Lesson 3 - In the Presence of a Holy God

8/2/2019 Lesson 3 - In the Presence of a Holy God

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Lesson 3 In the Presence of a Holy God

In some Christian circles people will often speak of being in Godspresence during a worship service. This implies that there must betimes when they are not in His presence. How is this distinction

possible when we refer to the omnipresent God.Last lesson, I asked you to consider the difference between being in

the same place with someone and being in the presence.

Definitions

PRES'ENCE, n. s as z. [L. proesentia; proe, before, and esse, to be.] Theexistence of a person or thing in a certain place; opposed to absence.This event happened during the king's presence at the theater. Inexamining the patient, the presence of fever was not observed. Thepresence of God is not limited to any place.

1. A being in company near or before the face of another.

2. Approach face to face or nearness of a great personage.

PRES'ENT, a. s as z. [L. proesens; proe and sum, esse, to be.]

1. Being in a certain place; opposed to absent.

I can be present in the same room as a great king and never interactwith him. Bring me before him, face to face, for a conversation and

later I could say that I was in the presence of greatness. This applieseven more so to the great God.

Jesus said in Matthew 18:20, For where two or three have gatheredtogether in My name, I am there in their midst." He fulfills this promiseevery time His people gather together for prayer, worship, study, orservice. He always shows up because He is true to His word. Howeverthis does not mean that we are in His presence whenever He is

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Participate! What does being in someones presence mean?


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present. In order to be in His presence we must acknowledge that He isthere and interact with Him.

So, how is this done?

It would be unfair, (and unwise) to distill this into a few steps thatguarantee a successful arrival into the Presence of God. But here are afew things to consider:

1. We need to remember that God is Holy. As such, He cannot standto have sin in His presence. In Habakkuk, the prophet is complainingto God about the sins that are going on around him. He asks God todo something about it. Chapter 1, verse 13 says,

Youreyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look onwickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor On those who

deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow upThose more righteous than they?

Habakkuk knew the normal response from God when evil or sinwere in His presence he destroyed it. (Examples: Nadab andAbihu, the sons of Aaron from Leviticus 10, and Uzza from 1Chronicles 13)

Each year on the Day of Atonement the Jewish high priest wouldgo into the Holy of Holies to make an offering on behalf of thepeople. Prior to this, sacrifices were made for the priests sins and

the priest underwent a ritual bathing process to help ensure that Hewould not offend God. Bells were sewn into his clothing and a ropewas tied to his ankle when he went before Gods presence. As hemoved about performing his duties the tinkling of bells could beheard. If the bells went silent for a while it was assumed that Godhad struck him dead, and they would use the rope to pull him backout. This may be why the people were concerned about Zachariasbeing delayed in Luke chapter 1.

You dont mess around with the holiness of God.

2. Dont let this scare you away because you dont feel holy enough tobe with God. Waiting until you have your act together never works.You will never get to the point where you are good enough to bewith God. We dont deserve to be with God at all. The atonementthat Jesus made allows us to have access to His Father. Gettingwhat we dont deserve thats grace! According to Hebrews 4 Jesusis our great high priest and this allows us access to the real Holy ofHolies where God is.

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Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne ofgrace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help intime of need.

Please notice that it is the throne of grace, not judgement. We cango before God in confidence, trusting in the grace He bestows. Thisallows us to pray to the holy God and to draw closer to Him inworship. Still, it is always a good idea not to bring bad attitudes,fleshly motives and such before God. Deal with them before youcome so that He wont have to. (Matthew 5:23,24)

3. Coming into Gods presence in worship is often compared toentering into the Hebrew temple in the NT. The entire templecompound was considered holy, but it became increasingly moreholy as one entered farther in, from east to west.

a) To get in, you had to enter through one of the gates in thewall. This brought you into the outer court, the Court of Gentiles.Non-Jews could be in this area but could not go further in.b) The next area was the Court of Women. It was in this courtthat people donated their tithes and gifts. Women could not gobeyond this courtc) Going through the Beautiful Gate, Hebrew laymen couldenter into the Court of Israel, but no further.d) Next came the Court of Priests. This was the innermostcourt and was reserved for the priests only. The first thing that

was seen as you entered was the great altar of burnt offeringswhich was aligned with all the gates so that it could be seen fromeach of the outer courts.e) Finally, we come to the temple which has two sections

The Holy Place where priests discharged their variousduties, like burning incense. The golden altar, the goldenlampstand, and the golden table for the showbread wereplaced in here. The Most Holy Place (or Holy of Holies) which wasseparated from The Holy Place by the Veil. The presence ofGod dwelt here. There was no furniture at all in this place and

only the High Priest could come here once a year on the Dayof Atonement. When Jesus dies the Veil between these areaswas torn in two from the top down. Why?

Worship is like that. You go into Gods presence in stages. Thosewho are not saved Christians can come to where God is beingworshipped but will not be able to enter into His presence. They

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know that something is happening here but they dont get it. Theyare in the Court of Gentiles, so to speak.

You go further in by doing things like giving thanks, and praisingGod (Enter His gates with thanksgivingAndHis courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him, bless His name ~ Psalm 100:4). This invites Godto come and fellowship with you.

The more of yourself and your cares that you leave behind, thefurther in you can go. There comes a point when you become awarethat God Is Here. It isnt bizarre, or carnal, or man-made. It is themost natural and wonderful thing. You cant make it happen. Youcan only draw near to God and He fulfills His word by drawing nearto you.

So What Happens Now?

Worship is a two-way communication. We come to God, loving,adoring, and exalting Him. He responds by making Himself known viarevelation, insight, joy and peace. He will reveal truth from Scripture,convict of sin, heal us in body, mind, or spirit. Basically, He does whatJesus did while He was here on Earth.

Spirit and Truth

This assumes that we are worshipping the Lord in the way the Biblesays. God knows the intents of our hearts and whether we are really

worshipping Him or just going through the motions.

"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers willworship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Fatherseeks to be His worshipers."God is spirit, and those who worshipHim must worship in spirit and truth." ~ John 4:23-24

Some thoughts on this passage:

God seeks worshippers not so much worship, per se, but He seeksfor those people who will really worship Him

To worship God in spirit means that our worship must come fromthe inner man. It is not to be superficial or ritualistic. Worship mustbe a conscious thought process which is sincere. It must be freefrom insincerity, distractions, and wandering thoughts.

We should also worship in truth. In the context of this passage theSamaritans were worshipping what they didnt know or understand.Their worship was no doubt sincere but it wasnt based on the truth.Our worship should be based on, and directed by, the word of God.

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Lesson 3 - In the Presence of a Holy God