Illustration: Christmas Evans – "Lord, I’ve gone into that pulpit alone for the last time."
I want to talk to you tonight about The Presence of God. Read Isaiah 64:1-3 with me.
Did you notice in those three verses that Isaiah’s dominate concern was God’s presence? He was praying for the Lord God to intervene, to make himself known, to deliver, save, and bless his people. But the thing he kept asking for was "Thy presence." Three times he prayed, remembering and seeking, "Thy presence." He was praying for revival; but the revival he wanted was the presence of God. He was praying for freedom from bondage and oppression; but all the freedom he wanted was the presence of God. He seems to be saying, Lord, if you will grant us your presence, everything will be all right. We need no more. We want no more. But we must have the presence of God.
Here is a man whose heart and soul are intense. He intensely longed for the presence of God for himself and for his people. He is so eager that God should come down and come at once that he cries for him to appear with a holy violence. "Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence."
When our Lord Jesus appeared and opened the way by which God might come down to us poor, guilty creatures, he did not lift up the veil of the temple, or push it aside. No, he rent the veil, from top to bottom. He split it wide open! It was through that open door, through that rent veil, that the Holy Spirit was poured out upon his church. It is through that rent veil, by the blood atonement of Christ, that God comes down to us in grace. And it is through that rent veil that we are now able to draw near to and find acceptance with the holy Lord God.
Proposition: As God’s presence was the salvation, joy, and glory of his people in the ages past, so the presence of God is our salvation, joy, and glory today.
May God the Holy Spirit be my help and my strength as I endeavor to show you four things from this text about the presence of God.
I. The presence of God is the one thing we must have.
Our only hope is the presence of God. Is not this the thing that Isaiah’s prayer shows us? We must have God’s presence, his manifest, glorious presence. We rejoice in the fact that God is everywhere present, the omniscient God. But we want to know his presence. We are truly thankful for his promise, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." We believe it. But we want to see him in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. Isaiah knew that God was with his people. What he wanted was that God would show himself with them. Therefore he prays, Oh that thou wouldest come down! We ask not for a bountiful harvest. We ask not for favor from the princes and kings of the earth. We ask not for a increase of wealth. The one thing we want, the one thing we need, the one thing we must have, O God, is you. Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens and come down!
Have we come to this? Do we yet understand this? The one thing we must have is the presence of God. The church does not need more wealth, finer buildings, more elaborate services, or even better, more learned, more gifted, and more eloquent preachers. What we need, what I hope we crave, above all things is the presence of God.
A. Throughout the history of God’s people Israel in the Old Testament, the presence of God was the thing that set them apart from all other people.
Isaiah knew that Israel’s very existence as a nation was entirely dependent upon the presence of God with them. It had been so from the very beginning of the nation.
Israel's history is the story of God’s presence. God's presence was the salvation, joy, and glory of that insignificant nation. The symbol of God's presence was the tabernacle, the altar, and the mercy-seat, the ark of blessing, those pictures of the gospel, of redemption and grace by Christ.
Moses understood that everything, every blessing, every conquest, every privilege, every act of worship, sacrifice, service, and devotion depended upon the presence of God.
David knew that God’s presence is everything.
Solomon understood this, too. In his prayer of dedication for the temple, everything revolved around the presence of God. And the blessedness of the temple was neither more nor less than God's presence.
Even in eternity, the whole blessedness of salvation shall be the presence of God.
Do you see the point I am trying to make? The one thing we must have is the presence of God. We have no other hope.
B. Our only hope of salvation is that God will come to us. – "Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens and come down!"
The incarnation of Christ gives fallen men the hope of salvation (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Matt. 1:21).
We are saved when God the Holy Spirit comes to us, carrying the blood of atonement in his hands to sprinkle our consciences with blood, declaring the pardon of sin in Christ.
Our salvation will not be complete until the Lord God, our Savior comes to us again. "Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!"
C. Until the Lord’s second, glorious advent, the only hope we have as the church of God is the blessed presence of his Holy Spirit.
Without him, we can do nothing. Without the presence of God the Holy Spirit...
D. The presence of God is essential to each of us if we are to be saved.
1. We are saved when God comes to us.
2. Our perseverance and preservation depend entirely upon the presence of God the Holy Spirit with us (Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30).
We are sealed in grace by the Spirit. Thank God for that. He leaves us to ourselves just often enough and just long enough to make us understand that if he did not keep us we would not be kept!
The presence of God is everything! Let us never presume that we can get along without him. And let us never be presumptuous of his presence. Let this be our prayer every time we come to the house of God.- "Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens and come down."
II. The presence of God creates great surprises.
"When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence."
Whenever God comes down to men they are always surprised, both by his presence and his wonders. Even the most expectant and hopeful believer finds his hopes and expectations exceeded.
Read verse 4, and learn the surprising nature of grace. The fact is, we are surprised by God’s presence and his works because...
A. Can you imagine how surprised Adam was to hear the voice of the Lord God seeking him, clothing him, and preaching the gospel to him?
B. I cannot even think about how astonished Jacob must have been, when he heard those words, "Joseph is yet alive."
C. As for myself, the most wonderful, astonishing thing I have ever known or experienced in this world is God’s saving, adopting grace.
I used to think how great it would be to be pardoned of all sin, filled with the joy of forgiveness, and live before God without guilt. I dreamed about it; but I never expected to experience it. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I am not only forgiven, but an heir of God and joint-heir with Jesus Christ!
D. Though we believe it as a matter of divine Revelation and live in hope of it, I am certain that we will be utterly astonished in the resurrection, when our Lord comes to take us up to glory.
The lives of God's saints are lives full of surprises because our lives are marked by grace. Other men get tired of their hum-drum lives. They have to read those dime store romance novels to put a little excitement into their lives. For God's saints life is a constant experience of God's surprising grace! His mercies are new every morning. With every rising sun he brings new surprises of goodness. I think I shall never get tired of living so long as the grace of God takes me by surprise.
Whenever we get into some trouble, we ought to fall on our faces with laughter and gratitude, and thank God for sending it. The trouble is sure to bring another surprise of grace!
Illustrations: (1.)The conversion of Mr. W. Haslam, a Welsh parson, while preaching on "What think ye of Christ? Twenty others professed to have been saved that sameday.’
(2.) The conversion of the Catholic priest while saying mass and reading Hebrews 10:10-14.
III. If you read these three verses again, you will see that the presence of God dissolves great difficulties.
Maybe you think, Don, you are talking about another time. We cannot expect God's presence to bring about such great, surprising things today. Oh, how mistaken you are. I want you to see in the last place that...
IV. We may confidently expect to see the same results from God's presence today.
E. Oh, my brethren, I want you to realize that there are yet great things to be done by our God through the instrumentality of his church.
Read the 65th chapter of Isaiah. God is not done working yet. He yet has a people whom he will save, a kingdom he will build, and sinners he will make to be new creatures in Christ (vv. 1,2,9,17,18,19,24,25).
Application: Exodus 33:15
To be called is to be regenerated, born-again, raised from spiritual death to spiritual life in Christ by the power and grace of God the Holy Spirit. That will take a little bit more than the power of your free-will. This work of regeneration requires the sovereign power of God's irresistible grace.
Ephesians 1:19 "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,"
Ephesians 2:1-4 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: (2) Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (3) Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (4) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,"
All who were chosen by God the Father in eternal election and all who were redeemed by God the Son at Calvary shall, at God’s appointed time, be brought to Christ by the irresistible, saving operations, power, and grace of God the Holy Spirit. And they can never be lost.
Ecclesiastes 3:14 "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him."
There is absolutely no contradiction between that statement and everything else I have said. Faith in Christ is the proof and evidence of the Father’s election, the Son's redemption, and the Spirit's call.
Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
We make our calling and election sure by trusting Christ! If you trust Christ, your faith in him is the result of God’s grace in you; and God, who cannot lie, declares that you are saved.
Mark 16:15-16 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."
John 3:36 "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
Acts 16:31 "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
1 John 5:3 "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."
I am calling upon you, right now, to do what you are responsible under God to do, what only God can enable you to do, yet what you must do. I am calling upon you who hear my voice to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
NOTE: Put nothing between yourself and Christ; and let no one else put anything between you and Christ. Anything that keeps you from Christ, or comes between you and Christ is idolatry and damning.
Illustration: The HandkerchiefListen to me now. I am telling you upon the authority of God’s Word that if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are saved!
This is what God says in his Word – "Salvation is of the Lord!" "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." You cannot read your election until you believe; but you never could or would believe without God’s election. When time shall be no more, when all things are finished, when all believers are with Christ in glory and all the damned are in hell, this will be the conclusion of the matter to the praise, honor, and glory of our great God… "The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded" (Rom. 11:7).
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