One Sunday in our previous church the lead elder once said – have you changed since this time last year? Because you should have.
I honestly couldn’t think of how I had changed or moved on in God that year. I had done a lot of things for God, I’d served faithfully, I had preached, led prayer meeting meetings, I had been full of zeal.. But had I changed? I couldn’t identify any areas where I had. Now I’m finding change n my life on a regular basis. As I change I’m finding this, there’s more change to come – and I’m finding that my experience of the things of god is too shallow, especially my experience of his presence.
I want to look TODAY at the presence of God as one area where we have so much more to enter into.
For many years my concept of the presence of God was that primarily it was to do with times of worship together as church. Worship often defined as entering into the presence of god. The problem is that you then believe you leave his presence behind.
I had a belief that God is present in me all the time, everywhere I go – but little experience of it. What I have been discovering these last few years is…
That there is so much more of the presence of God to experience on a day by day moment by moment basis – I’ve just dipped my toes in the water.
Many of you will have heard me speak of when I went to Victory Church Cwmbran and the effect it had on me. On the outside the meetings were just like many meetings I’d been to. Good but similar. Looking back I would say that what happened was that there was a release of the presence of God in my life that was not about feeling blessed in a meeting but having some sort of change that meant I wanted to pray more, speak in tongues more, somehow feel more tuned in to God in daily life.
That sense of the presence of God in my life has been a big change in my life – but as I say I want so much more. Let’s journey into this together!
In the scriptures there are continued promises of and manifestations of Gods presence.
Joshua going into the promised land – I will be with you. Joshua 1.9
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Not just I will give you success/victory. But I will be with you.
Not just I will equip and empower you for the task but I will personally be with you.
I suppose I’d always thought it meant be encouraged – I am with you even though you can’t see me and have no tangible evidence. But is this right? Had I relegated God’s presence to something hidden and intangible?
Is the presence of God in the bible ever “spiritual” or theoretical and not real and tangible?
Is there anywhere in the bible that God’s presence is not tangible?
If we are saying we have his presence but are not aware of it in a real way a tangible way is that enough?
So then, Joshua had received the promise of the presence and they come to the Jordan
The priests stepped into the Jordan with the ark of god’s presence and the waters parted. Was it the priests footsteps or God’s presence that made a difference? God’s presence changes things for the Israelites. God’s presence goes with them. It’s God’s presence that gives them victory.
The bible is full of promises of his presence.
Especially when he commissions he promises his presence:
Moses – “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” – Ex 33:14 – and then god revealed himself to Moses in all his glory
Joshua we have seen
Gideon – Judges 6:12 The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor – God meets with him tangibly in burning up the sacrifice he brings
Us
Matthew 28:18 The great commission – 18And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
That promise is for US.
Whatever God’s commission is for you – he promises his presence. Tangible and real and makes a difference.
Although presence is often linked with commission – My danger is being too task orientated. The presence is not just linked to the task. Presence for its own sake is important.
So what I am saying is that maybe we diminish gods presence to just a thought to comfort us, an abstract concept or to just what happens in worship?
In the new testament the presence of god is associated with people not buildings tents or other structures. We are mobile temples, mobile arks of the covenant.
You are a temple of the holy spitirt.
in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit eph 2.22
The ark contained the law and was the place where God’s presence was.
God has written his law on our hearts and his presence is in and on us.
As the priests carried the ark into the Jordan the miraculous happened
As we go into different situations we should expect God’s presence in and on us to make a difference. We take this miracle working god into every situation
Anxious people emanate anxiety
Angry people give off people
Presence people give off presence
I’m not talking about body language
Presence more important than principles or techniques. Too much Christianity is about technique or programmes
God is most especially present in heaven and most especially present in and with us. Heavenly connection. He wants the presence of heaven to invade our world
Joshua taking the promised land. Us bringing the kingdom of God to workington – the presence is a promise.
HOW TO STOP THE PRESENCE
God dwells in us by his spirit. Hi spirit is in us.
The bible says we can quench the holy spirit and grieve the holy spirit.
Grieve the holy spirit through sin. We talked about this last week. Sin stops us from being able to taking hold of the promises
However his presence and power is not a reward for our holy living. It is a free gift. God can and does use unholy people. It’s a mystery.
We can quench the holy spirit – fully or partially.
Throw water on the flames.
Not obeying his promptings
Running ahead of what he is saying
Good ideas rather than his leading
Low expectation of God and limiting what he might do
We’ve got the presence of god but we need to Cultivate the presence and release it.
Bill Johnson uses this phrase – hosting the presence. Book review.
We all have the holy spirit – but how good a host are we?
We have a basement in our house – do we keep the holy spirit in the basement? Or do we let him have full reign throughout the house. Is god welcome in the house?
When you host the presence you hear the voice
L is a guest in our house – we make him welcome – the more welcome we make him the more he wants to be here. How? We include him. We provide for him. We engage with him.
Holy spirit you are welcome here.
Charles G. Finney, a Presbyterian minister in the 1800s, became an important figure in the Second Great Awakening, so much so that he was called the “Father of Modern Revivalism.” He knew the amazing depths of God’s presence and wrote, “No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart.… These waves came over me, and over me, one after another, until I recollect I cried out, ‘I shall die if these waves continue to pass over me.’ I said, ‘Lord, I cannot bear any more,’ yet I had no fear of death.”