THE PRESENCE OF GOD

 

{all verses quoted are from the NKJV translation unless otherwise noted}

1.  HOW CAN I EXPERIENCE GOD’S PRESENCE IN MY LIFE?

Psalm 145:18 ─ The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.

u Charles Spurgeon in his Treasury of David says this about the phrase “To all that call upon him in truth”:

There are many whose formal prayers and false professions will never bring them into communion with the Lord. To pray in truth, we must have a true heart, and the truth in our heart; and then we must be humble, for pride is a falsehood; and be earnest, or else prayer is a lie. A God of truth cannot be nigh to the spirit of hypocrisy; this he knows and hates; neither can he be far removed from a sincere spirit, since it is his work, and he forsakes not the work of his own hands.

 

James 4:8 ─ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

u Our sins drive a wedge between God and us. When we sin we must be quick to repent  and strive diligently not to repeat that sin again. At the point of true repentance our sin is blotted out by the blood of our savior (if we have been baptized into Christ) and our soul is once again clean.  It is in this state that we can confidently come into the presence of God in prayer. And we must not be double-minded, in other words we must be free of all doubt when we pray, or else are prayers are ineffectual (cf. James 1:6)

 

Matthew 5:20 ─ For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:3-4 ─ Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

u One thing the Pharisees were not was humble - they were prideful to the extent that they thought they were better than the common people (Luke 18:11-12).  They we the opposite of humble children that Jesus says we should emulate.

 

2.  WITH ALL MY FAULTS AND FAILURES, HOW CAN I POSSIBLY ENTER GOD’S PRESENCE?

2^nd Corinthians 5:21 ─ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

u God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. A Holy God cannot tolerate sin, but because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as the payment for our sins, we can approach the throne of God as cleansed and righteous individuals.

 

Ephesians 3:11-12  ─ according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,  in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.

u Unlike those in the Mosaic age, we in the Christian age have direct access to God, because of our belief in his Son. This faith in Christ gives us confidence that we are pleasing to God and that He will listen to our prayers.

 

Jeremiah 31:34 ─ No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

u Not only does God forgive our sins but this verse tells us that He also forgets our sin. Often people cannot seem to forgive themselves fro some sin they committed, but if we repent of that sin, we should do like God does and forget that sin, wipe it from our mind. It is foolish to hang on to a sin which God has already forgotten.

 

3.  WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF BEING IN GOD’S PRESENCE?

Philippians 2:13 [NLT] ─ God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

u Through God’s Word we have the knowledge of how to please him. Many think they can be pleasing to God without the slightest idea of what his Word says, but that is pure foolishness. 

 

Romans 8:11 ─ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

 

Isaiah 43:2 ─ When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.

u The awareness of God’s presence in our lives should enable us to dispel fear and anxiety, knowing that God is always with us, regardless of what circumstances we find ourselves in.

 

 

Joshua 1:9 ─ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." 

u One way we can gauge the strength of our faith, is by our level of courage to face all that life throws at us. 

 

4.  HOW DO I KNOW GOD IS WITH ME?

John 14:16-17 ─ And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

u The Holy Spirit  can reside in my heart and mind through God’s Word. But this takes effort on my part. I must continually nourish my mind with God’s Word in order to keep the Holy Spirit alive in me. 

 

Psalm 34:18-19 ─ The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

u When we repent and are truly contrite, we can know that God is near to us.

 

John 15:9-10 ─ "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

u If we know Jesus’ commandments and obey them and live our lives by them, we can be assured of abiding in Jesus’ love. But once again the promise is conditional – we must do our part.

 

5.  WHAT COMFORT CAN I TAKE FROM GOD’S PRESENCE?

John 14:27 ─ Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

 

Psalm 16:11  ─ You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

u Joy is defined as:  Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness, a deep feeling or condition of happiness or contentment.

 

Psalm 121:3-4 ─ He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. 

u [Gill Commentary]:  The Lord keeps the feet of his saints from falling: he will not suffer them to be moved out of the spiritual estate in which they stand; nor off of the Foundation and Rock of ages, on which their feet are set, and their goings established; nor out of the house of God, where they are as pillars; nor out of his ways, where he upholds their goings;

 

6.  HOW CAN OTHERS SEE GOD’S PRESENCE IN ME?

We have numerous great examples of individuals who exemplified God presence in their lives.

The underlined traits below are ones that we must exhibit as God’s people:

    ● Noah’s total obedience to God (Genesis 6-8)

    ● Abraham’s trust in God in the willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac (Genesis 22:2)

    ● Joseph’s integrity in dealing with Potiphar (Genesis 39)

    ● Daniel’s commitment to worshipping his God (Daniel 6)

    ● David’s courage in the Lord against Goliath (1^st Samuel 17)

    ● Dorcas’ thoughtfulness and generosity towards the widows (Acts 9:6 ff)

    ● Paul’s boldness in preaching: Acts 9:20-24  ─ Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed, and said, "Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?" But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ. Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him. But their plot became known to Saul. 

u [Barnes]:  “confounded the Jews”:  Paul confuted (showed to be false) them, and put them to silence, so that they had nothing to say for themselves, or against the truth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.  ARE THERE TIMES WHEN I SHOULD BE AFRAID OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD?

Genesis 3:8  ─ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 

u Adam and Eve knew that had done wrong and they were foolishly trying to hide from God. They like disobedient children did not want to face their father’s anger.  

 

Ezekiel 21:24, 31 ─ Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand. [31] I will pour out My indignation on you; I will blow against you with the fire of My wrath, And deliver you into the hands of brutal men who are skillful to destroy.

u God makes no secret of the power of his wrath to those who sin against him. We can’t say that we have not been warned about this. If we choose to slough it off or disbelieve it (because we think an all-loving God would not do this to his children) we will be in for a very rude awakening come Judgment Day.

 

Zephaniah 1:17-18 ─  "I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the Lord; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse." Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them In the day of the Lord's wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured By the fire of His jealousy, For He will make speedy riddance of all those who dwell in the land.

u Jealousy: [King James Bible Dictionary]: Holy indignation; The anger of a superior; extreme anger mingled with contempt, disgust or abhorrence; particularly, the wrath of God against sinful men for their ingratitude and rebellion.

 

8.  WHAT CAN KEEP ME FROM ENJOYING GOD’S PRESENCE?

Isaiah 59:2 ─  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

u Fortunately this fate does not have to be realized by those whose sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus. But this verse does pertain to who have not come to repentance.

 

1^st Corinthians 6:9 ─  Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers {one who treats another with contemptuous or abusive language} nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

 

Galatians 5:19-21 ─ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness {lustful, with impure motives}, lewdness {unbridled lust, shamelessness}, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions {strife, wrangling}, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions {divisions}, heresies {a body of men following their own tenets; sect or party}, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries {a nocturnal and riotous procession of half drunken and frolicsome fellows}, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

u These two passages together give us a pretty long list of activities that will prevent us from entering heaven.

 

Proverbs 15:29 ─ The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous.

1^st Peter 3:12  ─ For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. 

u It’s amazing how many people have been brainwashed into believing that they can believe whatever they want, worship God in any way they want and live their lives in any way they want, and God will still hear their prayers. This is not what the bible teaches as these verses and others prove.

 

9.  HOW DOES GOD’S PRESENCE IN MY LIFE AFFECT MY RELATIONSHIPS?

1^st John 4:20-21 ─ If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?   And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

 

Galatians 3:27-28  ─ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 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.

u Unlike in politics where sharp divisions exist, in the worldwide family of Christians there should be no divisions – we are all one in Christ. Unfortunately denominationalism has created divisions where there should be none. 

 

Galatians 5:22-23 ─ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

u God’s presence in our lives equips us for healthy relationships with one another.

 

10. WHAT SHOULD I DO WHEN IT FEELS LIKE GOD IS FAR AWAY?

Psalm 139:7  ─  Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 

 

Deuteronomy 31:6 ─ Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."

 

Matthew 6:6 ─  …  go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

 

u During times of struggle, we should meditate on God’s promises that he will not leave or forsake us, regardless of how we feel. God is with us even when we feel like God is far away. Sometimes our feelings can deceive us or push us in the wrong direction. So we would be wise to heed Solomon’s advice:

Proverbs 28:26 ─ He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But whoever walks wisely will be delivered. 

 

11.  ARE THERE TIMES WHEN GOD LEAVES ME?

u The short answer is: a conditional  “No”  (I must remain faithful) - as the following verses prove:

Psalms 16:10-11 ─ For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

 

Isaiah 43:2-3  ─ When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.  3   For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

 

Isaiah 46:4 [NLT] ─ I will be your God throughout your lifetime - until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.

 

LESSON  SUMMARY

Acts 2:28 ─ You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in your presence.' 

u Because God has revealed his will for our lives to us, we can live joyful lives, knowing that if we obey God’s commands, we can have fellowship with Him for eternity … and we can have happier, more fulfilling lives while we are here on earth.