Encountering God - Part 2 – Pressing Into His Presence
Overview
Last week, I laid a foundation for what I believe to be the biblical nature of worship, starting with the fact that God has created mankind to worship Him. That worship arises from a relationship with Him.
The bible says in the book of John that God desires worshippers…worshippers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.
This means to worship with our hearts and not just our lips, with our spirits and not religion.
Worship is not equal to music, singing, ritual or sermons.
Worship happens because of relationship.
We learned last week that worship is ultimately a response of our heart to God’s heart.
God’s heart is full of love and concern for each one of us.
He loved each of us enough to send His Only Son to die on a cross to pay the price of sin (of self will) that each of us owe = death, the penalty of sin is death..
Jesus died in our place, took the penalty we deserved on the cross, and was resurrected to demonstrate the acceptance of his sacrifice.
In the embracing of His Son through belief and trust, and committing our lives to Jesus, our hearts begin this journey of responding back to God in this wonderful experience we call worship.
What is the most important thing a Christian can do?
You might come back with the response that evangelism (telling people about Jesus) is the most important thing we do as Christians.
Worship is the most important thing we can do…and we will do it for eternity.
Folks, evangelism is about worship – because we are bringing people into a relationship with God so that they can worship Him.
So they can do what God made them for!
That is the PURPOSE of evangelism…leading people to become worshippers of God!
Everything in our lives flows from what and how we worship.
Living the Christian life is about worship. All you and I do should be a response to God, an act of worship (Romans 12:1-2).
Life itself is an OUTFLOW of worship.
What you experience here and now, on Sunday morning and in your prayer time each day before the face of God should drive your life and drive your passion.
The way we live, love, work and walk are a result of the way we worship.
They reflect the level of relationship with God that we have.
Likewise, when we gather on Sunday for “corp. worship” – the way we worship reflects the quality of the relationship we have with the One we worship.
Let me say that there is one thing that I have observed in my ministry.
Churches have been in conflict for decades whether or not to have choruses or hymns, fast songs or slow, drums and guitars or organs, seeker oriented services or evangelistic altar calls.
Because they have got embroiled in these things, they have missed the point, because these things were irrelevant! We were asking the WRONG QUESTION.
It isn’t the tools we use. It is the goal we pursue.
If the church tries to please people instead of touch the heart of God, they will have missed the purpose of why we gather in the first place!
The goal of worship is supposed to be to encounter God, not to have our senses pleased, our preferences met, or our biases confirmed.
If we do everything cool and cutting edge and yet miss God it is all a waste!
We are guilty of pursuing the wrong things!
We have all been caught up in the pursuit of what we thought we wanted instead of what God wants (which is our hearts inclined in thirsty, hungry pursuit of a personal and intimate encounter with Him.).
Which is our highest value…God or our format ?
The congregation that pursues God Himself as its ultimate objective will be rewarded with His Presence.
That is my desire, the desire of your leaders and I hope it is or will become your desire as well.
There is an important truth that we must learn early on in our study concerning worship.
That is, we worship what we love most.
This powerful truth says that we will give our worship to that object or person that we love supremely in our lives.
We may say we love God, but our supreme affection may in fact be our car, our home, our career or even ourselves! And because of that, God will not be the object of our worship.
Biblically speaking, we will have set up an “idol” – that is something in place of God as our god.
If God isn’t at the top of your heart, you can make a change in what you value…which will change what your heart pursues.
It is why we are told to “love the Lord with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul and all your strength.”
If God is first in our values, He will become first in our affections.
Ralph Waldo Emerson hit the nail on the head when he said:
“The gods we worship write their names on our faces, be sure of that. And a man will worship something —have no doubt about that, either. He may think that his tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of his heart—but it will be out. That which dominates him will determine his life and character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.”
Today we are going to talk about the effort to worship.
This is because Worship is not merely a response to God, but it is also the pursuit of God.
God pursues us, and yet for some odd reason, He seems to be just beyond our grasp when we seek Him. This may be because of the fact that He is Holy and He is Spirit…and we are flesh (and spirit) and we aren’t exactly holy.
We struggle to pursue God, even when we know it is best.
In worship we pursue God-to pursue a deeper, fuller, and increasingly intimate knowledge of Him.
The psalmist Asaph expressed this longing in Psalm 73:25 (NAS): " Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth."
These words of Asaph are an illustration of the priority of God in one’s pursuits.
But most of us honestly want a lot more than just God, don’t we?
What is today’s church seeking?
The major hunger and thirst in the lives of all believers today is no different from that of David when he wrote: " O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You in a dry and weary land where there is no water. " (Psalm 63:1 NAS)
Let me read a short part of an allegory about one man’s quest for worship:
“I found myself in an open spot at the edge of the circle and I looked toward the voice that had called my name. As my eyes scanned across that great circle, I could see movement, music and an intense light that came from the center of the circle. It was from the center of the circle that I heard that warm voice. In the center stood a Being with one hand on a throne and one hand extended toward me. His eyes were like fire, not because they were aflame, but because my soul was on fire when He looked at me. His mouth moved and words I couldn’t understand flowed out, but I could feel them cutting my heart like a sword through my chest. It was not the fear to run that I felt at this time, it was the fear to stay. This was not a man. It was at once a Lion, a Man, a Child, a King and a Lamb. He was more than only these as well. I could see the names of millions written, inscribed upon the palms of his hands. The movement in the center of the circle was beyond description, adoring beings, people bowing, singing. I wanted to leap from where I was and be swept into all of it, but as I leaned forward to move, I found my feet were frozen fast into what seemed like concrete at the edge of the circle.” (Enter the Worship Circle, Ben Pasley, pg. 109-110)
Have you been there before? Do you know what I mean?
You know God’s presence is just a short distance away and yet you cannot seem to get past the barriers to enter in? You hear His voice, you feel the tug of His presence, you see the wonders of His works…and something holds you back?
I don’t know exactly how to express it, but there are barriers to entering God’s presence. Barriers we erect, like sin that we don’t want to let go of, like fears we have of “going too deep”, and barriers like comfort zones and commitment levels.
These are the concrete that hold our feet fast and keep us where we are instead of where we can meet with God.
Some of us have gotten so used to our place at the edge of the worship circle that we don’t even realize that our feet are stuck!
We got used to being spectators at the worship show.
We got used to being warmed by being at the edge of the fire that we don’t want to get any closer for fear of being consumed.
Yet, our God is a consuming Fire! (Heb 12:29)
Until we are willing to be consumed by His Presence, we will never truly worship!
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Reward of Pressing in:
Mark 5:24-34 And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him. 25 A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, 26 and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse-- 27 after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. 28 For she thought, "If I just touch His garments, I will get well." 29 Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 30 Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My garments?" 31 And His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, `Who touched Me?’ " 32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. 33 But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 34 And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction."
Explanation
The crowds were pressing in on Jesus. They were making an effort to get close to Him.
Oh, that we would be pressing in to get close to Jesus.
Oh, that we would be so hungry for His presence and His touch.
According to the Jewish Law at the time, a woman was not allowed out in public during her monthly time. In her case, she was in a perpetual state of ceremonial uncleanliness. She was ill, she was not supposed to be out in public (because ceremonial uncleanliness was contagious). Yet, she was outside. She was looking for Jesus.
This woman stands out. She says in her heart, “I want to Touch Him! But to get to Him, it will take an effort. If I can only touch Him, my life will be different.”
She is risking it all, taking every ounce of effort she can muster to get close to Jesus and to touch Him.
Folks, that is what God wants from us.
A heart that is so hungry, so desperate for God that we will do anything, suffer any indignity, put up with any embarrassment, do anything to get closer to God.
No cost is too high, no price too steep to reach and touch Jesus – if that is your highest value, your greatest goal, you WILL receive it.
We are be baptized by immersion, in public…to demonstrate that we are committed to Him. In some countries like N. Korea, that is to risk your very life where to become a Christian is to commit a capital crime.
Are we willing to publicly fall on our faces, come to the altar, raise our hands…ignore the embarrassment to get close to Jesus!
David – worshipping before the Ark of the Covenant as it was brought to Jerusalem – strips off all his outer clothes (down to his underwear) and dances before the Ark (symbol of God’s presence ) as it enters the city. His wife is embarrassed for him and chastises him for worshipping so freely. He tells her
2 Sam 6:20-22 20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!" 21 David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel - I will celebrate before the LORD. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.
What holds you back?
Why don’t we “press in” to Jesus?
Do we have so little faith that He will change our lives?
Are we too comfortable with our lives being the way they are?
Are we too lazy to expend the effort to get close to Him?
Yes, getting closer to Jesus takes effort! Touching Jesus does not come easily!
The payoff is wonderful. It will change the way you pray it will change the way you work, it will change the way that you live.
It will most certainly change the way you worship and the way that you relate to God.
The question is are you willing to press in? Are you willing to expend the effort, the energy to press into His presence, to push past the crowds, the distractions, the barriers and to touch Him?
Some barriers to pressing in.
Stephen Newman, author of Experiencing Worship notes: “People do not worship not because they do not want to but because they don’t understand it. We have seen that when we take the time to teach people Biblical worship, they walk away worshipers. Second, people who are not sold out to God, who do not have a vibrant ongoing relationship with Him, will never be true worshipers”
I cannot change your heart about God, but I can help you understand worship. God desires that you be so hungry for Him and His presence that you press in through every barrier, whether man made, devil made or God made.
I am going to switch the #3 one with the #1 one on your guide
Physical or Environmental barriers
Maybe we have literal barriers that get in our way such as a seat in the back of the sanctuary where we cannot see the words, we cannot feel the others singing around us, or are distracted by the people around us.
Maybe the sound system messes up, a baby cries, your spouse is mad at you for something you said on the way to church. Perhaps the powerpoint presentation isn’t readable.
These can be barriers but there is good news!
Barriers can be overcome!
Too often, we stop at the barrier and forget that Jesus is on the other side.
Instead of being like the woman in our bible who pressed through beyond the FEAR of being exposed (and stoned), who touched someone (and thus made him unclean technically), who pressed and fought her way through a crowd to get to Jesus.
When you sit away from the “action” you allow a physical barrier to isolate you from the throngs of worship. When you think of other things instead of focusing on God, forcing out thoughts that don’t belong there (taking captive every thought to obedience to Christ) – you miss God! You miss it all! What a waste!
Flesh barriers to worship
Flesh barriers are about your motives for being here in the first place.
You come to church to have your needs met. But in so doing, you walk away empty.
That is the paradox of worship.
When you come to give you get.
But when you come to get, you go away empty.
Examine your motivation for coming to church on Sunday.
Is it to get my needs and wants met? Is it because I want to be ministered to? Is it to hear a song you want to hear?
Is it about “me”
When you come here on Sunday mornings, have you come to meet God?
To encounter God?
To pour out all you have and are before His throne?
To empty yourself before Him?
If you will…you will be satisfied in a way that you can never explain!
Spiritual Barriers to worship
Our hearts aren’t inclined toward God because we have not prepared our hearts, we have not been walking with God or we have been engaging on self-interested behavior (sin) instead of God centered behaviors.
There is spiritual preparation needed to be able to worship.
James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
God is waiting for us to draw near to Him. It is the main thing that keeps us from encountering Him. We don’t draw near, we don’t press in, we hold back.
This is why folks gather to pray for our services at 9:00 am each Sunday.
This is why our worship team gathers to pray together before they take this stage to lead you to God’s throneroom.
We will talk more about this in the weeks ahead, but suffice it to say, the spiritual barriers to worship are many.
If you have been concealing or harboring sin in your life, you can count on that being a barrier. The same goes for not “walking” with God during the week! Why would you expect to have someone turn on the worship switch for you when you walk into a church building so you can suddenly worship God when you have neglected His relationship during the week?
What is your goal? Is it to meet God?
Are you willing to do “whatever it takes” to encounter God?
Then do it!
Stop making excuses for why you can’t break through.
Tell your body and your heart that you are going to worship God. That nothing, not even your flesh, your fear, your anxiety about what others think of you…nothing, absolutely nothing will keep you from encountering God.
Do you want to encounter God in worship? Will you tell Him You Love HIM today? With more than your words? With all your being?
Would you like to know HIM? Would you like to encounter Him? God is waiting. He wants to meet you, He desires for you to have a relationship with Him. If you want to press in, press out from your seat and come forward during our time of invitation. Many come for prayer during this time, and you can too. I will pray with you.
Lets’ stand.
