HUNGERING FOR THE PRESENCE OF GOD
Text: Exodus 33
Series: Greatest Chapters of the Bible
Sermon #4
Dr. Larry Petton
Cross Pointe Community Church
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A church had a special concert and the worship center was packed. The congregation had one of their greatest times of worship ever! Later that evening, a young mother from the church was putting her little boy to bed. He had enjoyed the concert so much and couldn’t stop talking about it.
The mother said the usual bedtime prayer with her boy, kissed him goodnight and was about to leave her son’s room, when he surprised her with a deep thought: "Mommy, I really had a good time at church tonight! I just wish Jesus could have been there!"
Church is a whole lot more fun when Jesus is there! Maybe we ought to invite Jesus to come to church with us this Sunday! The problem is…….He is not always wanted in every church.
LET GOD COME TO CHURCH, TOO!
Years ago in the Deep South, a Baptist church was struggling over whether or not to allow a black gentleman to join their church. He had been their janitor for years and decided he wanted to be part of the church family. A special vote of the congregation was called for as the church pondered the issue of integration. Finally, the vote was announced and the janitor lost his bid to be a member.
Later that evening, the old gentleman was sitting in his porch swing thinking about how he had been rejected by the church. He said, "Lord, I don’t understand them folks. I tried to join their church......but they voted me out." About that time, the Lord spoke from Heaven and said, "Don’t worry about it, my child. I have been trying to get into that church for years. They won’t let me in, either!!"
Is the Presence of the Holy Spirit welcome in our presence today? We know He is here….His angels are here.….His people are here……...His Word is here. But, is He welcome here? The Bible says a plethora of things about the Presence of God. It is one of the hottest topics in theological circles today.
QUOTES ON THE PRESENCE OF GOD
In William Hendrix's book, Exit Interviews, he asks why today's generation is leaving the church. He summarizes the views of many young church dropouts: "Perhaps the most common complaint was that worship services were boring. It was not just that these gatherings were not interesting. These young people said…..THEY WERE NOT WORSHIPFUL. They did little to help people to experience God."
That is exactly what A. W. Tozer meant when he wrote: "The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God, and the church is famishing for want of HIS PRESENCE.”
Vance Havner once said: 'Nothing is scarier today in churches than the ABSENCE of the PRESENCE of God'.
I think Moses is the most interesting case study in Scripture in reference to understanding the Presence of God.
• In Exodus 3, Moses is running FROM the Presence of the Lord.
• In Exodus 33, Moses is running TO the Presence of the Lord.
Where is your spiritual life today? Do you find yourself in the desert of Exodus 3 running from God…….or do you find yourself dwelling on the mountain top of Exodus 33 running to God?
MOSES AND THE PRESENCE OF GOD
In looking at the life of Moses, it seems it could be divided into three distinct 40-year sections:
• The first third of his life, he served as a prince of Egypt, and could be epitomized by self-effort and achievement.
• The middle third of his life, he spent as an assistant shepherd in the Midian desert, typified by solitude and insignificance.
• The final third of his life, the portion most often commemorated through Scripture, was characterized by faith, humility, obedience and the miraculous power of God’s Presence.
D.L. Moody said it this way: “Moses spent 40 years thinking he was SOMEBODY; 40 years learning he was NOBODY; and 40 years discovering what God can do with ANYBODY!.”
After realizing his Hebrew heritage among his fellow Jewish slaves, Moses stepped into the spotlight of leadership for Israel when he killed an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite according to Exodus 2:11-15:
11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” 14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”
15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian.”
Moses killed a man and then he ran. Moses looked one way --- FOR THE FEAR OF MAN. Moses looked another way – FOR THE FAVOR OF MAN. Moses took matters into his own hands, got ahead of God’s timing for his life………and wound up on the backside of a desert hiding from Pharoah and burnt out spiritually.
It is disobedience when we get AWAY from God. It is also disobedience when we GET AHEAD of God.
In both cases, we are not walking in tune WITH God.
In Exodus chapter 3, Moses had an encounter of the divine kind when God spoke to him from the Burning Bush. Moses was used to seeing bushes that burnt up in the heat of the desert. It was rarely ever under 100 degrees in the summer heat. But this bush was different --- it was on fire, but not consumed. And that was a poignant portrait of his life. What an oxymoron.
Moses was serving God in his own TIME and on his own TERMS. Now he is in a dry place wondering why. Remember that God does whatever it takes to get the attention of man who is hiding from His Presence. So, God manifested His Presence into an ordinary bush in Exodus 3 and spoke to Moses in an extraordinary way:
3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3:3-6).
God called Moses out the Bush and Moses immediately made excuses for why he couldn’t serve God. He had just seen the miraculous Presence of God that no one had ever witnessed in history. He had just the heard the voice of God in a manner that few had experienced. He was a changed man, right? Nope. All he could do was give excuses for why he could not serve God.
Excuse No 1 : (Ex 3:11) – “Who am I?” Excuse No 2 : (Ex 3:13) – “What Shall I Say?” Excuse No 3: (Ex 4:1) – “Suppose they will not believe me?” Excuse No 4: (Ex 4:10) – “I am slow of speech”
God accepted none of his excuses and provided him an answer for each.
God used Moses more than almost anyone in history, in spite of himself. God laid His hand on Moses and used him to defeat Pharoah, to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. God gave His law to Moses and used him to build the Tabernacle in the Wilderness.
Now, in Exodus 33, we see a very tired Moses who is needing a fresh touch of the Presence of God.
Ministry to others is one of the most exhausting things you will ever do. It will take everything out of you and sometimes leave you dry and in need of a spiritual tune-up if you don’t stay refreshed. That is where Moses found himself in Exodus 33 --- hungry for the Presence of God.
14 The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
17 And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” 18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” 19 And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” 21 Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
Moses asked to see the glory of God. I love the honesty of Evangelist, Jack Taylor, who got on his knees in a hotel during the Southern Baptist Convention in Houston and said, “Lord, if I have seen everything there is……then take my life now and let me die.” Jack Taylor said the Lord answered that prayer that night and taught him to die to himself and live in the glory of His Presence. That is exactly where Moses was. How I love the honesty of his prayer to God: “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us from here!” (Exodus 33:15). You might say it was……MOSES’ HUNGER GAME: Hungering for the Presence of God.
WHY NO REVIVAL IN AMERICA?
A wise old evangelist was once asked, “Why don’t we see revival happening in the Church in the United States today?” The old preacher scratched his chin and thought for a moment. Then he said, “The reason why we are not living in revival today……is because we are content to live without it.”
Moses was at a point of desperation where he wanted God to be his everything. Are you there today? I like the way Sam Storms puts it: "Worship is a feast in which God is the host, the cook, the waiter, and the meal itself!" Do you know what that means? If not, you may not be as desperate as Moses. You may not be hungry enough for His Presence.
So, God heard the heart-cry of Moses and passed by and allowed Moses to see a small portion of His Presence. It nuked him. He was never the same again. According to II Corinthians 3, Moses glowed with the Presence of God so much that he had to hide his face with a veil.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF GOD?
I have confessed to the Lord this week that I have lived most of my life and ministry based on PRINCIPLE and not PRESENCE. I can say that I want to have both --- spirit and truth. And I can say with Moses, “If you don’t go with us, I don’t want to go!” Bill Johnson says that, if we only have principle without power, we only have a Kingdom without a King. Ouch.
So, what does the Bible say about the Presence of God? Here are several tremendous truths from the Word of God that will not change your life one bit unless you apply them.
1.THE PRESENCE OF GOD IS EVERYWHERE AT ONE TIME IN THE UNIVERSE.
Right off the bat, let’s clear the air and make sure we understand that God is omnipresent. We don’t have to pray and ask the Lord to be with us. He is here. He is everywhere at all points at one time in His entire creation. Ponder that for a second. It means that you cannot go anywhere away from the Presence of God. David said in Psalm 139: 7-10:
“Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me.”
Those verses are a reassurance to the GODLY…..but a fearful thing to the UNGODLY.
You gotta love the story of the atheist and a little boy in his neighborhood who were talking one day about God, church and faith. Finally, the old neighbor said to the little boy, "Son, I don’t see how there could be a God in this world with all of the problems we have. I will give you an apple if you can show me where God is!”
The little boy grinned and said, "Sir, I believe in God and I will give you TWO APPLES if you can show me where God isn’t!”
2. THE PRESENCE OF GOD IS NOT IMPERSONAL.
You hear so many people in the church who refer to the Holy Spirit as “IT” and not “HE”. In high school, I had several charismatic and Pentecostal friends who kept saying to me, “Larry, what you really need is a DOSE OF THE GHOST! You need to get IT!” Really?
I like to talk like Jesus talked. How did he talk about the Holy Spirit? Listen to the Master speak about the Holy Spirit on the night before He was to be crucified (John 16:13-14):
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”
He……he…….he……..he. Get the point? The Presence of God is not impersonal.
He is with us.
He will teach.
He will guide.
He will lead.
He will speak.
He will hear.
He can be grieved.
He can be insulted.
He can be quenched.
He can be welcomed.
3. ISRAEL CAMPED IN THE WILDERNESS AROUND THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
Has it ever struck you that perhaps the way in which the Jewish tribes were gathered around the Tabernacle in the Old Testament is a great pattern for New Testament worship? It should. I think God was trying to tell us something ---- they gathered around His Presence, the Shekinah Glory of God in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle.
How do we gather in the Church today? Do we focus on His Presence? Usually not.
We gather around a sermon.
We gather around a preacher.
We gather around a building.
We gather around our friends.
We gather around our family.
We gather around a denomination.
I was told in seminary training that the entire service leads to the sermon. I have seen how that produces a prideful spirit in Pastors. That is not God’s pattern. He will not share His glory with any man. The worship should lead us to His Presence. We should leave worship changed in His Presence. We should go home talking about the Presence of the Lord and not the personality of the pastor.
4. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS CONCERNING THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
In the Old Testament, the Presence of God came and went according to the obedience of the people.
Judges 16:20 – The Spirit of God departed Samson.
I Samuel 16:14 – The Spirit of the Lord departed Saul.
Psalm 51:11 – After David committed adultery and covered it up, he begged God, “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”
Please understand that the prayer of David in Psalm 51 is not a New Testament prayer. For those in the Body of Christ, we have been assured that we are “sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). The Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ (I Corinthians 6:19-20). He doesn’t leave us when we sin.
The real issue for our day is this great question: Is the Holy Spirit just a RESIDENT in your heart…..or is He PRESIDENT?
5. THE PRESENCE OF GOD CAN BE STIFLED.
Believers in Christ cannot BLASPHEME the Holy Spirit. Only an unbeliever can be guilty of the sin of rejecting the Holy Spirit’s offer of Christ for salvation. That is blaspheming the Spirit.
Believers in Christ can GRIEVE the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) and QUENCH His power in their lives or in the church (I Thess. 5:19). The Holy Spirit can be grieved when he sees the people of God playing church, walking in disobedience, hiding unconfessed sin with no heart of repentance…….carrying on church as usual. How often do you see a great worship time and anointed sermon go astray because of unconfessed sin in the Body of Christ. You walk away wondering why nothing happened. Maybe the Holy Spirit was grieved.
I remember counseling a young wife who heard from her husband that he had someone else and that he had been secretly having an affair for a long time. When she heard those words, the broken-hearted wife fell on the floor in my study on her face crying uncontrollably because her heart had been grieved. I have always thought, “What a picture of how the Holy Spirit must feel Sunday after Sunday when we gather today singing the right songs, saying the right words and walking away empty-handed.”
Are you doing anything in your life right now that grieves the Holy Spirit?
Do you see the power of God’s Presence in your life?
If not, is there a secret sin in your life that you must confess?
God loves us regardless. But He uses us when we are clean.
6. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE INDWELLING PRESENCE AND THE MANIFEST PRESENCE OF GOD.
We look outside on a cloudy, wintry day and nothing is happening. The weatherman says that it is going to snow. Once we were told in our area that there would be 10 inches of snow. Nothing happened. Snow can only happen when there is moisture in the air. The moisture gathers into droplets. The cold temperatures begin to freeze the droplets. More moisture builds up and the ice crystals get heavier. When they are heavy enough, they fall as snow. The conditions have to be right.
The ministry of the Church is no different. The Spirit of God indwells every believer in the Church. Just because the Church is gathered together in one place indwelt by one Spirit does not mean that they are in one accord with the Presence of God. We hear the clarion call of God to His people in the Old Testament in II Chronicles 7:14:
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
I have been told that 70% of the visitors to the majestic Mt. McKinley in Alaska never see the top of the tallest mountain in North America. They only see the clouds surrounding the mountain. They travel thousands of miles and never see the glory. What an analogy for the Church today! I believe most Christians and most Church leaders spend most of their lives knowing only the INDWELLING Presence of God and rarely ever seeing the MANIFEST Presence of God.
But when we meet the conditions of Scripture, the Cloud of God surrounds the Camp and manifests and unleashes His mighty power to heal, fill and thrill! And that’s a big deal! That’s when Church is fun again.
7. WE ARE COMMANDED TO SEEK THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
I can just hear some Bible students getting their arguments ready to debate this point. I have met so many who believe that we are not to seek God’s Presence today in the New Testament Church because the Spirit indwells us. I have bought that concept for years…….until I ran into James chapter 4. What a great New Testament PRINCIPLE about the PRESENCE of God. Listen to what
James says and apply it to worship in James 4:7-8:
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Draw near to God. Seek His Face. It is interesting to know that the “FACE” of God in the Old Testament represented the Presence of God. The “HAND” of God in the Old Testament represented the power of God. Israel was never told to seek His hand. They were commanded regularly to seek His face. James agrees that this a principle for the New Testament Church as well.
David Wilkerson once asked an audience of over 1000 pastors if they would rather have purity or power in their lives and ministries. They majority of pastors said……POWER. My brothers and sisters in Christ, this is exactly why the Church today has no power. We have grieved the Spirit of God because we prefer His power over the purity of His Presence. The Message translation of James 4:6-10 says it in a convicting way:
6 You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.” 7-10 So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.
8. THE PRESENCE OF GOD IS MANIFEST WHEN THE PEOPLE OF GOD PRAISE HIM.
II Chronicles 20 is a picture of one of the wackiest wars in history. The people of God are surrounded by the enemy, the Ammonites and Moabites. Death is certain. Blood will be spilled. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel and he spoke a prophetic word to King Jehoshaphat. The Lord commanded Jehoshaphat to send the praise team with their dancers, singers and banner waving radicals to the front of the fight. They actually led the soldiers into the battle. When the enemies saw the praise team out front……..they must have died laughing. And they did die later as the Spirit of God struck them down for coming against the people of God (Genesis 12:1-4).
Wow, what a textbook picture of how worship and warfare work in the Church today. We worship Him who inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). He lives INWARDLY in His people. He manifests His Presence OUTWARDLY in our praises!
Singer Russ Taff said it best:
“When you're up against a struggle, that shatters all your dreams
And your hopes have been cruelly crushed by Satan's manifested schemes
And you feel the urge within you to submit to earthly fear
Don't let the faith you're standing in seem to disappear
Praise the Lord, He will work through those who praise Him
Praise the Lord, for our God inhabits praise
Praise the Lord, for the chains that seem to bind you
Serve only to remind you, that they drop powerless behind you
When you praise Him!”
9. WHEN THE PRESENCE OF GOD IS MANIFEST, THE ENEMY IS DEFEATED.
Lucifer was once the praise leader in Heaven. He became jealous of God’s power and position. He determined to overthrow the Lord in Heaven (Isaiah 14). But He was cast down from Heaven to earth by the Lord Himself who saw him fall like lightning! (Luke 10:18). Satan took one-third of the angels in Heaven with him according to Revelation 12:1-4. They are here on earth to attack the Kingdom of God and to blind people to the Word of God. And one of the deepest doctrines he has attacked is the truth about worship. For when we worship God with a pure heart, not only does the Lord manfiest His powerful Presence…….but Satan’s perverted presence is cast out and no longer received. That is how the Kingdom advances.
I was leading a youth camp a few years ago and a female youth counselor came to me and confessed that she had dabbled into pornography and had become addicted, even though it seems to be a temptation that men battle. I encouraged her to go to her room and turn on her most anointed praise and worship music and seek the Presence of God. The results were astonishing and victory was won.
Satan can’t stand it when you praise the Lord. He is so jealous of Jesus. When we praise God, Satan remembers where he once was around the throne of God leading the angels in praise. So, when you praise the Lord, Lucifer won’t stick around and he can’t. He is not welcome because we welcome only the Presence of Jehovah God Almighty, Prince of Peace.
IN THE PRESENCE OF JEHOVAH
Words and Music by Becky Davis/Geron Davis
In and out of situations
That tug of war at me
All day long I struggle
For answers that I need
But then I come into His presence
And all my questions become clear
And for that sacred moment
No doubts can interfere
Chorus
In the presence of Jehovah
God Almighty, Prince of Peace
Troubles vanish, hearts are mended
In the presence of the King
Through His love the Lord provided
A place for us to rest
A place to find the answers
In the hour of distress
Now there’s never any reason
For you to give up in despair
Just slip away and breathe His name
He will surely meet you there
Chorus
In the presence of Jehovah
God Almighty, Prince of Peace
Troubles vanish, hearts are mended
In the presence of the King
QUESTIONS TO ASK OURSELVES WHEN WE THINK OF HIS PRESENCE
• Do I know that Christ lives in me?
• Do I know that the Lord is everywhere I go and sees all I do?
• Is there anything that I am hiding from the Presence of God?
• If yes, will you release that sin, worry, fear, unforgiveness, bitterness, anger and hurt to the Lord right now?
PRAYER FOR WELCOMING THE PRESENCE OF GOD
Dear Father in Heaven,
Like Moses I have been hiding from Your Presence. Today, I want to stop running from You and run to Your arms of love. I need Your help. I need Your healing. I can’t live without You.
Forgive me for causing you to grieve, Holy Spirit. I lay aside my excuses for not serving You and I welcome Your Presence in my life. Take control of my life again and show me Your glory.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
If you need someone to talk to about this, please contact me.
Dr. Larry Petton
