The Psalmist reminds us this morning that God is very present when we need Him Most. God is an infinite Spirit that fills all places excluding no place. Unlike God, Satan needs to travel to get somewhere. But God is everywhere without division, mutiplication, addition or subtraction. When the bible says God walks to and fro, it is the humanizing (Anthropomorphism) of God. God never needs to move to get no place. Every place is immediately in God’s presence. There is no place that God does not exist. God is very present in heaven, earth and hell yet He is not bound by either. To say that God is Omnipresent, we mean that God in the totality of His essence fills the universe and beyond in all its parts. This is a quality that belong soley to God. No place is without God. God is at this funeral to comfort you. But He’s still present at others funerals also. There are many who are present today; but none of them are very present. God is more present than anyone or anything. Everything else is present outside of you but God is present inside of your being. God is present at every hospital,
nursing home, prison cells and intensive care unit world over. The essence of God is present at the same moment in all. If God is everywhere present, it also means that in all places, I am present to Him. It is comforting to know that all of my troubles are immediately in God presence. The closer anything get to the SUN, the quicker it breaks up. The closer my trouble get to the SON the quicker He breaks them up. While God’s center is everywhere, His circumference is nowhere. Tony Evans says; "That in His Omniscience, He knows what to do. In His omipotence He has power to do it but in His Omnipresence He’s always where-ever he needs to be to do whatever needs to be done." God is present in the worst moments of life. Man can ignore God but no one can avoid Him. Everywhere we go, we will run into Him. Both the church and the cemetary are immeiately in His presence. A local God could not be God. I do not have to go into the mountain to call Him down nor do I have to go down in the valley to call Him up. Everything is immediately in His presence. Nothing and no one is beyond His All-Seeing eye. We cannot flee from the presence of God. No sparrow can fall beyond His view. He saw Moses on the back-side of a mountain. He saw Hagar in the wilderness. He saw Daniel in the Lion’s Den. He saw Israel enslaved in Egypt. We cannot confine God to our feeble minds; or He would not big enough for our needs. So today in your hour of sorrow, know this; that God is here. If God is everywhere, it means that He is present with you today. God was at this church-house before you arrived. God is at the cemetary waiting for you. People are like moving ships that pass by; but God is like a ship that moves without passing by. No matter what you face, God is at your side. All of our fears are lessoned when we consider that in every case God is present. Diseases can quanratine us from people but nothing can keep our God from us. The Songs says; "The Presence of the Lord is Here." Everything we do or say is immediately in God presence. God is not exhausted by tapes, books or seminars. God is not hiding from us, He doesn’t need to be found; He simply needs to be received. Only a God who’s everywhere can hear prayers from every place. Since God is everywhere, there is no escape for the wicked and there is no separation from the righteous. The righteous does not have to pray for God’s presence, they need to pray for a consciouness of His presence. Once we are conscious of God’s presence, we ’ll realize that whatever happens God allows it. But in either case, He is still present. Sometimes we can get behind each other’s back but with God, we are always face to face. God is in heaven as a rewarder. He is in hell as a reminder. He is in the Bible as revealer. God is the hospital as a healer. He is in the graveyard as a conqueror. God is with the down-todden as a counselor. Thank God He’s everywhere I am. He is everywhere I shall be. He is everywhere I could be. The presence of God is glory in heaven. The presence of God is justice in hell. When I think about God’s presence; It begets reverence, It inspires confidence and it produces carefulness.
Let us consider the following concerning His presence:
I. It is a PROMISED PRESENCE.
II. It is a POWERFUL PRESENCE.
III. It is a PURPOSEFUL PRESENCE.
IV. It is a PATERNAL PRESENCE.
V. It is a PROVIDENTIAL PRESENCE.
VI. It is a PREEMINENT PRESENCE.
VII. It is a PREPARATORY PRESENCE.
Conclusion: God is a very present help.....
God helps us as close friend.....
God helps us as a comforter......
God helps us as a burden bearer....
God helps us as a shield and a buckler....
God helps us as a Mighty Fortress....
God helps us a Sorrow-remover....
God helps as death conqueror....
May God Bless and keep you.
Pastor Rodney L. Johnson Sr.,
Historic Bethlehem Baptist Church
Hahnville, LA. 70057
