Greater Part 2, By Pastor Rob Ketterling.
All right, we are continuing our series focusing in on the greater presence of God. And I just am so excited about when the church does the series together and we do the Lifegroups and everybody's on the same page. And we are looking this week at the greater presence of God and why should we seek after the greater presence. Why do we really want to seek after it more?
We talked about the presence of God, and I'll give a quick review because we are only two weeks into this now. But last week we talked about the omnipresence of God, that God is everywhere, okay? It's an attribute of God that he's omnipresent. We also talked about the indwelling presence of God, that when you give your life to Jesus Christ and he becomes your Lord and Savior and at the end of this service here and at all of our campuses we are going to give people an opportunity to do that when you do that, you have the indwelling presence of God. There is the omnipresence; he's everywhere.
When you give your life to him and you say, "I want to be a Christian, I want to turn from my sins and ask for forgiveness," the Bible says that the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit takes residence in you, okay? So we have the indwelling presence.
Then we talked about the manifest presence. And we've really focused in this series on that aspect; that there are times when the presence of God is felt in a greater way. It is the manifest presence of God. It's the moments of greater nearness. It's the moments of greater awareness. It's a moment of greater intimacy. And those happen. And we desire as a church, we desire very much so that we have greater intimacy, greater nearness, greater awareness. This is something we are hungry for.
And sometimes we get accused as a Spirit filled church of just wanting the manifest presence of God for the feeling. Some people say, "Well, you know, you go there, they kind of get emotional." You know, and I talked about it in week one about this lady coming to our church and feeling something and crying during service. And people will say, you know, "You only want the presence of God in that way for the feeling, for the goose bumps," for the whatever you want to call them. And it is just like it's all just emotion and feeling. And we absolutely enjoy those things. But I'm telling you the manifest presence of God is more than that. It is more than a feeling. As a matter of fact, I'm titling my sermon More Than a Feeling. Now all the older generation just went right to Boston. I know you did. The younger generation is like, "Who's that?" Okay, but that's okay. We are just having a moment here, all right.
But it's more than a feeling. It really is. The manifest presence of God is more than a feeling. There's something that is so much more beneficial to God being manifest in our life in a greater way where we are more aware of what he's doing around us, in us, through us, in the moment. And so we are going to look at those things that the manifest presence of God brings.
Now, I want to point out that the very first thing that I believe that the manifest presence of God brings into our life is more comfort. It brings comfort to the follower of Jesus Christ. When you are experiencing the manifest presence of God, all of a sudden in the midst of your storm, in the midst of your trial you will feel comfort and peace like you've never felt before. You can head into the storm, and you can be trembling, and all of a sudden the manifest presence of God intensifies. You're more aware, you're more near, something happens, and all of a sudden there is a level of comfort you didn't even know existed. Okay?
The psalmist gives us a little insight into this. In Psalm 27:4 8, he says, One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
Those are all presence terms. He's saying, "I want to gaze on the Lord. I want to be in his house. I want to look at his face. I want to be near him." He's saying, "I want the presence of God."
And he says, 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord. 7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
Your face, Lord, I will seek.
He's saying, "I want your presence. And I realize that when I'm in your presence, you're going to take care of me. You're going to put me in a safe place. You're going to put me in your tent. You are going to take care of me, and I'm going to have comfort, even in the midst of my enemies attacking me." And I'm telling you that in the midst of your storm God will give you comfort with the manifest presence of God.
The psalmist also gives us an example in Psalm 61:3 4. It says, For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
Now, I want you to understand this. The psalmist is saying like a mother hen gathers her chicks around her and takes care of them, I'm going to the psalmist is saying, "I want to be near you and be protected. I want to be there. I want to be under the wings. I want to be close. I want to be right next to you."
If you've ever had the opportunity to see this happen at a farm or something, and you see a hen and all of a sudden her chicks are there, and then something startles them. And what do they do? They all run right next to her and they are right underneath there, and they are gathering for protection. It is quite a sight. And the psalmist is saying, "I want your presence so near to me, I want to be so close to you. And I want you to cover me, take care of me and protect me, and I want to be right there with you."
For us, anyone that has children, how many know that a storm can hit, storm hits, and how many know your kids are like, "I want to be near you. I want to be under the shelter of your blanket."
And you're like, "No, mom and dad have our room, and you have your room, and you stay in your room."
And they are like, "No, I'm here!" How many know they just have a way of getting in the bed and kicking you and sleeping on you, and they have an amazing night's sleep in your presence and you have a horrible night's sleep. That's what happens, you know. But there is something you can say, "But we are over here."
It's like, "It doesn't matter. I need the comfort of your presence."
And the psalmist is saying, "I need the comfort of your presence. I need you near." And there is a manifest presence of God when you're facing a struggle, and all of a sudden the presence of God just gives you peace and comfort like you have never seen before.
Couple illustrations just trying to help you understand this. It is very real to your everyday life. When I was going in for my first surgery when I was 11 and I had major chest surgery, I can remember that I walked into the operating room and I was afraid. I was just, like, in that moment it was like fear hit me and I was trembling, and all of a sudden I felt the manifest presence of God. I didn't know now to explain it, but I felt almost an enveloping of God's presence on me. It was, like, "I'm fine. This is good." I remember getting up on the operating table myself and just being like, "It's good, I'm going to be fine." It was the presence of God.
When I had my heart attack and I was in the hospital, there was a turning point just this month and a half ago. All of a sudden in that hospital room I could feel the manifest presence of God, like he just kind of went, "This is all going to be okay."
If the doctors wouldn't have thought that I was weird, I would have said, "You guys feel that right now?" I would have. I would have said, "Do you feel that? That's the presence of God right now. You're all operating under the presence of God right now, right here."
But they would have been like, "And he needs brain work." I mean, that's probably what they would have thought, right? So I didn't say anything. But very, very, very real.
Okay, as a matter of fact, I was on an airplane when I was studying for this sermon just the other day. And I was on the plane driving driving, I said driving flying back, and I'm sitting in my seat, and the presence of God just starts hitting me, so much so that I started weeping in the manifest presence of God. I can remember another time I was studying for a sermon, and I was sitting next to this young lady, and at the end of the flight she was just like, "What are you doing?"
I said, "I'm studying for a sermon."
She said, "Whatever you're doing, it is really good, like it's oozing onto my seat." She didn't know how to say it, but she's like, "I could feel it. That's good. Just keep it up. You just keep doing it." Isn't that interesting? It's the manifest presence of God in a very real, tangible way.
I can remember when I was preaching in India a few years ago. I can tell you that it was a demonic attack that I was feeling. It was doubt, and it was like the voices of the enemy were just saying, "You're going to fail tonight. They rented the stadium. Nobody is getting delivered. Nobody is getting saved. You're in trouble. You didn't prepare enough. Your message is no good." And all these thoughts.
So I called Becca from India, and I said, "You need to pray for me. You need to get people praying for me."
And I can tell you that as I was walking on the stage I was feeling sick. I felt like this is going to be a failure. This is horrible. And all of a sudden it was like God went, "No you don't. Watch this." And it was like a manifest presence of God.
And I walked forward, like, "This wasn't me guys. There was a presence of God here, that in my struggle, in this battle right now I felt the presence of God."
There has been moments where you go to confront someone, like, that is not right, that is not of God, and we can't do that. I can tell you manifest presence of God. All of a sudden you just feel the presence of God in that moment.
I can remember being in junior high and there was something going on. I can't even remember what it was, but there was something going on at the school, and it grieved my spirit. So I went and met with the principal. I was terrified to go stand up for my faith. Terrified. But I can remember right before I walked in the room, again, manifest presence of God. It just stands out to me so strong that God is like, "I've got you. I'll give you comfort in the midst of your storm." That's real. That happens to people all the time as we walk with God.
How many know in funerals, you can be going to a funeral and you are in deep grief and pain and agony. And it doesn't mean you still don't hurt, but all of a sudden the manifest presence of God puts a peace on you in that storm that you can't even explain. Afterwards people are like, "You were amazing!"
And you are like, "I can't explain it." Like, there was a presence of God in the midst of my struggle that I can't even tell you. It's hard to explain.
I go on hospital visits to visit the sick, and all of a sudden the doubt will be all around, there will be fear. And all of a sudden in the midst of that struggle the presence of God shows up in an amazing way.
I'm just thinking about all of these. I'll never forget being in a hospital when a young man died, and his family was right there, and I was in there. I heard him breathe his last breath. And there was an intense manifest presence of God that moment, and I shared the gospel with his family and shared the faith that man had.
Wow! I mean, these are just coming back to me. God is like, "Do you understand how real that is? In the midst of those struggles, I'm going to give you comfort." And that's something we should long for.
You say, "Why do we want the presence of God stronger in our life?" Because we all go through struggles. We all go through them.
Scotty Smith wrote an article on God's presence in the storm, and he gave a model prayer than you can pray in the storm. And I want you to hear this. We'll make it available online and get it out to people. But he said, "Here's how you can pray when you are afraid. You can pray:
"Father, you don't promise we won't experience floods and torrents, fires and flames. But you do promise you will be with us, and that we won't suffer ultimate harm. To know you are near and to know you are good is all we really need. We will go anywhere and do anything, as long as we're convinced that you're with us and for us.
"We know ourselves to be 'precious and honored in your sight,' because of what you've done for us in Jesus. We praise you for the one and only truly indescribable gift given for us and to us (2 Cor. 9:15). And since you didn't spare your own Son, we can trust you graciously to give us everything else we need (Rom. 8:32), in current and future storms.
"We don't have to be afraid of anything or anyone, for you are with us and you are for us. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus' triumphant and trustworthy name."
How many know that's a prayer, like, God is with you and His presence can be intensified. You can be more aware. He can be more near. It can just get you through the storm. And each and every one of us need the manifest presence of God in that way. What an advantage we have of going through life with that. What an advantage.
Okay, second thing, why should we be hungry? Because the presence of God brings a healthy fear in your life. The presence of God brings a healthy fear in your life. I want you to know whenever the Bible talks about fear, fearing God, it's not like trembling, like, "Oh, no! Oh, no, it's God! Oh, no! Is He happy?" It's not that. The fear is this: an awe and deep respect for God. It is like, "Wow! I don't want to let you down. I want to live for your glory. I want to do what you want me to do, because you are amazing. And now that you poured out your presence in this way, I understand a little bit better how amazing you are."
Okay, do you get the difference? Now, there are moments where people are afraid of the presence of God. But as a follower of Jesus Christ, we should not be afraid of the presence of God, all right? Now, it's natural. I mean how many times an angel shows up, and they are like, "Fear not. Fear not." All right? "I stand in the presence of God. Okay. Fear not." All right, so it's real.
Moses, and we'll look at this in an upcoming week about the presence of God, in Exodus 34, Moses is in the presence of God, and he doesn't realize it, he's so near to God, the manifest presence of God is so real as Moses is getting closer than anyone else has ever been in His presence, he comes down to talk to the people, and his face is shining. And they are like, "Oh, stay away. We don't know if we are okay to do what you are doing. Could you put a veil over your face?" So he literally had to put a veil over his face because it scared them that his face was glowing from the presence of God. And then when he'd go into God's presence, he would take down the veil. That's incredible. But I'm not talking, again, about that type of fear. I'm talking about the manifest presence that gives you the awe of God that you, again, think he is so amazing.
And as I look for a way again to illustrate it, I couldn't help but think of an illustration I've used before, but it's so strong. When I was in Cabo San Lucas for Becca and I, for our tenth anniversary we went to Cabo San Lucas and celebrated ten years of marriage. And I can remember when we were there, we actually were there with another couple from the church, Mick and Christy Miller. While we were there it was whale season. And so we thought, "This would be awesome, we should go out with the whales. Let's rent some kayaks, and let's do this." So Mick and I are like, "Let's do this. Let's rent some kayaks."
So we rented solo kayaks, and after we got out there I wished he was in my kayak with me. We get out there with these whales, and, you know, we are kind of like, "Where are the whales?" And then the whales showed up. And all of a sudden it was like, whoosh! I mean, in that moment my heart was racing. My heart was racing. I mean, just the awe of how big that whale was right there.
And then I'm like talking to Mick, like, "The sonar works, right? They've got sonar. They are not going to tip us, right? Whales don't do pranks do they, like [whistle]. They are not going to do that, are they? We are good, right?" You know, and all of a sudden after a moment it was like settled in, like, this is amazing.
Now, let me just talk to you about our whale adventure and God's presence and parallel a couple of things. First of all, Mick and I entered the water way too casually and way too ignorant. We just didn't even think it through. We are just like, "Let's go!"
I think some of us don't even realize that God wants to manifest His presence in a mighty way in your life. You are too ignorant, you are too casual. Think of how little we even prepare for church time. We are like, "Oh, I'll go to church. I don't know, maybe God wants to show up and really pour out his Spirit on us." And we are not even prepared. I think we are way too casual. Okay?
Then we get out there and there was a lull moment, we didn't even realize what was going on, but nothing was happening. But all of a sudden, boom, it popped in, and when it did our eyes were open, our heart was intent, and it went to a whole other level. And it was a level we'd never experienced before, and it was just like almost hard to breathe.
Okay, now just let me stop for a moment. Our youngest son, Logan Becca and I, our youngest son Logan, he said last week in this series, he said, "God, I want your presence," and as we ended with the song It's Your Presence, he said, "God, I want it. I want to feel your manifest presence in my life stronger."
And God said, "Go to your knees, and I'll pour out my spirit on you."
And he said, "How about if you pour it out and then I go to my knees?" Like to reverse the order.
And God said, "I said 'Go to your knees,' and then I'll pour out my spirit."
So he goes to his knees and then just starts weeping. The presence of God floods over him. He's like, "I'm in awe." He said, "Fifteen minutes of worship went by like in a minute." He said, "I was praying in my prayer language. I was, like, this is intense."
I'm telling you, when you're in the presence of God, there is that awe and your eyes are opened, and it is like, wow, wow!
Going back to the whales here, I can remember I tried to control what I could, but then I realized I wasn't in control. I wasn't in control. I mean, they were. I was just there. And I can tell you this about the presence of God: we can do everything we want to set the table for God's presence to manifest more in our life. We can be hungry and we'll talk about that in this series. But he is still going to pour out his Spirit when he wants to. He comes near and he comes closer. It is not always predictable. Okay? It is not always predictable. But I can tell you this: you can push him away. We can set the table and say, "God, pour out your Spirit today in a special way, and I'm ready and I'm receptive," okay? But more often than not, God is ready to do it and we push him away. We push him away with the things that we do. And I don't want to do that. I can remember we stayed still and we soaked it in. We soaked it in and then enjoyed the moment.
If I can say this about God's presence: soak it in. When God is pouring out his Spirit in a special way in your life, whether it's in a coffee shop or in your car or at church or wherever you are, soak it in. Don't lose the moment. Man, enjoy it! God broke in on you. Cherish that moment.
Then when it was over, I felt like I was changed. I remember I was, like, I was in the presence of something that awed me, that kind of took my breath away, and I feel like I'm changed because of being near that whale. How many know, in the presence of God, you're like, "That changed me. That day changed me. That moment changed me." Like, "It got ahold of me."
And then when it was over, Mick and I ran, you know, ran in from the kayaks. We are like, "This is amazing!" And we wanted to tell our wives. We were telling everybody, "They were right there! Did you see it?" And it was just and then we were like, "That was awesome! We should do it again." I kind of want to book a trip there right now, because it's winter, but also because of the awe.
And how many know this: when God touches you, you say, "Do it again. Do it again." I don't want our church to have the presence of God poured out ten years ago and say, "Wasn't that awesome ten years ago?" It should be, "Do it again today." It should be, "Do it again today. Do it again today."
As a matter of fact, I think it's sad, I think it's sad that we can go for years and say, "I remember at camp the presence of God was really real. That was incredible camp." It shouldn't be like that. You shouldn't be coming to church saying, "Well, I hope they really ring the bell this week, because, you know, it has been a week since I felt the presence of God." And, you know, "I'm hoping they are prepped."
Why aren't you anticipating the presence of God daily? In the coffee shop, in the car, on the airplane, in the mall. Yes, God's presence can pour out in all those places. I mean, you can be in that cubicle, and all of a sudden the presence of God is so strong that maybe the person next to you, you are not crying, but they are like, "Do you feel that?" You don't have to be the weird one; they can be the weird one. Follow that lead. Go with it, all right? It should be normal. There should be an anticipation. We shouldn't be once a month or once a year or hopefully once a week. It should be an ongoing thing. I'm telling you, just the other day when I was studying, I felt the presence of God. There was a time in reading the soap this last week, felt the presence of God. There was another time in a moment with a sunrise, felt the presence of God. Just special moments that were being poured out. And when you have that awe, when you have those moments, when churches anticipate this, they make the environment welcoming to this, all of a sudden it becomes something regular in our life, and there is a deep awe and respect of who God is. And we need more of that.
Third thing, the presence of God brings joy. The presence of God brings joy. And you're going through this manifest presence, and all of a sudden God pours out, and it lifts your Spirit. I mean, it brings the comfort, it brings the awe; but it also brings joy where all of a sudden you just are overflowing with goodness. There is a generosity, there is a joy, there is a happiness, there is a lifting of your spirit. It just happens.
And the psalmist said in Psalm 16:11, he says, You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." And the psalmist was getting a glimpse of heaven. And he was saying, "You know what? I tasted a little bit of your presence, and it's pretty amazing. And I can't imagine what it's like to be in your presence in heaven where you are pouring out your favor." Because when he says, "At Your right hand there is blessing," he's saying that's favor. And the right hand was pleasure and good and blessing and beauty. And he's saying, "Wow, if I'm just getting a little taste of you now, I can't wait until heaven."
And if I can tell you this, whatever you're feeling in a church service, whatever you feel when you're reading your Word and you're doing your devotions, whatever you feel in the cubical or the coffee shop or listening to praise music, whatever is going on, and you feel it, the psalmist is letting us know that is just a taste of it. It is just a taste. And that taste should make you hungry for more.
And if I could just illustrate this for a second. The psalmist is saying, like, "God, in your presence when you give us those manifest presence moments of you, it's just a taste. [Pouring water into a glass.] It's just a taste. And how many know those manifest presence moments of God, they are there and then they are gone. Then they are gone. But it was like that was a great taste. And that taste should make you hungry for more of God's presence. And the psalmist is saying, "In your presence, there is fullness of joy, and it is not just a taste. In heaven your presence is so strong, it's overflowing. [Pouring water into glass overflowing.] It is overflowing." And he's saying. "Guess what? It's overflowing so much, if there is goodness I feel here, there is more goodness that never runs out."
And if there is freedom from sin, like, how many know, like, when you avoid temptation and you stand away from it and you live in victory, and you walk away from that and you don't sin, there is a manifest presence on you. God is like, "Well done." And I can remember a temptation facing me, and I said no to it, and I felt like I could have jumped over a building. [Pouring water into glass overflowing.] And God is like, "Guess what? In heaven you won't even be tempted to sin. It is going to be way better, way better." How many know that when God pours out his blessing on you and kindness and healing and all, he's like, "Guess what? [Pouring water into glass overflowing.] Heaven there is fullness, it's overflowing."
And the psalmist is saying, "There is fullness of joy. There isn't even room for the bad things. And I'm going to be in a perpetual moment of enjoying God's presence." It almost sounds too good to be true. I mean, he is saying, you know, in the life that we live, we just get a glimpse, we get a taste, and it's here, and it's gone. But in heaven we're going to get the fullness. We are going to get all God has. He is going to pour it out on us. There is more where that came from. And he says, "Guess what? It's forever, and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever you're in His presence."
Think about this I'll get a new cup because that one's full. In today's day and age you have a problem, you're like, "Why God? Why did this happen to me? Why not? Why didn't I get that? Why did this happen? How come?" And you don't know the answer.
And how many know that in a moment, in a manifest moment, God gives you a taste and says, "It will be okay." [Pouring water into glass.] And you get a presence of God in your life that just moves you forward to, "It will be okay," and you go through life with just a taste of the why and the why not and the how come. But how many know in heaven he is going to give you perfect knowledge, and there is going to be fullness of joy. And he's going to be like, "That's why it happened. That's why you went through it. Do you understand the plan?" You can understand the why and the why not and the how come, and there is fullness of joy [Pouring water into glass overflowing.] And he's going to get you through it. That's how amazing the presence of God is. The presence and the taste we feel now should make us hungrier for more.
That's why we are saying, God, in this year we desire a greater presence of God. We desire more than what we've had. We don't want to be satisfied with last year, last month, last week. We're ready for another touch from you today. And so I'm praying this will be the year we have more of God, manifest presence, more of God, greater presence, greater presence, greater presence.
And here and at all of our campuses, if you'd just give me a minute, and your campus pastors in just a minute, if you don't know God as your Lord and Savior, if you've not asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins, the Bible says there is punishment for that. It says in 2 Thessalonians 1:8 9, He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and listen to this shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. My eternity as a follower of Jesus Christ, as someone that has asked for forgiveness of my sins, is a full cup overflowing and overflowing and overflowing and blessing on blessing on blessing because of His presence. It's going to pour out on me. I can't even explain it. But the penalty for those people that don't know him as Lord and Savior is to be pushed out of His presence and then not being near him and to be out of His presence.
But the beautiful thing is Romans 10:13 says, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Everyone who calls on the same of the Lord will be saved. And the Bible says if you give your life to Jesus Christ, if you turn from your sins, if you say you're sorry for those sins and you ask for forgiveness, God will give you a taste of His presence by placing the Holy Spirit in you. He will forgive you of your sins. And then you will walk on this journey with him. You will serve him with your whole life. You won't have to work for it. It is grace that you get it. And the Bible says you're forgiven, and you'll have this eternal life with Jesus Christ, with God the Father. It will be incredible. Overflowing, overflowing, overflowing! Amazing! But the choice is ours here.
And here and at all of our campuses, if you would bow your heads with me, just bow your heads for just a moment. And here I'm going to do the alter call, and at the campuses your campus pastors are going to come up now and be able to lead you at this moment to say, "Do I want to give my life to Jesus Christ?" and I believe many people are going to say yes, and they are going to raise their hand in just a moment, saying, "Include me in the closing prayer, I want to give my life to Jesus."
