1. Parental Love
After a divorce, a mom was left to bring up her teenage daughter. She was becoming increasingly rebellious. One night the police called to ask her to get her daughter from the police station, because she’d been arrested for drunk driving.
Not a word was spoken between them until the next afternoon, when mom broke the tension by giving her daughter a little gift-wrapped box. She opened it and found a small rock. Rolling her eyes she said, "What’s this for?" Her mom said, "Look underneath." She took the rock and as she read it, her eyes filled with tears. She got up, walked across the room and gave her mom a big hug.
You see, on the card mom had written, “This rock is more than two million years old - and that’s how long it will take before I give up on you!”
2. Unconditional, Persevering aspects of God to us:
a. Love
b. In spite of us as:
• Adam and Eve
• Abraham
• David
• Saul of Tarsus
• Adulterous Woman
• You and Me
3. God has made us his heirs according to his dependable promises – Galatians 3.27-29
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
4. God makes us promises on which we can depend – 2 Peter 1.3-4
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.
5. Yet, these promises have conditions attached
I. A Foretaste of the Forever Presence (Hebrews 13.1-6)
Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you also are in the body. 4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for God will judge the immoral and adulterous. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never fail you nor forsake you.” 6 Hence we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid; what can man do to me?” (a quote from Psalm 118.7)
A. God Seeks Our Presence
1. Adam
2. Abraham
3. Israel in wilderness – Pillars; Tabernacle
4. Yeshua (Jesus) – John 1.14
5. HS – IN us
B. There are Strings Attached
Brotherly Love; Hospitality; Compassion (prisoners/Ill); Morality; Contentment ($)
C. The Result – vv. 5-6
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never fail you nor forsake you.” 6 Hence we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid; what can man do to me?” (a quote from Psalm 118.7)
1. Continual Presence of God (Deuteronomy 31.6; Joshua 1.5)
2. Powerful Confidence from God
D. If God is “absent” is it God or me?
[Older couple riding in pick-up; wife complains that she used to sit right next to husband when younger, now apart; Husband – “I haven’t moved.”
II. A Presence in Proclamation (Matthew 28.18-20)
A. Irony – He is returning to the Father but will also be with them
B. His Invitation – Make Disciples
Moses received the Torah from Sinai and gave it over to Joshua. Joshua gave it over to the Elders, the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets gave it over to the Men of the Great Assembly. They [the Men of the Great Assembly] would always say these three things: Be cautious in judgment. Make many disciples. And make a safety fence around the Torah. [Pirkei Avot 1.1]
1. Prudent in Judgment – how and where to go; literally “as you go” – wisdom is necessary to keep from “casting pearls before swine.”
2. Making disciples
3. Fence for Torah – teach what I have taught you; he tore down incorrect teachings (as Sabbath)
C. Implementation
1. His authority – gained by DBR, not compromise (Matthew 4)
2. Continued presence – HS/Word – based on faithfulness
In the Spring of 1924, Jack Sundine was a four-year-old kid, standing in a line with his father inside the White House, waiting to meet President Calvin Coolidge. As they neared him, Jack noticed that he said something to each visitor as they shook hands. Soon, the thrilling moment arrived. Jack put his small hand into the President’s. Then the President said words Jack will always remember: “Move along.”
In contrast, aren’t you glad that when we come to God, He doesn’t tell us to “move along”? No, He is personally involved in our lives and desires to hear from us.
III. A Presence in the Growing Pains – Joshua 1.5-7
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and of good courage; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
Hudson Taylor founder of China Inland Mission) used to hang in his home a plaque with two Hebrew Words on it: EBENEZER & JEHOVAH JIREH. The first word means ‘Hitherto hath the Lord helped us’ and the second, ‘The Lord will see to it or provide.’ One looked back while the other looked forward. One reminded him of God’s faithfulness and the other of God’s assurances.
A. Promised Land was a Place of National Maturity
1. Constant Battle/Enemies
2. Removed Nations for their sins, not because Israel was Good
B. God’s Promised Presence
1. Constant Battle with our Adversary – 1 Peter 5.8
a. Not finished in baptism or initial repentance
b. Constant work to mature – battle of two inclinations
2. God’s Presence is Greater
C. Conditions to God’s Presence in the Conquest
1. Be Strong
2. Be Courageous
3. Be Obedient
IV. A Presence in the Unexpected (Romans 8.28)
24 year old Danny Simpson was sentenced to 6 years in jail for robbing a bank. Danny got 6 years in the clink for stealing $6,000. But the gun he used in the robbery ended up in a museum.
The .45 caliber Colt semi-automatic turned out to be an antique made in 1918 by the Ross Rifle Company. His pistol was worth up to $100,000 on the collectors market. If Danny Simpson had known what he had in his hands, he would not have ended up in jail.
Many Christians live like this. They spend their lives searching for God’s power and presence, not realizing it’s already in their hands.
A. The Place of Ultimate Good
1. Bad things happen
a. Fallen world
b. Foolish choices – ours and others (Nazis and Holocaust)
2. Good can come – even from bad – Joseph in Egypt
B. For Those Who are Ultimately God’s
1. Love God (Deuteronomy 6.4)
2. Called according to HIS purposes
a. Not my advantage – His
b. [Rabbi – no world to come; rejoiced because he was then free to serve God for who he is
c. Job’s story
A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am." The woman below replied, "You’re in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You’re between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."
"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.
"I am," replied the woman, "How did you know?"
"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is, technically correct, but I’ve no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help at all. If anything, you’ve delayed my trip."
The woman below responded, "You must be in Politics."
"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"
"Well," said the woman, "you don’t know where you are or where you’re going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you’ve no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it’s my fault."
“Faith is not only a commitment to the promises of Christ; faith is also a commitment to the demands of Christ.” — William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter
