Is God's Presence Enough?: full transcript and answers

▶ 0:01 This morning we’re going to be talking about God’s presence. And the question I put up is, “Is God’s presence enough?” If you read the tagline here, you probably can’t see it online, but it says Vine Cluster Church, and it says, “Believe, grow, and know Christ.” In John 17 chapter 3, I’m sorry, chapter 17:3, it says, “This is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ,. Whom you have sent.”. And that is the goal. We want eternal life. We have a destination we’re headed to. And to do that, we’ve got to know God. And so, that’s why it’s part of the tagline here.

▶ 0:52 And it is part of this question this morning. Exodus 33:14 talking about the presence of God. Of course, Moses and Israel were in the wilderness in the desert. And Moses said, “Oh no, God said to Moses, my pro my presence will go with you and I will give you rest.” And then Moses replied and he says, “If your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that your people and I have found grace in your sight? So we will be separate, your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth. So Moses, we know this famous statement, the presence of God separates us from all the other uh religions out there. When the presence comes, you have the power of God backing you up.

▶ 1:44 And it’s a great and wonderful thing. Psalm 16:11 in your presence is fullness of joy. How many you know you need some joy sometimes? You need some peace. You need some uh that that presence of God is so powerful. It’s so important, so good and it’s a great great tool. Genesis 1:1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was out without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Now, hovering uh point is Jesus was there. His presence was there and he was hovering over the waters. He’s looking at the waters. He’s, you know, who knows what is going on in his mind.

▶ 2:36 He’s thinking about all the things he wants to do. Uh, but as you know, his spirit was there. He was hovering. His presence was there, but nothing happened until a certain thing was done. Was hovering enough for the world to be brought out of darkness? If it was without form and void, was his presence enough? God gave Pharaoh a dream. Genesis 41:1, Pharaoh had a dream. He slept and he dreamed it twice. And Pharaoh awoke. It came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled. You know, he hadn’t experienced something like this before. And some people are troubled by the presence of God when it comes.

▶ 3:28 And they’ve never felt it. They don’t they they never uh experienced it before and presence of God comes and they they troubles them. Whoa, whoa, whoa. What is that? That wasn’t supposed to happen. Right? [clears And so, throat] as you know the story, uh the butler mentioned, “Hey, I know a guy who can interpret dreams.” And the but u Pharaoh said, “Go get them.” And Joseph said to Pharaoh, the dreams of Pharaoh are one and God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. And so the question is, was the dream enough? Was the presence of I mean such a powerful thing, right? To have a leader being influenced by God, a dream to come to their mind and their their sleep at night and it trouble them.

▶ 4:22 God is influencing. It’s his presence. It’s his power. He’s doing something. But was it enough? Elijah. Elijah. First Kings chapter 19 verse 11. God said to him, “Go out, stand on the mountain.” And the Lord passed by. And a great strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. He kind of answers his own question here. But that’s the presence and the power of God. God is showing up and he is doing some miracles and some wonders, right?

▶ 5:16 An earthquake, a wind, you know, a tornado and an earthquake and fire happening in one spot in one location. You know, that’s that’s God. Jesus Christ when he was on the earth in the flesh in John 11:38 he stood before the tomb of Lazarus and he asked them to take away the stone and he was there and you know our Jesus is wonderful right the presence his presence was there and he even asked them to take away the stone but was the presence his presence being there enough to bring Lazarus out of darkness. John 20:19 a very wonderful and powerful miracle being done here.

▶ 6:13 Jesus Christ had just risen from the grave. He had actually uh appeared to Mary. Not appeared. He was there in the in the garden and Mary was seeking for Jesus. And she didn’t know it was him. She thought he was the gardener. And then God revealed unto her who she was, who he was. And so he shows up in the room. He says, “Peace be with you.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. How many know the presence of God like it just said it in his presence is fullness of joy. They were glad when they saw the Lord, right? Because all this time they thought he was dead. They thought his, you know, he was just, you know, talking.

▶ 7:04 They wanted to be part of the the king, the new king that was going to rise up and take over. But Jesus is alive now. And his presence made them glad. He showed him his hands. He showed them the m miracles that he had risen from the grave. And so to answer this question, to go into more detail, we’re going to look at a few stories in the Old Testament just to touch on them. In 1st Samuel 210:9, the spirit of God came upon Saul. So here we have the presence, the spirit of God coming upon somebody by his miracle, his miraculous power, right? Uh Saul had been anointed king and the spirit came on him and he started to prophesy. I don’t know what he said. It doesn’t say what he said but they after he prophesied he said they they they used to say is Saul also among the prophets and after he had been anointed king and now he was uh acknowledged as king by the people the spirit of God uh I’m sorry an enemy the Ammonites came up against Jabeshgilead and then Jabeshgilead came to him and said hey what’s going on uh we got the Philistines are coming after us.

▶ 8:22 And it says the spirit of God came upon Saul miraculously. The spirit coming upon somebody with power, strength, there’s no there’s no confusion on what you should do. The spirit come upon I know what to do. And he gathered all Israel and they fought against the Ammonites and they beat him. If you remember the story about this man, I’m going to ask you to tell me who it is. Jud Judges 15:14. The Philistines came shouting against him. And the spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and the ropes that were in his arms became like flax, and his bonds broke, and he killed a thousand men. The spirit was upon Samson.

▶ 9:15 But was it enough? Was it enough to bring Samson to know God to bring Samson to grow? In Judges 16:20, he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. If you know the story, Samson got involved with a prostitute, got involved with um you know, he he was a Nazerite. So there were certain things he couldn’t do. And he had broken all the things except for one and that was his hair. And when his hair had been cut, that was the last thing on the list. And God had departed from him. So when he tried to go in the spirit of God and the power and the strength that he had, God wasn’t there anymore. Saul had a very similar experience.

▶ 10:10 1st Samuel 13:13 Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God.” And it was something simple. He was not supposed to sacrifice until Samuel came, but he did it himself. It’s kind of like Adam and Eve. Don’t eat of the tree. Don’t eat of the tree. Are you sure? Yeah. Okay, I won’t eat of the tree. And they go eat the fruit. They break God’s commandment and sometimes we think God you know that’s a small thing God that’s this is small why are you getting such why is it bothering you so much it’s just this you know I was just I just mistreated that person it’s no big deal it happens every day but see God some things are important to him when you break his commandments he doesn’t like it.

▶ 11:08 And he says to him, “For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, but now your kingdom shall not continue.” And he sought for himself a man after his own heart. And God is asking us today, do you have a heart that is after him that is willing to yield and obey? 1st Samuel 15:19, Samuel says, “Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord?” Another uh request. Samuel asked him, “Hey, these Amalcch, Amalecch, the people of Amalecch, uh I I command you to go and do this. God commands you to go and and wipe them out and he didn’t do it.” And so Samuel replies that why did why did you swoop down on the spoil and do evil in the sight of the Lord?

▶ 12:00 He didn’t listen. And so here we go. We’re getting close to understanding the key here. The pre It’s not only about the presence of God. It’s not just about having the spirit upon you. It’s about obeying the voice. And Samuel here gives us the answer in 15:22. He says, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?” Because Saul tried to come up with some kind of excuse. Oh, I’m going to keep the best of the spoil so that we can sacrifice it to God. That’s not what God asked you to do. Is not obeying God’s voice more important? God helped them defeat the enemy.

▶ 12:56 God’s pre his his power was there. But was it enough for them to grow and to know God? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, to heed than the fat of rams. See, the presence of God comes and we have to understand what that voice is saying. The presence of God comes with his voice and we have understand what it says like Pharaoh and we’ve got to respond to it. 23 verse 23 for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Are you do you have a stubborn heart toward God? Do you have a stubborn heart toward his word? Because you have rejected the word of the Lord. He has also rejected you from being king.

▶ 13:50 Are we rejecting God’s word? [clears And so God throat] is asking us this morning, is the spirit of God upon us enough? His spirit can be upon anything. He can influence any situation. He can influence the United States government. He can influence other nations. But obedience is a much more powerful thing. When you don’t necessarily need his presence, you do it because it’s his voice. It’s his word and you obey. That is a much more powerful thing. Joseph, he was hoping for to be saved by God from his brothers. He was hoping that he would not be sold in sla into slavery, but he was.

▶ 14:45 He was hoping that the lies of Potiphar’s wife would not be heard and listened to because they were lies. He was hoping that he would be delivered from the dungeon that he was in. And we know that because he told the butler and baker, I don’t when you go out, tell him, get me out of here. I don’t I have done nothing to be in here. He was hoping for the presence and the spirit of God to come and do a miracle. And we all hope for that. Amen. But the thing that brought Joseph through was his obedience to God. The thing that brought Joseph out of prison to a much higher place was his obedience to God. And we know that because if Joseph had never gone to prison, he wouldn’t have met the butler.

▶ 15:46 And the butler would never have told Pharaoh, “Hey, there’s a guy I know.” So, he had to be sold. He had to live with Piper. The lie had to be told. So, he would go into the prison and he had to stay there for a long time. But because he was obedient to God in every of those situations, he was brought to a higher place. And they said of Joseph that the spirit was in him, not upon him, it was in him. And Joseph is a great example to us. So going back to Pharaoh’s dream in ch in Genesis 41 verse 37 the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants.

▶ 16:42 [clears You shall be throat] over my house he told Joseph and all my people shall be ruled according to your word. You see Pharaoh didn’t have to reply. He didn’t have to say it was good. He didn’t have to respond in this way. That he did. See the pre it’s not just the presence. It’s what is God saying and what is your response? And see that is the key to growing and knowing God. [clears throat] And Pharaoh made a choice to follow the advice that God had given him in his dream. He made the choice to listen to what Joseph told him to do to save a fifth of everything that there would be seven good years.

▶ 17:34 And he appointed Joseph to be in charge of all that. He recognized that Joseph had the spirit and he listened to that. And that is the key. Are we willing to listen and are we willing to obey? Are we willing to understand? Do we take time to understand God’s voice? I submit [clears throat] to you today, our big churches and our uh houses of worship, they I mean they’re wonderful. Do a great job. They want to bring the presence of God and that’s a wonderful thing. In his presence is fullness of joy. But we cannot leave out the next thing which is to understand and hear and listen to God’s voice and respond and obey to that voice.

▶ 18:28 Exodus 5:5 we see here an example [clears throat] the same country Egypt both situations they had a word from God. One was from Joseph and they listened to that. Pharaoh listened to that. But the next one came from Moses and uh Pharaoh had a little more skin in the game, right? He had some servants. All of Israel, they were serving him. They were bond servants. They were slaves to Egypt. So, it was a little different this time. And God had hardened his heart. So the scriptures say that Moses and Aaron came to him and said, ‘The Lord God of Israel says, “Let my people go that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.” And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice?

▶ 19:23 I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” And he ex he exposes himself. He says, “I don’t know the Lord. I don’t who is this guy?” Which is a very foolish statement because just quite a few years ago, God had visited another Pharaoh and you rejected that. God brought great deliverance to Egypt because of a dream. And he didn’t listen to that. He could have heard all that, but he rejected it. So here we have a man who heard the simple word to let God’s people go and he rejected it. He understood it, but he rejected it. In fact, he made it harder on them.

▶ 20:19 Going back to the beginning, Genesis 1:3, God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. And God saw the light that it was good. And God divided the light from the darkness. And he called the light day and the darkness he called night. So the evening and morning were the first day. His g his presence was wonderful and powerful hovering over the face of the waters. But nothing happened until g until God spoke. We know this. When God spoke, creation responded. All of the things that were there that started to respond to God’s word. I wish us humans would act like that. But of course, God’s creation, they don’t have a choice.

▶ 21:10 They got to respond. The rocks will cry out if you don’t if you guys don’t praise. The rocks are going to cry out. In Joshua 24:14, it [clears throat] says, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” We have a choice. Are we going to listen to God’s word and choose to follow it? Many people today have chosen not to serve the Lord. And many think it evil to serve him because he judges and because he says no. It’s kind of like our police force today. Police have to enforce the law. They got to tell the criminal no. They got to say they got to put them in the car when they’re bad, right?

▶ 22:04 It’s the same with God. He’s got to tell us no so people don’t like him. Psalm 138:2, I will worship toward your holy temple. Praise and praise your name for your loving kindness. For you have magnified your word above all your name. His presence in his presence is fullness of joy. But without his word, we’re not going to grow and we’re not going to know God. His word is above his name. His word is above his presence. The word is most important. Elijah, going back to Elijah, after the fire, a still small voice. And uh going back to that story, there came a still small voice.

▶ 22:59 He had just experienced an earthquake, a tornado, a fire, all these things happening. Whoa. Wow. Look at those miracles. But Elijah heard the still small voice and then he came out and God a voice came to him and said what are you doing here Elijah now you if you don’t know God had already asked him this question and he asked him this question this is the second time he asked the question and this is the second time Elijah gives the same response he says I have been zealous for the Lord because the children have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, killed your prophets with the sword, and I al am left and they seek to take my life. See, Elijah was in a give up mode.

▶ 23:51 He was giving up. He was in the scared mode. He was afraid. He was in the there’s no way we can overcome this mode. And it’s easy to get in that mode. You get scared. There’s a that the enemy looks too big. [clears throat] But we can’t do that. We’ve got to trust in what? The word of God. And when you think about that question, what are you doing here? He said it twice, right? It’s not like God doesn’t know. God knows why you’re there. What he’s saying is you shouldn’t be here. What are you doing here? This is not where you should be. You should be listening to my voice.

▶ 24:46 And you know what? Praise God for people in the Bible that messed up. My goodness. I mean, we’ve all been in this spot where we didn’t respond right, where we’re where we are where we shouldn’t be. Amen. And God gives us an opportunity to respond again. And he says to Elijah, he doesn’t go into all of his statements and his uh feelings and all that. He just says, “Go return.” I mean, a couple words here. Go and return. You shouldn’t be here. And he tells him what to do. Go and do this and go and do that. And Elijah gets up and he goes and he does it. So he responded right. Do we respond right? It might take us a long time but you know if it takes you a long time at least you’re get down get moving in his path and following his voice.

▶ 25:46 Amen. Jesus and Lazarus John 11:39. [clears throat] So he had just said take away the stone. And Martha replies and says, ‘Lord, by this time there’s a stench. And Jesus said, ‘D did I not say to you? Of course, they had a conversation before about him being the resurrection and life. Did I not say to you that I would if you would believe, you would see the glory of God? Jesus lifted up his eyes and he says, “Father, I thank you for you. You have heard me. Everybody else, they didn’t hear me. Right? And sometimes it’s hard for us to hear God. Sometimes Jesus is saying things and it’s like, well, that’s never happened before.

▶ 26:38 How could you do that? What do you mean? Right? It takes like five or 10, maybe a hundred times before it gets in. But Jesus and God, they know what’s going on. I thank you for you have heard me. And you always hear me.” [clears And of course, throat] when he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” Lazarus got up, his face was wrapped with with cloth, and Jesus said to him, “Loose him and let him go.” And so we see here that his presence wasn’t the key to Lazarus coming out of the grave. It was when he spoke. And even though people did not understand, God still did.

▶ 27:33 Jesus still did his will. And thank God sometimes we don’t understand. And Jesus still does what he needs to do. But we do want to understand. How many you know it would have been better for Martha and Mary to understand at that time and to be glad. God, we know you’re going to do a great work right now and you’re going to share. You’re going to show these folks how wonderful and awesome you are. You’re going to show them that you’re God. See, that could have been their response, right? And uh it would have been good. And we want to have that response. But if you have the kind of response they do, When you understand, just get on the train, right? Get on the train of God’s voice and his word.

▶ 28:31 Jesus and his disciples, as we had spoken before in John 20, he came into the room and he showed them his body. He showed them his hands and his feet. He and they were glad when they saw him. And how many of you would be glad when you if you saw Jesus? I would be very glad. He had just uh rose. My goodness, I’d love to see him. And Jesus in the room while he’s having them and showing him his them his body, he says to them, “As the father has sent me, I also send you.” And he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” And they received the spirit. And he sent them at that time. And then what happened later, the next chapter 21:3, Peter says, “I’m going to go fishing.” And they said to him, “We’re going to go with you.” Right?

▶ 29:36 Uh was was James and John there? Who was who was with Peter? Who’s who’s we? I’m not testing. I’m wondering. I don’t remember. I think it was James and John. John, the one you know who loved God, loved Jesus, was also fishing. And he says, Jesus says to Peter, “Simon, do you love me?” So, of course, you know, he calls him out from the boat. Peter realizes that it’s Jesus and he jumps into the water, meets Jesus on land. They catch a bunch of fish. You know that backstory. But Jesus says to Peter, “Do you love me more than these?” Again, here we have a case where God spoke it already. Right? He send He said, “I send you. Here’s my spirit.” And Peter, James, and John, they go fishing.

▶ 30:31 The fish don’t need you. God didn’t send you to the fish. He sent you to mankind. So they didn’t hear it the first time, right? So God, thank goodness before he ascends, he’s he’s like, “Okay, these guys, they didn’t get it the first time. They’re fishing. I mean, it’s a beautiful day. They’re not catching anything because I I don’t have the fish near the boat for a reason.” No, I’m just kidding. But they didn’t hear it the first time. So he brings them, they’re eating, and he says, “Simon, do you love me?” And he replies, says, “Yes, Lord. You know that I love you. Feed my lambs.” And of course, he asked the question three times.

▶ 31:27 And his reply was, “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.” And then he says at the end, follow me. So somewhere along the lines, the disciples get the message and they were told to go wait in Jerusalem until power be until the uh comforter comes, spirit of God. And so they did that. So they finally we we’re on the right train, right? We heard it two or three times. It didn’t get in the first time. Now we hear it and we’re responding. My goodness. If it takes you 20, if it takes you a hundred times, how many however many times it takes you, it’d be nice if you listened the first time. If we sorry listen the first time, but if it takes you a few more, just have a heart that responds to Christ.

▶ 32:28 If it’s if it’s because you don’t understand, then seek understanding. If you understand it, but you reject it, you got a problem. If you understand it and you ignore it, you got a problem. But we’ve got to respond and take his word seriously. So God is asking us this morning, what will we do? The presence of God is very powerful. The spirit being upon us is very powerful. It’s powerful when he comes in worship with his presence and he touches and he moves upon us. But God is wanting more out of the church today in America and all over the world. He wants us to grow and he wants us to know him.

▶ 33:20 He says in again in John chapter 17, this is eternal life. To know God and to know God, we have to hear his voice. And we’ve got to respond in obedience. Are we listening beyond the presence of God? Do we just come to be in that joy and then leave? I remember experiences experiencing this as a young uh teenager. Uh it was so wonderful as a 12-year-old. Uh they let me into the teen service and uh I experienced God for the first time and there was some rascals around me and uh but we all responded and came down. And I remember there was a particular rascal who was right next to me experiencing the same thing and we were both crying and and just experiencing the presence of God for the first time and uh God was just so powerful that day and I wanted more of that and I was like how do I get more of this?

▶ 34:28 And for, you know, I would be I would go to church with mom and dad and we’d sit in Carbon Canyon and we worship and I would lift my hands and I would feel God’s presence. I’m like, “Wow, that’s wonderful.” But it didn’t last very long. I would say by the time I was 14, I was like, “What? What happened? I don’t feel what I used to feel.” Because we’ve got to go beyond just the feeling. We’ve got to go beyond just the joy that comes. Are we listening? And that’s exactly what it caused me to do. I was like, “Dad, what’s going on?” And I started asking questions and I started saying, “What am I doing?

▶ 35:19 What do I got to do now?” That’s what God wants you to do. What’s next? You can’t just be a a bozo. Just kidding. How do we respond to God’s voice? Does it take us too many times or we already went over that if it takes you 100 times just and it doesn’t get in? It just takes a hundred times. Are we willing to be obedient? And this is the key as s as Samuel said to Saul, God is more interested in our obedience. As a worship team comes says in John 11:15, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the spirit is saying to the churches.

▶ 36:12 It says in Revelation, and God is looking and asking for his people, do we have an ear to hear? Do we have an ear like Joseph? He was able to interpret the dream. Do we have an hearing ear? Unlike Martha and Mary? Do we have an ear that hears what God is saying? In Matthew 28:1 19 says, “Go therefore make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I’ve commanded. And God, I and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Are we willing to be obedient this morning? And after this morning, let’s bow our heads this morning. Let’s just invite Jesus right now.