The Power of His Presence
Introduction
The Duke of Wellington once remarked about Napoleon, ‘I used to say of him that his presence on the field made the difference of forty thousand men.’ The presence of a strong leader has a powerful effect. How much greater is the impact of the awesome power of the presence of God!
There is a deep spiritual hunger in all of our hearts that can only be satisfied by the presence of God himself. Adam and Eve lost this sense of his presence through their sin. Thereafter, the presence of God was not known as it was before.
God is holy. We cannot take his presence for granted. It is only through the cross and resurrection of Jesus that a way into his presence and the gift of the Holy Spirit living within you is made possible. Now you can know the power of his presence.
Psalm 90:1-8
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
4 A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
they are like the new grass of the morning:
6 In the morning it springs up new,
but by evening it is dry and withered.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
Commentary
His presence reveals our secret sins
I remember a man in our small group on Alpha saying that he could not understand the concept of ‘sin’, as he ‘led a good life and was not really aware of anything wrong in his life’. A few weeks later, on the Alpha Weekend, he encountered Jesus and was filled with the Holy Spirit. He had tears pouring down his face. He said he realised how sinful his life had been and how much he had been forgiven.
The light of God’s presence reveals the dark places in our hearts – the sins we would like to conceal even from ourselves. The psalmist says, ‘Lord, you have been our dwelling-place… You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence’ (vv.1a, 8).
The longer we spend in God’s presence the more the light shines and highlights our sin. The apostle Paul started out by describing himself as ‘the least of the apostles’ (1 Corinthians 15:9). Later on, he called himself ‘less than the least of all God's people’ (Ephesians 3:8). Finally, he described himself as ‘the worst of sinners’! (1 Timothy 1:16).
It is not that he got worse; it is simply that, through the awesome power of God’s presence, he became more and more aware of the light shining in his heart. That could seem very negative, but actually for Paul it was quite the opposite. His overwhelming feeling was gratitude and praise because no matter what he had done wrong, he knew that he was forgiven and could know relationship with God.
As Christians, we can look forward to that relationship lasting for ever. God is eternal, ‘From everlasting to everlasting you are God’ (Psalm 90:2b). Yet we know only too well the fragility of human life. The psalmist reminds us that we return to dust as mortals (v.3), we are like new grass that by the evening is dry and withered (vv.5–6), and our usual life span is seventy or eighty years (v.10).
God’s everlasting nature is part of who he is. For us, eternal life is not automatic or natural. ‘The wages of sin is death’, but the gift from the everlasting God is ‘eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 6:23).
Prayer
Romans 15:15-33
15... I have written to you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done — 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favourably received by the Lord’s people there, 32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Commentary
His presence comes through the power of the Holy Spirit
The presence of God radically changes your life and the lives of others. He gives power to both your words and your actions. He makes possible signs and miracles. This is what characterised the early church. This is what should characterise our churches today.
As Paul begins to bring his great letter to the Romans to a conclusion, he talks about his own personal calling: ‘This highly focused assignment God gave me, this priestly and gospel work of serving the spiritual needs of the non-Jewish outsiders so they can be presented as an acceptable offering to God, made whole and holy by God’s Holy Spirit’ (v.16, MSG).
Among other things, a priest is a person who goes to God on behalf of the people and goes to the people on behalf of God. In this sense, we are all now priests. You are in priestly service whenever you are taking a message from God to the world and when you go to God – interceding, praying for those outside of the church to come to know Christ. As they do so they become ‘an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit’ (v.16).
Paul’s ambition was to preach the gospel where Jesus was not known, so that he would not be building on anyone else’s foundation (vv.20–21). He did this by ‘leading the Gentiles to obey God’ (v.18). He ‘fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ’ (v.19).
His proclamation of the gospel was holistic. Like Jesus, his preaching with words was accompanied by a demonstration of the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. It involved three things:
Words
The gospel is the most powerful message in the world. Paul proclaimed the gospel: ‘by what I have said…’ (v.18).Works
Fully proclaiming the gospel involves not only words but actions: ‘by what I have said and done’ (v.18). For example, Paul acted on behalf of the poor as we see here. He writes, ‘Take up a collection for the poor… to relieve their poverty’ (vv.26–27, MSG).Wonders
Paul’s proclamation of the gospel involved a demonstration of the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit: ‘by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit’ (v.19).
People are more affected by what they see than by what they hear. It has been said, ‘One in the eye is worth two in the ear.’ Paul gives only one in the ear (words) and two in the eye (works and wonders).
The coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost brought a great outpouring of the presence of God. God is present among his people now by the Holy Spirit. He is present in your heart. Supremely, he is present in his gathered community (for example, in Matthew 18:20).
Prayer
1 Chronicles 13:1-14, 14:2
13 David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the Lord our God... 3 Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul.” 4 The whole assembly agreed to do this, because it seemed right to all the people.
7 They moved the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. 8 David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.
14 The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his household and everything he had.
14
2 And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.
Commentary
His presence requires respect
Never take God’s presence for granted. The Lord is with you now, all the time, by his Spirit who lives in you.
God prepared his people for this extraordinary privilege. In the Old Testament, the ark was the symbol of God’s presence. We see in this passage just how important it was.
David consulted with his leaders. ‘He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the Lord our God… let us bring the ark of our God back to us.” … The whole assembly agreed to do this… \[they\] went… to bring up… the ark of God the Lord… the ark that is called by the Name. They moved the ark of God… David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets’ (13:1–8).
The ark was a gold-covered chest that contained, among other items, the stone tablets of the ten commandments (see Hebrews 9:4). The ark was the most holy object in the whole system of temple-based worship. It served primarily as the symbol of the awesome presence of God, whose glory cloud was enthroned above it (1 Chronicles 13:6; see also Exodus 25:22; 1 Samuel 4:7).
On the one hand, God’s presence brought great blessing. When the ark of God was with the family of Obed-Edom for three months, ‘the Lord blessed his household and everything he had’ (1 Chronicles 13:14). On the other hand, it required great respect and anything that verged on disrespect brought judgment (vv.9–10).
David had a great respect and reverence for God and his presence. As a result, ‘The Lord blessed his household and everything he had’ (v.13). David knew that his position of leadership came from the Lord (14:2). He regularly asked God’s guidance about what he should do (vv.10,14). ‘And God answered him’ (v.14).
As a result, ‘David’s fame spread throughout every land, and the Lord made all the nations fear him (v.17). The word ‘fear’ means great respect. Because David respected God’s presence, God honoured him and anointed him in such a way that everyone respected David.
Prayer
Pippa adds
In Psalm 90:4, it says:
‘For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. You sweep people away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning – though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.’
I feel a bit like that occasionally!
Nicky took a funeral in Putney Vale Cemetery a couple of years ago. It is a huge cemetery, so many graves, and it is just one of thousands – millions probably – of cemeteries. It struck me again how many people have gone before us and that this life we are living is very short. Every day we have here on earth is so important. I don’t want to waste any one of them.
Verse of the Day
Romans 15:33
‘The God of peace be with you…’
Thought for the Day
The Lord is with you now, all the time, by his Spirit who lives in you.
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References
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.