to them. No marvel that they became a terror to themselves, and full of confusion. This shows the falsehood of the tempter, and the frauds of his temptations. Satan promised they should be safe, but they cannot so much as think themselves so! Adam and Eve were now miserable comforters to each other!

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

God will give more grace to the humble, because they see their need of it, pray for it are thankful for it, and such shall have it. Submit to God. Submit your understanding to the truth of God; submit your wills to the will of his precept, the will of his providence. Submit yourselves to God, for he is ready to do you good. If we yield to temptations, the devil will continually follow us; but if we put on the whole armour of God, and stand out against him, he will leave us. Let sinners then submit to God, and seek his grace and favour; resisting the devil. All sin must be wept over; here, in godly sorrow, or, hereafter, in eternal misery. And the Lord will not refuse to comfort one who really mourns for sin, or to exalt one who humbles himself before him.

AW Towzer once said, “The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the Church is famishing for want of His Presence.”

Illustration: In the year 1904, the infamous “Welsh Revival” happened. Evan Roberts, a 26 years coal miner/blacksmith with very little education was used by God and 100,000 people came to Christ. Often his meetings had no preaching just Prayer or reading of scripture. The Welsh revival was a mighty invasion of the Spirit; God’s Kingdom radically manifested on earth. “The earnings of workmen, instead of being squandered on drink and vice, were now bringing great joy to their families. Outstanding debts were being paid by thousands of young converts. Restitution was the order of the day. The gambling and alcohol business lost their trade and the theaters closed down from lack of patronage. Football during this time was forgotten by both players and fans, though nothing was mentioned from the pulpits about it. The people had new lives and new interests. Political meetings were cancelled or abandoned. They seemed completely out of the question since nobody was interested. The political leaders from parliament in London abandoned themselves to the revival meetings. Judges were presented with white gloves because there were no cases to try the illegitimate birth rate was reduced by 44%. Mules in the mines had to be retrained because the coal miners no longer used profanity when giving orders. The man-made denominational barriers completely collapsed as believers and pastors worshiped their majestic Lord together.“

Vance Havner once said, “Nothing is scarier today in churches than the absence of the presence of God.”

How lovely is your dwelling place,  Lord Almighty!  My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord ; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Let us account one day in God’s courts better than a thousand spent elsewhere; and deem the meanest place in his service preferable to the highest earthly preferment. We are here in darkness, but if God be our God, he will be to us a Sun, to enlighten and enliven us, to guide and direct us. We are here in danger, but he will be to us a Shield, to secure us from the fiery darts that fly thick about us. Through he has not promised to give riches and dignities, he has promised to give grace and glory to all that seek them in his appointed way.

Tabernacle was a prime example of people having trust in the presence of God. Common crowd was kept in the outer court. But then curtain was torn from top to bottom. The tabernacle was a movable temple, shadowing forth the unsettled state of the church upon earth, and the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily. The typical meaning of these things has been shown in former remarks, and the ordinances and articles of the Mosaic covenant point out Christ as our Light, and as the Bread of life to our souls; and remind us of his Divine Person, his holy priesthood, perfect righteousness, and all-prevailing intercession. Thus was the Lord Jesus Christ, all and in all, from the beginning. And as interpreted by the gospel, these things are a glorious representation of the wisdom of God, and confirm faith in Him who was prefigured by them.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

The rending of the veil signified that Christ, by his death, opened a way to God. We have an open way through Christ to the throne of grace, or mercy-seat now, and to the throne of glory hereafter. When we duly consider Christ’s death, our hard and rocky hearts should be rent; the heart, and not the garments. That heart is harder than a rock that will not yield, that will not melt, where Jesus Christ is plainly set forth crucified.

By the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,

As believers had an open way to the presence of God, it became them to use this privilege. The way and means by which Christians enjoy such privileges, is by the blood of Jesus, by the merit of that blood which he offered up as an atoning sacrifice. The agreement of infinite holiness with pardoning mercy, was not clearly understood till the human nature of Christ, the Son of God, was wounded and bruised for our sins. Our way to heaven is by a crucified Saviour; his death is to us the way of life, and to those who believe this, he will be precious.

There are times when you are down and feel you are alone. There are times when you want to speek to someone but do not know who. These are the times when you need presemce of God in your life. And in order to have that, you need to earnestly pray and spend time with God with His word.

Dear Church we thank you all for joining us today, as we shall see you again next Sunday God willingly. Until then, God bless!