The Manifest Presence of God

It's great to see everyone here, and thank you, Mr. Phelps. I just had to pause every way. No, it happens, right? And I hope I can make it through the sermon, you know? You get up here, like you said, like, wow, I know, I know that! Anyway, thank you, Mr. McKeown. That was just, where are you? Oh, there you are! That was amazing. You wrote that. That's a that's a treat. How come I didn't hear that before? Anyway, we'll talk about it.

Thank you. Yeah, tomorrow's a new day to grow. That's a beautiful, beautiful message.

Yes, so we're happy to be here for a few days. It's when we left yesterday, it was, it started to snow, and so they had to de-ice the plane. So that kind of tells you the transition we're making up there. We've got four inches of snow in our front yard right now, and so we thought we'd come down to sunny California. It's just like, boy, boy, the 880 just hasn't been like this in a while. But anyway, we need the rain here, so that's good. That's a good thing. But anyway, we're happy to be here, and family's doing well. And thank you very much for your your prayers for us as we transition up there, and also for the French work. It's really been great to be able to focus just completely in the French areas, and we're seeing just amazing things happen.

It's actually pretty demanding with the visit requests and, you know, just getting... we were in Versailles, visiting woman there, and up in near Dunkirk, visiting man up there, and a number of people counseling on the phone. Pretty busy. I think we've got about 10 active visit requests going on just in France right now alone, plus a group in Madagascar. And then, of course, growth in West Africa. If you had a chance to read the e-news, we had a really great event in Cote d'Ivoire, in Ivory Coast, with 400 people in the village there. They went until two o'clock in the morning. They invited the entire village to come for an evening during the feast.

Actually, the San Diego congregation, Redlands, contributed a little bit of extra money for food, and they ended up... they bought a cow. They had it slaughtered, and they fed everybody who came.

We had 400 people there, and they preached until about two o'clock in the morning when the rains came, so they had to leave. Otherwise, we would have kept going. So, a lot of great things going on. So, thank you very much for your prayers for us as we support them. For people... you heard about Angola, and these kinds of crazy things go on. We're dealing with registration issues ourselves. Angola is really just a very difficult case. Well, today I'd like to talk about something that I shared with a brethren in Seattle a few months back. It has to do with the question of, if God exists, where is He?

Of course, we believe that God exists, and so there... well, where's God? Where does He live?

Where does He reside? And, of course, how can we be with Him all the time?

And there's at least a couple levels to this question of how we can find God. You might say, well, God lives everywhere. God is everywhere. He is... and we have a term for this... omnipresent. God is omnipresent. He's everywhere. He's with us in this room, and He's with us wherever we go.

He's in every part of the universe. Or we might say, well, God lives in me. If we're baptized and we've received the laying out of hands, we can say, well, God lives in me. That's where God lives. That's where His presence is. I am His temple. That's a scripture that supports that.

Or we might say, well, we come into God's presence at different times. So we come to come to Sabbath services, and we come before God. We come into God's presence at different times.

And interestingly, all three of these things are true.

But if you stop for a moment and think about it, it doesn't make logical sense to some degree that God is everywhere, and yet we come into His presence. How can both of those things be true?

And if Christ lives in us, then how can we come into His presence?

And these things can maybe be academic, but they actually have an important bearing on how we think about God and His presence and how we rely on Him in times of difficulty. I'd like you to turn with me to Psalm 16, verse 11. Because what we're really talking about is how do we find God?

And once we've found God, how do we stay in God's presence? How do we maintain that relationship with God? How do we call upon God and know that He's going to be there for us in times of difficulty? So there's a head, as it were, a brain level, an academic level, and there's a heart level here, too.

Because there are times when we need God. We desperately need Him. We need Him to help us to be there for us, for Him to lean on Him, for Him to carry us. If we look at Psalm 16, verse 11, it says, you will show me the path of life, and in your presence is fullness of joy.

At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. And I think the word pleasure has kind of been stolen from us. It's a word that in our modern vocabulary evokes something illicit, something illegal, something maybe that's not right.

And yet, in God's Word, He's going to give us this great pleasure, this joy, this happiness, this bliss, this amazing sense of fulfillment and meaning and purpose. And I hope we can take back that word. To be in God's presence is to be full of joy, to be full of pleasure, to be full of life. And that's a beautiful thing. And in fact, this verse is so powerful that the Apostle Peter actually quoted this verse when he gave his famous sermon on the day of Pentecost. In Greek, in Acts 2, 28, he says, you will make me full of joy in your presence.

So this verse sort of continues all the way down to today, that we come to Sabbath services, to be in God's presence, to be filled with joy. We listen to music, we listen to a message, we fellowship, and we walk away hopefully feeling joy, hopefully feeling that sense that we were in God's presence. Jesus Christ came preaching good news, good stuff, good things, pleasure, joy, life, and life more abundantly, as the Scripture says. And it's easy to talk about the end-time troubles. We seem like we're bombarded with it. There's all sorts of bad news.

There's a terrible war going on, and we're paying more for things, and we're wondering where things are going, and we've got unrest in China, and the rise of China, and all these types of things. And so we can fall into that sort of end-time negativism, and yet God wants to give us joy.

He wants to give us life. He wants to give us good things, and we're preaching good news. We're preaching joyous things. He says He's going to give us beauty for ashes. He's going to give us beautiful and wonderful things. And we could have been anywhere today, but we braved the rain, and we drove here to be in God's presence, to be part of this commanded assembly. And as you were driving here, you probably passed a lot of people who were going different places or doing different things, and they're not part of this. Part of the firstfruits were part of this early harvest.

And when we decided to come to church, we decided to come before the presence of God. And so today I want to talk about where God lives, and more importantly, how we live with Him, how we hang out with Him, and how do we understand that He's everywhere, and yet we come into His presence, and yet He lives in us. How do we make sense of that in terms of our relationship with God?

We're going to address the two issues that I've described. First is sort of a theological issue of how we understand these things to all be true, and the other one is really the heart issue. How do we call upon God? How do we stay in God's presence, even during those difficult times?

How do we understand God's presence in our lives? Because it's right here. In your presence is fullness of joy. So don't we want this? Don't we want to have this fullness of joy? Don't we want to follow the teaching of Peter and his sermon on that day of Pentecost?

And today's message, the title is the Manifest Presence of God, or the Manifestation of God's Presence. And when we're done, it is my desire that we think differently about what God has put his presence into, what he has made sacred. So let's first address the point of the omnipresence of God and coming into God's presence by turning over to Matthew 27. Matthew 27 in verse 50. This is a verse which is hard to read just directly like this because it is the culmination, it is the fulfillment of a grand plan, and it is the culmination of a day of suffering and a horrible, horrible crucifixion.

And it is hard to just go right to the Scripture. And I think we've read it, we understand the context, but I want to go directly here because if we think about all the things that led up to this moment, all of the terrible circumstances that occurred, and how Jesus submitted himself to this, we can understand just how impactful this verse is if we just consider it for a moment. Matthew 27 verse 50, Jesus, when he had cried out again with a loud voice, yielded up his Spirit. This is the moment of Christ's death. This is that moment, this is that incredible plan that had been prepared that if man would make this choice, then one of these two great beings would sacrifice himself that we might be redeemed and be restored.

And it is at this moment, then, that we read something in verse 51, the very first thing. What is the first thing that is said after Jesus dies? The absolute first thing it says, and behold, verse 51, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split. The first thing that is described is that this veil, this curtain, was torn. Of all the things that could have been recorded, of all the things that mattered to say after Jesus died, this is the most important thing. This is the most important thing. This curtain. Exodus 26 describes this massive curtain. You can read about it. We don't know exactly how tall it was, but there's different speculation. There is a view that it was likely 60 feet high. 60 feet high.

And it separated the holy place in the temple from the most holy place in the temple, the holy of holies, which was the place where God's presence would rest upon the Ark of the Covenant, where once per year, one man, not a woman, a man, not a child, one man would be allowed into the presence of God. Once a year. That was it. And of course, God would make his presence known to whoever he wanted, and he did give his spirit to certain people we see. But as far as the everyday person was concerned, they only had access to God through the priesthood. The priest was the only one who was allowed to go into God's presence. And here in this moment described in Matthew, something changed. Blood had been spilled. The blood of God himself, Jesus, who gave up being God to become a person like us, had a spear in his side, was tortured, his face marred beyond all recognition, and he suffered death, that we might have access to the Father. That that veil was torn, and we would have access through his sacrifice. That separation between God and man was gone in the form of that veil being gone. He was the atonement for our sin, much more precious than all the sacrifices that had ever been made in that temple. And that mercy seed, that's sort of a creation of the English language that we have in the New King James. It's called the atonement seed and other translations. That place is where God's presence would reside, and now all people would have access to God. And some 50 days later, God would place his spirit, his presence within his disciples on the day of Pentecost. And Paul then told the Athenians some 20 years later that God does not dwell in temples.

That's not where God dwells. God dwells in his people. And so we have access to God, our Father and Jesus Christ, our elder brother who have made this possible. And if we think about Stephen, and he had this vision in Acts 7 of standing at the right hand of the Father, and we can stand in God's presence now. And you know, we live in a skeptical world, especially about God. It's a world based upon the scientific method of inquiry.

And based on that, you can't prove God's presence. You can't prove God's existence through the scientific method. You can't measure it. There's something that's beyond. And yet, mankind knows that there's something that's just a little bit on the edge. There's a great program called Closer to Truth that goes through this. These questions of consciousness. This consciousness physical, or is it spiritual? Is it something that is beyond the physical? And how do you measure consciousness? And how do we transfer consciousness? And how is consciousness retained? And all these types of things. And just the fact that we talk about coming into God's presence, it's challenged by many today as magical thinking. Oh yeah, God. Well, that's yeah. And there's this, there's actually even this very famous quote from Karl Marx, where Karl Marx called religion the opiate of the people. Why did he call it the opiate of the people? We called it that because it's a coping mechanism. It's like a drug. And it's there to soothe people's pain and suffering that they're going through because of the injustices that exist. That's why he called the opiate of the people. That's how religion is viewed by the intelligentsia, by the elites, and so forth. It's just a coping mechanism. So you see, you can't prove this through these things. And yet, it exists. If you've been in God's presence, if you've felt God's presence, if you've known what that is, you know it's real. It exists. It's something that's beyond the physical. Just like our consciousness is something that can't be measured, that's beyond the physical. There's these subjective experiences that we have of pleasure and pain, of hurt and happiness. And you can't measure those. You just can't do it. They don't know how to do that. It's beyond what the scientific method can understand. And this is a great conundrum for people. How do you measure these subjective experiences that we have?

What is this thing that we have, this presence, this understanding that God exists, and that he's there in times of difficulty for us?

So let's consider what it means to come into God's presence. If you turn with me to Psalm 139, verse 7, Psalm 139, verse 7, describes a little bit about this as in Psalm of David, what he's understanding of God is in. What we're talking about is something that is ridiculed, is looked down on, is sort of in a condescending way, and yet is something that cannot be disproved.

Because you can't prove or disprove these subjective experiences that we have of being connected to our Creator. Psalm 139, verse 7, where can I go from your spirit?

Or where can I flee from your presence? See, God is everywhere. If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. Jonah tried to hide. He tried to run and hide, and Saul tried to run and hide.

Nebuchadnezzar, he thought he was the king of the known world, and he was humbled.

No one can escape what Proverbs 15, verse 3 says is God's eye on every place. No one can escape.

God is everywhere. He sees everything. And we also know from Paul's writing in 1 Corinthians 3 that we are the temple in which God's Spirit dwells.

But if these two things are true, how do we understand what it means to come into God's presence then? If God is everywhere and He's in us, how do we understand that?

Look over in Hebrews 10, verse 19. Now let's understand, again, going back to this veil and this holy of holies. What we're trying to do is we're trying to understand something that is kind of beyond our understanding. How can I be here and how can I be someplace else? You know that I'm here. I'm here in Aranda. I'm not in Seattle. And yet God can be in Aranda, and God can be in Seattle, and God can be some other place. How do we understand God? This is what we're circling around. Hebrews 10, verse 19. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which He consecrated for us through the veil that is His flesh. We're going back to the veil. We're going back to His sacrifice. We're going back to how that sacrifice allows us to enter into the holiness of holies. And the writer of Hebrews hearkens back to this separation, to this very famous scene that occurred at his crucifixion of how this veil was torn. And he also connects it then to the Passover as well, because he talks this new and living way which is consecrated for us through His flesh. It also hearkens back to the fact that we eat of Jesus's flesh. So he's connecting these things, and we're going to pass through the veil. And it says in verse 21, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. He says, draw near. So that means that there's a distance, and that distance can be made closer by drawing closer to God. Draw near to God.

God is there, but we must move towards God. We must move towards Him. So you see, God is everywhere, but whether we're drawing close to God is the question. He says, draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. So we can be far from God because we put ourselves far from God. We distance ourselves from God because of certain things that we think, certain conscious thoughts and certain actions, but we can put those things away, and we can draw near to Him.

And to anticipate the question of what this means, the writer of Hebrews continues the thought in verse 23 and makes a specific reference. He says, then, let us hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering, for He who promised is faithful, and let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day approaching. You see, the law in Leviticus 23 says that on the Sabbath there is to be a sacred assembly. Sacred means that God's presence has been placed in it. That's the definition of sacred. So God's presence is placed in the assembly and in the day. And so when we draw near to be present, then we are drawing near to God because that's what He has set aside, is where He places His presence.

So we present ourselves before God in that assembly, and we come into His presence. And that's an example that He gives of drawing near. That's a way we can draw near to God to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Now there are reasons why we might not be here in person. The rain was pretty bad. It might get dark early. We might be sick. There would be lots of legitimate reasons, but we have to ask ourselves if we don't come to church regularly, are we really understanding what it means to come into God's presence? Because this is an example of how we are to draw near. Psalm 100 verse 2 says that when we come before His presence, we come before His presence with singing. Singing is part of what we do when we come to church. And the Expositor's Bible Commentary says that the context of this verse is coming before God on a feast day. That's mainstream Protestant theology I'm giving you. They understand what the context of that verse is.

Coming before God on a feast day. A day made holy by God because He put His presence in that day.

And that's just an example from here from the book of Hebrews and the book of Psalms. There's many, many ways that we come into God's presence. There's many ways that we can draw near to God that we can discuss. So to distinguish the omnipresence of God from specific situations or locations and times that God calls sacred, scholars use a term. And I'm going to introduce this term. And we can talk about this term after church. It's called the manifest presence of God. That's a technical term. You may not like it, but it's an attempt. It's an attempt to draw a distinction between the omnipresence of God and the manifest or evident presence of God. So what does that mean?

Manifest. Well, it means that His power is made manifest. When we come into church, God's power is made manifest in services. From singing, through preaching, through fellowship, God's power is on display. We see it. Now, when we're driving down the road or we're in our house, we may not see God's manifest power, His manifest presence. It may not manifest itself because we're not asking, we're not meditating, we're not praying, we're not studying. We can just be brushing our teeth. God's manifest power is not always showing itself to us, but there are times where God manifests His power to us. For example, we can ask for an anointing.

That's a way that God's power is made manifest through our healing. So when we're sick, it says, call for the elders of the church. You may be anointed. Why? Because you want to be healed, because you want God's power to be made known in your healing. That's God's manifest power, His presence. That is a way that we understand God's presence. Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 5.

We'll see a specific biblical example here. I've made reference to church, singing, fellowship, and so forth. But in 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 20, it says, do not despise prophecies.

Test all things. Hold fast what is good. The word prophecy is the Greek word profitea, which means a discourse emanating from divine inspiration. In simple terms, prophecy is inspired speaking. It's inspired speaking. God inspires speaking in sermons, sermonettes, things that happen in church. He inspires speaking through His prophets of end-time events.

These are ways that God manifests His desire through someone saying something that's important to God to share with His people. That's what a sermon is. That's what a sermonette is. That's what music is at church. It can also be a conversation during a meal. We ask for God's blessing on our meal for many reasons. We ask that the flu would be blessed such that we don't get sick from it. I ask that when I'm in Africa and I'm traveling. That's important to me.

But we also ask that God would pour out His Spirit on the conversation, on the time that we spend together. Before I have a meeting talking about the French work, I'll pray. We'll pray together that God's manifest power would be clear in that conversation. The things we talk about, the things that come to mind, would be things that God wants to be discussed.

It says, don't despise prophecies. Don't have contempt for them, the NIV says, because this kind of speech is important. There's something that we need to get from it. Something that God has desired to be made known. Now, that doesn't mean that every sermon is perfect.

We know that. That's why it says, test all things. Hold fast what is good.

If somebody comes to church and is looking to prepare a message, prepares that message, and prays over that message, and asks that God would inspire that message for the congregation, God is faithful to hear that prayer, even if we were listening to that, going, what was that all about? How does that apply to me? What does that mean for me?

What God is saying is, don't despise it. Don't look down on it. Think, what was I supposed to get out of that message? God had something there for me to get out of that message.

Something out of the both messages, how they went together. Something how the whole service went together, because God's presence was there, because I know that's what the Bible says.

We're not naive. Sometimes we have a bad day, the sermonette speaker, maybe a sermon speaker, and that inspiration is that that person was just struggling. That can happen, but hopefully 99.9 whatever percent of the time, that's not the case.

More broadly, though, when we walk through the door in church, we're coming before God's manifest presence, as we should be. The book of Deuteronomy talks about God placing his name on a particular location for the Feast of Tabernacles. That's another example where we come before God's presence, because God says, that's the place I'm going to choose. That's the place that is important to me. So there's places that are important. When Moses came before the burning bush, we know the story. He was told to take off his shoes because that place, because God's presence was there, was holy. So a location can be holy. Time can be holy. And that's been put down. For those of you who have been around for a number of years, there was a lot of big kerfuffle about holy time. Yes, time can be holy, because God sanctifies that time and makes it holy. Speaking can be holy. Like I said, conversations during dinner or after church can be holy, because somebody prayed that God would inspire those conversations. Maybe somebody prayed that you would be here today. I hope that person can make it today, because God had something that that person was supposed to receive.

That is how God's presence is made known. That's how we draw near to God. If we think about in time events, we know that things are going to get really bad, and that can make us nervous. So much so that God says that unless he intervenes, no flesh is going to be saved.

Well, how is that going to happen? Well, that's God's manifest presence, because God is going to provide divine protection for his people. He's going to intervene in some way. It says we'll have the wings of an eagle. Revelation 12 verse 14, the church will be taken away. That's a manifest power of God being shown.

There's many different ways that God can manifest his presence and make it clear to us, but that doesn't mean that he wasn't there to start with, because he's everywhere.

But we may just not see that power being made manifest in a certain way.

And so there is a way of understanding this, that he can be everywhere, and yet we can also come into his manifest presence in church, or at the feast, or over dinner with members of God's family after we pray, or after church, or when we ask for an anointing, or so many ways where God's power and presence can be made known. See, this is why prayer is so important, because we're asking God to make his presence known to us, for us to see his power in our conversations, and in the outcome of things. These are the ways that God guides our lives. And when God says he's going to be in something, then we can look for it. We can look for that presence. We can have confidence that that presence is going to be there. And by extension, when God says to draw near, to come into his presence, he gives instructions. So he gave instructions to the priests on what they were supposed to wear when they came into his presence. He gave instructions as to when the Holy Days would begin and end. He gave instructions that there would be a holy convocation. God takes these things and he makes them clear to us. And people were expected to be present on time, dressed for the occasion. And you know, it's a point we don't need to go into a lot of depth. But you know, are we on time for church? Are we dressed appropriately for church? Are we prepared for the feast? Are we taking advantage of the things that God has provided for us to come into his presence? We probably, in the past, a long ago, probably put too much emphasis on the form of worship and not enough maybe on the substance. But substance and form, they go together. You can't throw one out and say, well, we're all going to be about form. We're all going to be about substance. We have a form and substance to our worship. When I was working in business, I would drive over to Sand Hill Road in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, to give financial presentations to venture capitalists. I dressed in a certain way when I drove over there to show respect for them and for me. They didn't really care what I wore. They just didn't want it to be distracting. It was quite common that before we would go into the meeting, we would check each other. How do I look? Is that okay? Yep, that's good. Okay, anything on my teeth?

You don't want to be distracting. You want the focus to be on what you're saying. We don't want to be distracting to each other or to God when we come before God's presence.

Again, we don't know. Is there going to be traffic? We'd get there an hour early and just have a cup of coffee or cup of tea because you don't want to be late. Then we'd walk in 15 minutes because maybe they're running early and they're ready for you. That's precious time. That's precious time you have with those guys. If they're early, you want that extra five minutes.

That's just worldly wisdom in terms of how you take advantage of the opportunities that you have.

Maybe we could think about church in the same way. We left it a little afternoon today, and I'm glad I did because we got here at 1.28. With the rain and everything, there were a ton of accidents. I'm glad we gave ourselves the extra time.

Being at church is about being in God's manifest presence. Like the priests of the Old Testament, we need to be prepared. That's a little bit about what that means about the omnipresence and coming into God's presence. I hope that's maybe a way of thinking about it. Again, we're just trying to understand God. As God makes Himself known to us, we can't understand all these things about how God can be everywhere and yet in His presence and so forth. The point is, we want to walk with God. We want to hang out with God. We want to be in His presence and understand what He wants for us. We want to have joy, and we want to have that fulfillment in life. The next level of understanding of where God lives, though, is a deeper level. That's an interesting discussion, but it's the deeper level that I think really hits home for us personally.

It's where the theological base becomes important to build on. Being where God lives means being in a place that we often need to go in time of need. Even though we should go there more often, we don't. But when there's a real time of need, that's where we go.

When somebody's sick, when somebody's near death, when we're about to lose our job, when we're having difficulties in our family, and we don't know how to solve them. That's when we want to be in God's presence. That's when we start asking those questions of God, where are you? I need you right now. Please, please be here for me. I can't do this alone.

That's the heart level of being in God's presence.

Being in God's presence means being in a relationship and a state of mind that turns over to Him whatever is weighing us down. Turn with me to Matthew 11, verse 28, 30. Interesting. I love this verse so much. I actually gave a different sermon this morning in French, and I quoted this on a different topic. So I must definitely be wanting to go to the Scripture all the time. Matthew 11, verse 28. Matthew 11, verse 28. He says, Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Come to me. That's what he says. It's an invitation. Come to me. I'm here.

Don't be over there. Come over here. I'm here for you. Come into my presence. Don't stand outside.

Don't feel alone. Don't be afraid. Don't despair. Come here. I'm here for you.

Let's talk. It's going to be okay. That's what this verse says.

You know, my dad died suddenly, as many of you know, when I was 21. One day I was with him, and the next day he was gone. And I knelt in front of his casket the morning of his funeral in a room by myself, and I'm going to tell you I came into God's presence because I asked for it, because I needed it. I needed him to be there, and if you have been in that place, you know what I'm talking about. And there's nothing that an atheist or some intellectual who wants to look down on our understanding of God can say about it, because they feel it too. Because they've been in those places, and they don't know where to go. That's just the randomness of the universe. I know it hurts, but that's how it is. There's no answer there, and they can't deny the comfort that comes from being in that place. They can't understand it. They cannot understand it, but they can't deny that we have that feeling, that we know that God is there. Because it is, and if you've felt it, you know it. It can't be proven with the five senses, but we know it's true, and we know it's there. And it's those moments where I'm so thankful for my calling. I've talked with widows about their grief. I've heard their stories of God's presence. Rest for their grieving souls.

Christ says he's the comforter. That's who we have. That's the promise that we have, that he is going to be that comforter, that person, that paracletus. No money, no fame. Nothing can compare to this. Money can't buy it. Nothing we can do can give it to us, except it is a gift from God.

Turn with me to Psalm 130, verse 1-2. Psalm 130, verses 1 and 2.

It says, Out of the depths, I have cried to you, O Lord.

Lord, hear my voice. Or, with the exclamation, Lord, hear my voice.

Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. In June, I visited Cote d'Ivoire, and I stood in silence by the unmarked grave of the wife of the local leader there, Albert Olay. His wife had died just four weeks before.

And I asked him if he could take me out to where she was buried. He didn't want to bury her in the normal cemetery because they don't maintain it, and they dig them up, and it's just a mess. And so he had a small piece of property, and he has his parents and his wife and another family member, and there's just mounds of dirt where they've been buried. There's no marking. There's no grave marking. Nothing. And we just stood there together, looking at that grave. And I knew her.

Bertine, his wife, was such a dynamic person in the congregation. She was the one who kind of moved things along, and you know, the food, and even keep track of the tides, and very dynamic woman, just in her mid-50s. Unclear how she died, why she died. There are just so many different reasons. The life expectancy there is, I can't remember, 56, 57, something like that.

If you haven't had that feeling, we need to talk. Find somebody to talk, because if you're baptized, this is our gift. This is the joy. This is the pleasure. This is the life that we have today, that comfort to be in God's presence. In war, in danger, in crisis of health, in crisis of job, in crisis of family, in depression, and in hopelessness, we can come into God's presence in prayer, in meditation, in reading of scripture, in communion with our friends, and there is comfort.

God's presence is a blessing for us. It's a blessing for our little children.

It's the blessing of little children. It's the blessing on a couple on their wedding day. These are all the ways that we come into God's presence, that we have this beautiful gift to walk with God, to have God live in us, to understand where God is, and to hang out with God, to be with God. Without being in God's presence, and being in a relationship with God, our efforts to live a good life is just that. It's our effort. It's just our effort. It's only through God's presence that we can avoid becoming weary in well-doing. See, if this way of life is all about rules and commandments, and thou shalt not, and I've got to be good, and I'm different than everybody else, because this is about God's Spirit dwelling in us, leading us down a path that He wants us to be on, and following that direction. Then when the ups and downs come, we go right there. We're like, God, I'm on the path! Thank you. Thank you for helping me through this difficult moment right now. Turn with me to Galatians 6 verse 7.

Galatians 6 verses 7 and 9.

Galatians 6 verses 7 and 9. It says, Do not be deceived.

God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows that, he will also reap. For he who sows to this flesh will of the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit, of the Spirit will reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good.

For in due season we will reap if we do not lose heart. And sometimes we can lose heart.

I counseled a man a long time ago, a long time member in God's Church, and I remember so well, I've shared this with some of you, he told me he was now agnostic.

He'd been in the church for years and years. And he was convinced, I won't go into all the details, that if he exists he can't prove it and he's not sure and so forth. And he explained his technical arguments and I listened and I asked him if he could ever remember a time when God had worked a miracle in his life. And he thought about it and he said, no, not really. And then I asked him if he felt he had a relationship with God. And he thought and he told me, he said, you know, I really understand the question. That is a problem if we don't have that relationship, because after a while it's just a bunch of rules. It's just about Benjamin Franklin trying to live a good life and we could write a book about it. That's not what we're about. We're about having God live in us and lead us towards his kingdom and have that comfort and that guidance as we do that. Turn with me to Revelation 21. Revelation 21, 1-3. We read here in the final passage of God's holy word, again a word that's infused with his presence, that he has a single ultimate goal. A single ultimate goal. Revelation 21, 1-3. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and first earth had passed away and there was no more sea. And then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepares a bride adorned for her husband.

And here it is, verse 3, and I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. God just wants to live with us. That's just what he wants. He just wants to be with us, and he wants us to be with him. And sometimes we don't want to keep going, but you know God wants us to keep going. He wants us to keep going. He wants us to live and live abundantly.

We can have access to that living relationship via what Paul calls in 2 Corinthians 1, the deposit of the Holy Spirit. We have the deposit of the Holy Spirit, the deposit of what the kingdom is going to be like. And that's really cool. That is really cool stuff, because that part opens the door to live a life like no other, to have purpose and meaning and joy and pleasure and life and all these great things. And through the ups and downs of life, we have the vision to know where it's all leading.

God's present gives us strength, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, to renew our strength, to soar on wings like eagles, to run and not be weary, to walk and not be faint. That's our promise. It is a power like no other.

It is a faith to move mountains. It is words that we cannot express and logic that we can't necessarily understand, but we know that it's true. It is God's greatness that He will share with us if we're willing to let Him in. That is God's presence. It is in our midst, even now in the Sabbath service, God's presence. Let's draw near to God. Let's understand what He wants in our lives. Let's understand what it means to live with God.