Understanding His Presence

[Introductory music and voiceover] [Speaker 1] Church and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home for these. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 2] For this God is our God forever and ever. He would be our guide from now, from now even unto the end, unto the end. For this God, for this God is our God. He is our God forever, forever and ever, and ever. He would be, he would be our guide from now, from now even unto the end, unto the end. Precious Father, we are grateful unto you again. We bless your name. We appreciate you for your love. We appreciate you, Lord our God, for your goodness, for your mercy, for your grace. We thank you for all who you are. We appreciate you for all that you are. Lord our God, we come into your presence, oh Lord, this evening again for another time to fellowship in the scriptures. Lord, we pray that as we fellowship together in scriptures, Lord, your spirit will work within us in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, we trust in you, oh Lord our God. The Bible says for plant, Apollo water, it is the Lord that gives increase. Lord our God, we pray, give increase to our gathering in the name of Jesus Christ. Precious Father, we look up unto you. Work in our midst, both of we who are physically here and our brethren who are joining us online. Lord, we pray, work among us all. Magnify your name, oh God, in our midst. Cause your church to be edified. Cause your name to be glorified in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, blessed Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. For about the last four weeks, I mean in the last four weeks, we have been considering the topic: We That Are of the Day. We That Are of the Day. And we have been looking at the scripture 1 Thessalonians 5 from verse one. We have been studying that scripture on and on, looking at what the scripture instructed about the matter of the coming of the Lord. We saw understanding the issue of the day and the night. We were able to look into we are not of the night so that that day should not take us unaware. We also were able to consider what are the characteristics of the men of the day. The men of the day, number one, the Bible talks about they need to be sober. Number second, the Bible talks about the breastplate of faith, that same breastplate of love, and then the Bible talks about the helmet of salvation. The helmet of salvation as helmet was what we considered last week Monday. Immediately in the next verse, that is the verse nine, the Bible says for God—the reason why all of those instructions were coming, the reason why all of those instructions were coming to us is because God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there is a purpose of God. And because there is a purpose of God, the Bible began to speak from the verse one that concerning the times and the season, we need not that anything should be taught us again because we know too well that the day of the Lord will come. For when they will be saying peace and safety among themselves, suddenly there will be destruction, but that will not be our portion because we are of the day. It will be the portion of those who are of the night. For us who are of the day, that day will not take us unaware. And so we were instructed to do four important things. It said we should be sober, put on the breastplate of faith, the breastplate of faith, that same breastplate of love, and also the need for us to put on the helmet of salvation. Now all of this is against the background. It is against the background. Why are we being instructed to do all of these things? Why are we given this direct instruction? Why must this thing characterize our life? It is because God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep—that is, whether we are alive as he is coming, or we among those who have died before his coming, because he has said that in the chapter four, that we who are alive will not by any means hinder those that are dead, that the dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive will be caught up also to join them, to join the Lord in the sky. So he is now saying that God has not appointed us unto wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died that whether we wake—that is, whether we are alive unto his coming, or we have died before he appears in the sky—we should live together with him. This is the purpose of God. He says, therefore, comfort each other and edify one another, just as you are also doing. And then the point I am emphasizing today is this point of there is a purpose of God. For us as children of God, God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. And because he did not, God did not appoint us to wrath, I want to speak on something today. I want to speak on something also very crucial for us as Christians, I count it: Understanding His Presence. That is, understanding the presence of God. There is a need for us today to daily live in God's presence. There is a need for us as Christians to—because we have not been appointed to wrath, God did not appoint us to wrath, God appointed us to a salvation—there is a look, what I am saying is that from starts to finish, God had a purpose for your life. And the purpose of God for your life is that you should obtain salvation. God in his eternal plan and in his mercy have arranged that we should not be appointed to wrath. We should not see the anger of God. We should not see the judgment and the condemnation of God in any, ultimately, that is the plan of God for us. That ultimately we will be with him. And what I want to say is that we must understand that even though there is an ultimate plan that we should be with God, I want you to know that even while we are here, we must always be with him in anything that we are doing. You see, there is an ultimate plan, God did not appoint you to destruction. God has a plan, and that plan is that you obtain salvation, that you ultimately come to be with him, that when Jesus appears, you should not disappear. When Jesus appears, you should not be condemned. When Jesus appeared, you should not be destroyed. When Jesus appears, you should not be weeping. When Jesus appears, it should be a time for you to rejoice. That is an ultimate thing that God did plan. And because there is this ultimate thing that God did plan, it is important for you to know that it is so good for you to understand that even while we are here, we need to daily be in his presence. We need to daily understand that because from starts to finish God has a plan, then as we live here, we should always understand that even while we are here he is with us. He is with us. There is an ultimate plan of taking us home. That's the ultimate. But because there is this ultimate plan of taking us home, it is crucial for us to understand that there is a present plan of him being with us. There is a need for you to know, the Bible says God is the author and the perfecter of our faith. This what I'm trying to say. Because there is a plan to bring you home eventually, God decided not to take chances. God decided that I am bringing them home ultimately, but it is important that while they are here, there is a need to preserve, to keep them, to watch over them. So there is a need for me to be here because there is an ultimate plan to gather them there. So this understanding is something today that most believers don't live in the consciousness of. And that is why many times we misbehave. That is why many times we live carelessly. We don't understand this matter that look, there is the place of lo, I am with you always. Number one, it is a privilege that is with us. But number two is also a responsibility. It's a privilege. It's a wonderful privilege. No wonder the hymn writer sang, "What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we would not carry everything to God in prayer!" What I am saying about understanding his presence is that there is a great privilege, a privilege that also bring a vital or a crucial sense of responsibility. There is a privilege, God did not appoint us to wrath. God is planning that whether we wake or we sleep, those who are alive till he appears and those who die before he appears, there is a plan to gather them to be with him. Because of that plan, that eternal plan, because of that thing that God has in mind, because of that purpose, that intent that he has, God is making sure I'm not going to leave them alone while they are here. I am going to be with them. I am going to be with them, and I will be with them how? Always. Understanding his presence. This matter, what I want to focus on today is more of the responsibility that this calls for. Even though side by side we will find ourselves mentioning the privileges like we are doing now, but our focus this evening is more of the kind of responsible living that this calls for, particularly in this end time. Brother, we are in the end time. It's a thing that should be clear to you. Sister, we are in the end time. Anytime from now, the Lord Jesus will appear. Anytime from now he will show up. We don't know the time, but we need to understand that we are in the everything is rushing to the defined end, to God's end, that end that God has determined. Everything is moving, moving into it, and nothing can stop that movement. And because of that understanding, we should live more responsibly. We should be conscious of it. There is a need for this consciousness. And one of those things we need to do today is to understand his presence. There is a place of privilege, but there is also a place of responsibility. And my concern this evening is to try to emphasize the dimension of this responsibility to us. God did not appoint you to wrath. No, God did not appoint you for his anger. So his plan is that I'm with you, and you need to understand that he is with us, and that should have implications for the way you live. It should have implications because the being with us, I want you to notice this, he said, and lo, I am with you always. The being with you is a constant thing. The first thing I want you to know is that the responsibility is a constant responsibility because the presence of the Lord is constant. What I'm saying, brethren, is that the presence of the Lord is not just inside your sanctuary. The presence of the Lord is not when you gather on Sunday to worship. The presence of the Lord is not only when two or three gather together. He said when two or three gather together I am there, understanding that dimension of his presence. When we gather to worship God on Sunday he is there, that dimension of his presence. But there is another dimension of his presence that has to do with God being ever present, being constant. Because of this lack of understanding, some people tend to conform their lives to godliness when they enter church on Sunday. They tend to think that God just dwell inside one sanctuary because they prepared a place they call the altar, and so they tend to reverence that place. Let me first inform you that God does not dwell in temples made with hand and stone. The Bible says we are the temple of the living God. There was a shift of God. It was in the Old Testament that God's plan was in a physical temple and the people come to accept him there. You need to first understand that you are the temple of God, that everywhere you go, you carry God. So there is a need to know, to have this understanding that there is this presence of God that brings an awesome responsibility around our life. He is with us always, even to when? To the end. Do you see that matter again? We are talking about the end of his coming. Even to the end, even to the end he is there. Even to the end he is there, to the very end he is there. And I am look at some something I want to point for you very, very quickly. To point something to you very, very quickly this evening, and I trust the Lord to help us as we journey together. Because we are understanding his presence, I said there is a responsibility for us to live constantly in his presence. Let's try to have an appreciation of this thing a little further again. Let's look at Psalm 139:7-13. Psalm 139:7-13. 139:7-12. Sorry, 7-12. I will read up to verse 13. Psalm 139 from verse seven. He says, "Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?" I'm talking about living in his presence. There is a need for us to understand this matter, to live in his presence. Living in his presence as you understand his presence. The implication is to live in that presence. You see, where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into the heavens, 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, you are there. Even there, your hand will lead me and your right hand shall hold me. If I say surely the darkness shall fall on me, even the night shall be light around me. Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from you, but the night shines as day. The darkness and light are both alike to you. Are you following something, brethren? We are talking about understanding his presence. It's everywhere. That is why I keep telling people, even in the darkest of even in the darkest of your darkest period, don't ever think God is not watching. Even in the worst of all your situation, those dark moments of your life, God is there. God is there. That's the privilege. But I'm talking about the responsibility. So you see that there is he is talking about this matter of his presence, it's everywhere. Look at what he says in the verse 13. He says, "For you formed my inward parts; you covered me in my mother's womb." Do you get what the spirit of God is saying through the psalmist here? Do you see what he is saying here? He is saying that he is talking about God's presence, and he is saying that while he was being formed, he was being gathered together in his mother's womb. If you look at that in the verse 15 you will see that "My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret." Do you know what the psalmist is trying to make us understand? He is trying to make us understand that even when we were not known, we were not even nobody, we were just one fertilized egg inside one woman, the presence of God was there. So now that you are now born again, when you were insignificant, just a fertilized egg inside one woman somewhere, the presence of God was there. So he is saying that "For you formed me in the secret," he is trying to say that even when he was not even known, you have not even been named, you were not known, you were just one thing developing somewhere, and that is why we speak as Christians that anybody that terminates a pregnancy actually destroy a life. You destroy a living person because you notice that life actually begins at fertilization. The psalmist was saying that even at that time when I was being wrought, he said you were busy rocking it. So if you were when you were nothing, not even known, your mother don't even know whether you're a boy or a girl, you were still there still being formed, God knew you. Is it now that he doesn't? Hallelujah. I'm talking about understanding his presence. Understanding his presence, the presence of the Lord. Now we move from that to see what this what this implies. If you look at John, look at how the Lord put it again, John chapter four, the popular scripture. The Gospel according to John, chapter four. Let's see how the Lord put it in that place again, the popular John 4:24, when Jesus was speaking with that woman. But this time around, I want to look at it from the verse 19. John chapter four, the Gospel according to John chapter four from verse 19. He says, "The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." I want you to note the issue the woman was raising. Raising issue about place of worship, a physical place of worship. And sometimes too, this matter of the mountain, mountain, mountain, several times it seems it is not understood. It seems it is not understood. If you are talking about a mountain where you want to meet with God, the benefit of that mountain, of going up a mountain, is just to be able to have a place where you will not be disturbed. It is important for you not to equate a mountain with God's presence, and to be thinking that except we are on that mountain, the presence of God is not with you. When they say let's go on this mountain, let's go on that mountain, ori oke le, ori oke yen, it is important to understand that it is not the mountain that equates to God's presence, but the mountain experience gives you an opportunity to move away from distraction so that you can concentrate on God. That is the essence of saying let's go up a mountain, let's go into a place, let's seclude ourselves from people, let's move away from distraction. That is the benefit of climbing the mountain. But it is a wrong thing to be equating a mountain with God's presence, to be thinking that until I climb one mountain, God is not present. That is not the Bible. So there was an understanding, the woman was giving Jesus an understanding of what she understood, that our fathers worshiped on this mountain. Remember Mount Sinai, where Moses met with God and all of that. So she was saying our fathers worshiped here. And the Jews said that in Jerusalem, I mean it's the place to worship. You know, at a time God commanded that everybody must gather in Jerusalem. A thing that King Jeroboam was trying to defeat when he went ahead and made a calf for the people of the northern kingdom to worship because he was afraid that if they go to Jerusalem they might align again with Rehoboam. So there was a command of God that they should gather that the Jews said they should go to Jerusalem. It's the place to worship. Now look at the answer of Jesus. Because the answer of Jesus settle all this settled this matter and make this clear. Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father." That is the truth about it. And that is why I tell people, don't think that on one mountain that is where God dwells. No. When you decide to climb a mountain, ori oke, it is just that it helps you to move away from distraction. We are not worshiping God on one mountain. But of course if I choose to go I want to climb a mountain to go and pray, it is to afford me concentration, able to concentrate away from disturbance, away from noise, away from all of that. That is the understanding of what mountain should be for any believer. And not that if you don't climb one mountain, God cannot meet with God. That is not the Bible. Number two thing is that Jesus also said neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the consecrated place of worshiping God. So it's important for you to know that God's presence is not inside your church. God's presence is not inside the place where you worship. Don't begin to equate God's presence to every time you come into the sanctuary, oh yeah, I'm now in God's presence. No, no, no, don't limit it to that. God is beyond all of that. It is not on a mountain or in Jerusalem, a consecrated place, a separated place of worship. No, God he said neither in the mountain nor in Jerusalem. The worship of God, if it does not transcend the mountain and the Jerusalem, then you are not you don't understand what it means to worship God. You can never live in his presence correctly. It must transcend your place of worship. It must transcend that place you call altar. It must transcend the chancel. It must transcend Sunday. Some people call Sunday or Saturday, whichever one you want to whichever day you call your holy day. Because for some of us, all days are alike. As long as you understand his presence. But if you are saying one day is more holy, one day is holier than one day, good for you, I don't have problem with that. But please understand that he is not a matter of a particular day or a particular place or a particular mountain. That is where God's presence is. Jesus said, and very, very clearly, he said, "Woman, believe me, believe me, don't believe lies, don't believe errors." And I'm telling you, young man, young woman, believe Jesus. The hour is coming when you will neither worship on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You will neither worship God there. He says, "You worship what you do not know. We know what we worship." Jesus was speaking to the woman, you are worshiping what you don't know. But we, we know, we know what we worship. It's important because many times you might be worshiping an imagined god, the god of your own imagination, not the one the Bible reveals. You might be worshiping a god that somebody handed over to you, not the one the Bible reveals. You might be worshiping God based on some traditions, not the one the Bible reveals. Jesus said we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. He said, "But the hour is coming," you see the next thing, "and now is." Hallelujah. When the true worshipers—do you get that?—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. So not on the mountain. Not in Jerusalem. Not in the chancel, not in the altar. Not in any place. The worship of God is not particularly in any place, that's what I'm talking about, understanding his presence. This worship of God that transcends a place. This worship of God that transcends a particular day, that transcends a particular time. This worship of God that is always: I am with you always. This worship of God. This living in God's presence that is always. You see, the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship him. What I am telling you is that God is not seeking for people that want to worship God in one Jerusalem, that want to worship God in one church, that want to worship God in one place of worship. God is seeking for people that will go beyond that, people that will understand that the worship of God is a matter that is constant, always, every time, in spirit and in truth, everywhere in all they do, in all they think, in all they say. The worship of God, understanding his presence. What I'm saying, it is not about your church, it is about his kingdom. It's not about your denomination. It's not about one mountain. It's about his kingdom, his presence. It's about this God that we serve, that is seeking. God is seeking these kind of worshipers who understand his presence. What we have today, majorly, are worshipers that God is not seeking. God is not seeking many of the things we are doing today. God is not seeking people who are committed to a church but not committed to God. God is not seeking such people. Pastors may be seeking them because they keep the church running. Leaders may be seeking them because they keep the system going. But I'm saying that it is important for us to know, both at the level of leadership, at the level of pastoring, at the level of followership, whichever level, that we must all come to a point that we know, we understand the presence of God and we live in that presence. Hallelujah. Look at what the Bible says next. It says, "And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And it came to pass after these things that his master's, his master's wife cast a longing eye on him and she said, Lie with me." Look at what the Bible says next. It said and Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And it came to pass after these things that his master, his master's wife cast a longing eye on him and she said, Lie with me. But he refused and said to his master's wife, look at the response of this man. "Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house." Look at the response of this man. "Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to whose hand? To my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor he kept back anything from me but you because you are his wife. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" Are you seeing this man? The matter transcend his master. I'm showing you the EFCC of Joseph. I'm showing you what was the police of his own life. It was his presence. He understood the presence. The presence is not when he kneel down to pray inside church, "we bless you Lord, you are holy." It's not when he reads his Bible. It's not when he's doing devotion, quiet time. It's not when he's preaching. No, that presence transcend. And that is why he said, even though there is increasing secularism in society today, we are separating we are separating between that which is sacred and that which is secular. I am warning you as a believer, for the believer, there is nothing sacred. There's nothing like secular job. Your job is a worship to God. There's nothing secular for the Christian, nothing is secular, nothing is without God. You don't say my, in my secular job. There's nothing secular in your life. May God deliver you from ignorance. May God deliver you from inability to see. Everything about your life is sacred. You live unto God. Your job, whether you eat, whether you drink, in everything you do, everywhere you are, you are conscious that God must be obeyed, God must be worshiped, God must be followed, God must be committed to. We must be dedicated to God in everything we do. There are some youth that their parents is their god. Once the parent come, they live correct life. Once the parent leave, they live a life that is not correct. It is because of this lack of understanding of his presence. For Joseph, Potiphar, Potiphar was not what Joseph was committed to. Hallelujah. Potiphar was not the point of Joseph's commitment. And in the same thing, Potiphar was not the commitment of Joseph. God was his commitment. And I'm saying for Joseph, there was no fellowship, there was no church service, there was no thing like that, but there was a man who was worshiping God in spirit and in truth. Worshiping God in spirit and in truth. Understanding his presence. Our time is fast spent today. I may, I may have to leave the matter here. I may leave the matter here for today. I trust the Lord that when we when we meet next week, we will continue, we will continue on this matter. We'll continue on this matter. Because I really want to show you men in scriptures from common Bible story. These are stories that we are familiar with. I want to draw, draw insight for you to see the understanding men who understood the presence of God. And I want to show you that anyhow, you'll be able to understand what the Bible says when it says pray without ceasing. If you understand his presence, you can pray all through the day. If you understand this matter, if you understand the matter, we'll be coming to all of that later. But I want us to close for today. I want us to close for today, we've spent about an hour. And I want you to pray. We continue with biblical examples next week by the grace of God. I want you to pray wherever you are. Oh God, help me to live in the consciousness of you. Help me to understand your presence. Oh Lord. Lord, let me be able to do everything in the name of the Lord. As a husband, help me to fear you in everything I do, to my wife, to my children, to to my neighbor. As a wife, God help me to to honor you in everything I do. As a leader, a pastor, a GO, a founder, a priest, a president, Lord, as I lead people, help me to lead them correctly. Help me to make them see that you transcend the place of our worship. Help me, help me, Lord. Lord, help us. Help your church. Lord, please bring revival. Lord, please grant us revival. Grant us awakening. Grant us, oh Lord. Grant us. Thank you, eternal Father. Oh, blessed be your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Our Father, we thank you for this evening. Our Lord, we worship your name. Our God, we lift you high. Our God, we bless you. Our God, we commit ourselves into your hand. We say, Lord God Almighty, Lord God Almighty, please help us, oh Lord. There is an intent of God for our life. God did not appoint us to wrath. Oh, you have appointed us to obtain salvation through the Lord Jesus. Oh Lord our God, we pray, awaken us. Awaken us. Deliver us from the corruption of our own time. Deliver us. Oh, broad is the way, wide is the gate that leads to destruction. Many are walking in it. Because narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way that leads to life. Only few find it. Oh God, that we may find our way of life and walk in the way of life in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, eternal Father. Oh, blessed be your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Let's share the grace together in fellowship. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forever more. Amen. [Speaker 1] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in reaching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission help. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class, every Monday, 5:00 PM; Adolescents and Singles' Club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; Marriage Forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; Family Life Seminars, regular school out-reaches, and every day counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location, Life Camp by the first bridge, Ileri community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Igede road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.