Merredin Uniting Church

Audio Version: http://sermon.net/daviddekock

When God is with us, it changes our lives fairly dramatically. First, as we have seen in the case of the Philippian jailer, it creates the situation that people want to be with us. They want what we’ve got. They are attracted to who we are when God is with us.
Then we saw that His Presence with us is a covenant promise – a promise that God will never break. Moses held God to this promise when the Lord was angry with the people in the Exodus, after they had made the golden calf. Jesus also confirmed that promise by saying that He would never leave us nor forsake us. God’s Presence with us is the mark of our identity.
Last week, as we examined the meaning of “David’s fallen tent” first mentioned b y the prophet Amos and to which James referred in the Council of Jerusalem, we saw that God really wants to be with us. His heart is that there be no barriers, no walls, no special “holy places” – where ever we are, and He is, will be the holy place.

So today I want to ask the question.
Can we simply presume upon the presence of God with us?
No, we can’t.
Yes, it is true that God wants to be present with everybody but He is holy and He cannot entertain any unrighteousness in His Presence. And because of original sin – the sin of Adam; because of the invasion of sin into every aspect of life; because of the ongoing temptation of the devil (and our easy submission to that temptation) – we find ourselves separated from God.
God cannot be with us in this state of our being. The world, the flesh and the devil conspire to keep us separated from God.
But God Himself, made it possible for us to return to righteousness through the atoning death of Jesus. He paid the price for our sin, by His blood, we are forgiven and healed. We can contribute nothing to what Jesus has done other than acceptance of that redemption.
And herein lies a big problem.
We say: Jesus died for my sins, therefore I am saved, and then we go on to live our lives just as we please.

We cannot do that if we have accepted the atoning sacrifice of Christ. We have been bought at a price, we have been ransomed and my full and undiluted acceptance of my hard bought freedom is crucial to the Presence of God in my life.

Just listen to God’s response to Solomon’s prayer for the blessing of the Temple … it’s the second part of the response (the one we don’t read). The first part is really good – God says that if we pray then he will hear us and respond from heaven. Wonderful good news but now listen to the second part….
2 Chronicles 7:19-22
“But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”

Solomon had prayed only for blessings, he had not included in his prayer any consequences for when Israel failed to live up to God’s requirement.
But for God there is always a consequence for disobedience – and that consequence is separation. “I will uproot Israel from my land; I will reject the Temple” (and that, by the way, was the mark of God’s Presence).

There are conditions for God’s Presence with us. Its not a set of rules but a way of life. Or perhaps I should say, a new way of life.

Within all the Sunday School stories that we remember from our childhood; in our daily reading of God’s Word, this is the base line message. God wants to bring us to a new way of life – He wants us to begin again.
We can’t just change our lives, give up bad habits or follow New Year resolutions. We have to start all over – from a new beginning.
Jesus made that so clear to Nicodemus in John 3 and yet, even as a Bible Scholar, he struggled at first to understand it. We have to be born again, we have to have a fresh start.
Jesus spoke about being born of water and the Spirit – born of water is not baptism, it is birth into this world. We are all born of water (except I suppose, if you have a caesarian birth). The waters break and the baby is born into this world, but to enter into God’s Kingdom, into the place of God’s Presence we must be born again – of the Spirit.
John 3:5-7
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

Flesh gives birth to flesh – the first birth, the birth by water; but Spirit gives birth to spirit – born again of the Spirit of God.

Our struggle is, that after being born of water (into this world) we end up finding ourselves contaminated by the sin which is inherent in it. In order to find ourselves in God’s Presence we must be born again of the Spirit (as Jesus puts it) or filled with the Spirit (as Luke describes it) or we must receive the gift of the Spirit (as Peter says in his sermon on the day of Pentecost.)

After preaching that sermon, which simply told the story of God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ and which ended by saying that Jesus was both Lord and Christ, the people were cut to the heart and wanted to know what they should do.
Acts 2:37-47
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Verse 38 – Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

At the heart of our response to God’s love must be repentance, and with it comes salvation and the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the born-again life which Jesus spoke about to Nicodemus; it is the life in which we know the Presence of God with us because we are forgiven.

So what is repentance? I described it just a few weeks ago – it is a realization that I am on the wrong road: That the path which I am following is leading to destruction. I have to get back on the right road. I have to follow the way of Jesus. And its more than just a direction, it’s a way of life – its no wonder that the earliest followers of Jesus called themselves “the Way”. They were following a new way, they were headed in a new direction.

When I come to repentance, I must strip off my fancy clothes which are hiding my reality. Underneath my “Superman” outfit is the real me. I desperately need God in my life, I need Him to be near me, I need Him to give me life and purpose. I need Him to help me understand, I need His Presence, or I am lost.
And every time I kneel humbled before God in repentance
(for it needs to happen often), He puts His arms around me and hugs me. Like the father of the Prodigal Son, He already has a new robe for me, a ring for my finger and a fatted calf to celebrate.
And then He brings me into community of forgiven sinners and we break bread together and we share our stories and our blessings.

When the Spirit comes it is not only a spiritual and emotional high – this can happen: the Presence of God with us will bring what Martin Lloyd Jones called “An unspeakable joy”. We may even speak in tongues, because we need another language to express our praise, and we may be so overwhelmed by the Presence of God that we can no longer stand up. These experiences are all described in the Bible as associated with the infilling of the Spirit.
But something else also happens when the Presence of God comes upon us. And this is of more long lasting tenure. In the Old Testament, and even in the Gospels, we read of the Spirit coming only upon certain people and/or for a limited purpose, but from Pentecost on we have something entirely different. Each person coming to God in repentance is filled with the Spirit and the Presence of the Lord remains as long as they maintain the relationship and keep their lives pure.
The very first Christian believers called this “The Way” – they were living in the Way of Christ, following Him and trusting Him in every aspect of life and faith. And it was not kept up by following the ritual of the Jews – it really was a new way of living.

When the Spirit came they found themselves in community – a group of forgiven sinners – filled with awe at the Presence of God with them.
They met together and shared together, they broke bread together and they all had glad and sincere hearts. And they enjoyed the favor of the people.

Something dramatic happened!
Old grievances fell away, hurt feelings were mended, a new life began as they repented before the Lord and forgiveness was given by God and from each other.
Their lives began to bear the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

When the Spirit comes our lives are changed.
In the Presence of God we cannot harbor grievances and selfish ambition. Our attention is to the Lord and our love is for each other. Pettiness, strife and dissension falls away in the wake of this newfound purpose.

I believe that one of reasons why this sense of new life and new community seems to fail continuously is because we have tried to make it a once-off event in our life.
If I have been filled with the Spirit, how could I fall away?
The truth is that we are constantly bombarded by “the world, the flesh, and the devil” and our choices are sometimes not good. I am tempted by what the world has to offer, I give in to the desires of the flesh and the devil is forever at my heels.

But confession, repentance, renewal and the infilling of the Spirit are ongoing features of the Christian life. Peter was filled with the Spirit several times in the Book of Acts. These things are intended to be ongoing features of our walk with Jesus.

If sin has a foothold in your life, if you have a grievance, or are harbouring a hurt, if you are at odds with God or another person, confess it to God – ask for forgiveness and don’t walk that way again.

Tags: God with us series

Acts 15:5-21
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up: “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
16 ”‘After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
17 that the remnant of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’
18 that have been known for ages.
19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

When the early church was faced with a problem, they met together to seek answers in the Scriptures, in discussion and in prayer.
Here in Acts 15 we have one of the early problems in the church. It’s the question about who can be saved.

Salvation, in those days, as it still is today, was much more than just the fact that you will be “saved” from judgment (by the atoning death of Jesus). Salvation means that you are saved from the inevitability of the direction of your life. Because of sin, inherited, imputed and real, each person born into his world is headed for destruction.
Although God initiated this destruction because of original sin, it has never been what He really wants. In 2 Peter 3:9 we read that “God does not want anyone to perish, but rather that everyone would come to repentance.”
Repentance is about “turning around”; it is about recognizing that the path ahead is fraught with danger. It is about finding Jesus as the Way of salvation.

So here at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, we are witnesses to a debate. There are those who think that the way of salvation is found only through God’s promise to Abraham and through the customs taught by Moses.
And then there are those who think that salvation is for those to whom God has given the Holy Spirit.
At this time, James, the brother of Jesus, is the leader of the Church. He listens to the various arguments and then he turns to the Scriptures and quotes a fairly obscure Scripture from the prophet Amos about God rebuilding David’s fallen tent and rules, on the basis of this, that God has decided to save the Gentiles too, and that would be wrong to force them to comply with all the rules and customs of Moses.

We so often read things in the Bible without thinking about what they mean – that’s why Bible Study is more important that Bible reading.

So what is David’s fallen tent and why do James and the Council of Jerusalem use this argument to justify God’s wider grace.

To understand we must go back to 2 Samuel 6.
2 Samuel 6:1-17
David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. 2 He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. 5 David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.
6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7 The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.
8 Then David was angry because the LORD’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.
9 David was afraid of the LORD that day and said, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?” 10 He was not willing to take the ark of the LORD to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the LORD blessed him and his entire household.
12 Now King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
16 As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.
17 They brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the LORD.

Saul, the first king of Israel is dead, David has conquered Jerusalem and his desire is to bring the Ark back to the city.
The Ark was the sign of God’s Presence – God had a place above the Mercy Seat (the lid of the Ark), between the Cherubim. It was God’s symbolic throne, even more than that. It was where the Moses and the High Priest met with God on the journey from Egypt in the Exodus.
After the arrival in the Promised Land, the Ark had been somewhat neglected during Joshua’s Campaign to occupy the land. Through the period of the Judges, it was not treated with much significance. It did however have a place at Shiloh, which was where the most senior of the Judges resided. The most notable of these was Samuel.
During this time, it seems that the enemies of Israel attached more significance to the Ark than did Israel itself. They captured it several times, convinced that it had some kind of magic which would give them victory. However, every time they captured it, that “magic” brought problems and the Ark would end up in Israel’s hands again.
Finally, the Ark found a home at Abinadab’s home. He became the keeper of the Ark and he prospered greatly – his fields were lush, his cattle were fat and his sheep were plentiful. Clearly the Presence of the Lord brought great blessing to Him.

And so David wanted to bring the Ark to Jerusalem, the new capital city of the Promised Land. He set out with thirty thousand chosen men to fetch it and a new cart to carry it. (2 Samuel 6:1)There were musicians aplenty and David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might – until they reached the threshing floor of Nacon.
The oxen stumbled, Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark and suddenly he was struck down dead. David was confused and angry and afraid – He left the Ark right there at the home of Obed-Edom and went home.
Then he heard that Obed-Edom was being blessed by the Presence of the Ark. And no doubt David did a bit of research about the Ark because when he went back to fetch it three months later he didn’t bring a new cart but the Levitical Priests, who were the only ones authorized to carry the Ark.
They heaved it onto their shoulders and set out – six steps and they stopped to make a sacrifice. David wanted to make sure that everything was right. The Bible doesn’t exactly say that they made more than one sacrifice but the implication is that they made a sacrifice after every six steps (2 Samuel 6:13 says “When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf”) – if that’s the case it would have taken a long time to get to Jerusalem. David certainly wanted to do it right!

And then at last we get to Jerusalem and the Ark is placed inside the tent which David had pitched for it.
Aha! Here is David’s tent at last. The one which James referred to at the Council of Jerusalem which extended God’s grace to the Gentiles.
And its not like the Tabernacle at all. The Hebrew word for the Tabernacle is “mishkan” but this tent is an “a-el”. This kind of tent is simply a shelter – a roof whose walls were only lowered for protection. It was like a Bedouin tent.

David has read the Pentateuch – he knows how the Ark is to be treated. He knows who is to carry it and how it is to be treated. He has, perhaps gone a bit overboard in the number of sacrifices and extent of praise which he offers, but he’s done everything right – except for one thing, and its crucial. The Ark is to be kept in a special kind of tent – an enclosed tent, a “mishkan”.
Instead, he puts it into an “a-el”. David’s tent has no sides to it, no barriers – just a roof. Its open to the world, and the Ark is put there. God’s Presence is placed right in the midst of the people. There’s no walls like the Tabernacle would have had – no inner chamber, into which only the High Priest could enter. Its not like the Temple which David’s son, Solomon was to build – there’s only a roof over the Ark. Anyone who wants to come to God has complete freedom.

And that’s what James and the council at Jerusalem realized.
In Jesus and by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, God had come amongst His people. There were now no more barriers. God had started a new initiative – He had come to us. And anyone who turned to God would find Him.
There were no constraints, no barriers, no limitations. There was no particular door you had to pass through, no special title or privilege you needed in order to find yourself in the Presence of God.

God was now with us.
Acts 15:8 tells us that “God, who knows the heart, has given the Holy Spirit to everyone who turns to Him”.

As I have been saying through this series, it is the Presence of God with us which sets us apart – which makes us God’s own. And the Holy Spirit within us is the mark of that Presence.
On the day of Pentecost, after Peter had preached, the people cried out ,”What must we do?” And Peter responded, repent and be baptized and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

God has taken away the barriers – all He wants is for us to come to Him. In repentance we leave behind all the things which we have created as barriers – our sin, our pride, our self-centeredness – and we come to God “within the veil, into that Holy Place” of His Presence.

If Your Presence is not with us …

Turn with me to Matthew 5:13….

This is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. He says of those who follow Him – You are ‘the salt of the earth’ and you are ‘the light of the world’.

That means something ……. it is our identity as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In verse 16, Jesus says, ‘let you light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.’

Now ‘good deeds’ is not really a good translation here … it makes us think of acts of charity, or acts of kindness only. The words “kala erga” could be better translated as “ideal acts” – “that men may see your ideal acts and praise your Father.”

“Ideal acts” means not only our behaviour but the very ethos, or heart of our being, which identifies us for who we are.

We have an identity as followers of Christ – it is the way in which the world is able to separate us from all others.

How many of you have seen the movie “We are Marshall”?

I haven’t seen it myself but I was listening to a sermon by Louis Giglio recently and he mentioned the movie. I googled it and you can do that too when you get home from church.

It’s a true story about the football team from Marshall University who were all killed in a plane crash in the 1970’s. The campus and the town were devastated by the loss, it felt like their life and purpose had come to an end. The university wants to close down the football program but one young man believes that they can rise from the ashes. He starts training a new team and the town begins to rally around. At the end of the movie there is a hugely emotional moment when all the townspeople gather together and begin to chant, “We are Marshall, we are Marshall”. It’s a new beginning, they have rediscovered their identity.

I often feel that the church of Jesus Christ has lost its identity. We get caught up in the ordinary and the mundane. We begin to do things by rote, we dislike change because somehow we are clinging on to the few little things which seem to identify us as Christ followers.

But we have a much greater identity than that. We are not marked by the way our buildings are designed, the songs we sing, the clothes we wear, or by our charitable acts – though these are part of what we do.

We are actually marked by the fact that God is with us. This has been the mark of God’s people from the beginning and it will be the means by which we will be identified at the end when the Son of Man separates the sheep from the goats. (Matthew 25)

When God is with us we live in another dimension, on another plane – we are running with horses not with men. (see Jeremiah 12, and my comments in the newsletter).

As part of my devotional reading this week, I was meditating on Habakkuk. The prophet is questioning God about why He lets the guilty go unpunished and why He lets the wicked prosper. God answers by saying that they will be punished – the ruthless Babylonians are going to mete out God’s justice. Habakkuk is appalled … but, he says, the Babylonians are even worse culprits, how could God use them?

God responds with a whole chapter which lists the ways of the wicked but states clearly – in just six words the way that God-followers are to live in this world, – “the righteous shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).

Habukkuk is suddenly overwhelmed by a surge of understanding: God is with His people and “though the fig tree does not blossom and there be no fruit on the vine, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet, he will rejoice in the Lord, the God of his salvation.”

God is with us. We are His. We have an identity in Christ and the Lord knows each of us by name.

If He is not with us, then we are not different to anyone else. It is His Presence which creates our identity, marks us as holy and which guides us on our journey from bondage to the Promised Land. We have not yet arrived – we are still struggling through the desert but our goal is certain and our God knows how to lead us – a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire at night.

Now turn to Exodus 33:12-23

God is fed up with the people He has rescued from bondage in Egypt – he calls them “stiff-necked”. Their offence is that they are proud and haughty. They are self-satisfied. They believe that they don’t need God with them. They have created their own god of gold shaped into a calf – let their golden calf go with them.

He tells Moses that they can go on up to the land of milk and honey but He will not go with them. (Ex 33:3)

I love Moses’ response. (verse 12)

“You keep telling me to ‘lead these people’ but you have not told me who is going with me.

You said that you ‘know me by name and that I have found favour with you’ but you have not taught me your ways.

In other words …. “Lord, here are one million of Your people at the foot of this mountain that you want me to lead. I can’t do it on my own; you need to be with me and you need to be showing me how to do it because they are Your people and this journey is a fulfilment of a promise You made to Abraham. If you are not with us, then nothing will distinguish us from all the other people on the earth.”

Your Presence with us is our identity. Without You we are nothing, we have no name, we are just like all the rest.

Moses realised that God’s Presence is a crucial aspect of our identity as God’s people. Not that we do, or don’t do the things that we are supposed to do but that we are who we are meant to be. We are salt and light – if we lose our saltiness, or hide our light, it might as well be that God is not with us. He is the One who creates our identity. Without Him, we are ordinary; wandering aimlessly through the desert trying to find our way home.

Moses is holding God to His covenant promise – In Genesis 17 God had told Abraham, “I make an everlasting covenant with you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” It was God’s promise to always be with His people and to always be their God. And even if they chose to go their own way, He would still mark them as His people by His Presence with them. The reminder to the Jewish people was to be circumcision and for us who have found our faith and salvation in Christ, it is baptism.

Our identity is marked by God’s Presence with us. It is ritualised in our baptism – I die to self and I rise in Christ. We forget that sometimes.

I am who I am in Christ because God is with me. I can face uncertain tomorrow’s because God is with me. I can face opposition, trouble and death because God is with me. But if God is not with me I cannot face anything – my identity is uncertain, my purpose is unclear and I fear what tomorrow holds.

Moses knew the significance of this and He knew also that it was significant for God because He is the One of certain promises. I suspect that God might not have left Israel in the lurch but He needed to be sure that Moses had crystallised in his own mind the significance of this aspect of the identity of the people of God – that God is with them.

Moses’ challenge proved that and so God says (v 17) “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

I am pleased with you – Good answer, Moses!

I know you by name – I am with you, we are community!

And then look at this (v 18), Moses asks to see God’s glory. That’s a pretty audacious request.

The word “Glory” has changed its meaning over time and we often now take it to mean “honor” or “praise” but you can see that it could possibly mean that in this instance. The Hebrew word “kabod” means heavy, or laden with riches; Moses is asking to see a manifestation, or exhibition, of God’s divine attributes. He wants to see this God who will be with them.

God denies this to Moses, saying that no-one can see the face of God and live. Instead he must hide in a cleft in the rock and God will pass by and Moses will be able to see God’s back. (v 21,22)

The significance here is that Moses can see where God has been but not where He is going. In retrospect, Moses can look and see that God has been with Him – like the “Footprints” poem. In the everyday however, Moses must live by faith in God’s promise.

His identity is not found in the visible Presence of God but in the faith which believes that God is with him even though he does not see Him.

And this is true for us also today. We do not see God with us but by faith we believe that He is with us. The consequence of this is dramatic – it means, as I said last week, that we have peace in our situation and hope in our future. It means that people will seek to have that which we have, and it means, as Moses indicated, that we will be distinguished from all other people on the earth.

We do however have an advantage over Moses, for we live this side of the Cross. We are a people who have witnesses through the ages who can testify to seeing God’s glory. We might not “see” God but we can know God through their testimony.

Turn to John 1:14-18

Do you get it?

The Word who was in the beginning and who was with God and who is God, became flesh. People have seen His glory – face to face. Not just the trail of where He has been, but they were actually with Him when He was with them.

He has been made known.

He is our identity because He is Emmanuel – God with us!

The people of Marshall could shout “We are Marshall! to affirm their identity – but our cry is “God is with us!” “God is with us!” “God is with us!”

Amen

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word & the Word was WITH God and the Word was God…

John introduces us here to an understanding of the intimacy of the Trinity …
In the beginning, when there was still nothing … even before the so-called “Big Bang”, or whatever you would like to call the official start of the universe … there was God.
We call Him “Father”.
And there was the Word, Logos – John’s rich description of God who came amongst us and who revealed Himself as “Son”.
We call Him “Jesus”.
And there was the Spirit of God hovering over the waters in the beginning at the time of primal chaos.
We call Him “Holy Spirit”.

They were together and they are one.
One God in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit; they were in perfect unity. They are not three gods for there is only one God, but in a way that is a mystery to us, God, the Creator of all things, the Founder of all that is, has revealed Himself to us in three persons.
These three persons exist in the intimate unity of the one Godhead.

They are always “with” each other.

Today I want to explore the idea of us also being “with” God and God being “with” us.
The Bible is full of descriptions of this..
Gen 5:22 – (Before the Flood) Enoch walked “with” God.
Gen 39:21 – Joseph (of Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat fame) was in prison but the Lord was “with” him.
Ex 3:12 – Moses is at the burning bush. He asks questions about God and God says to him, “I will be “with” you.”
Ex 33:14 – Moses is again questioning God, and ends by asking God to teach him His ways. God says to him, “My Presence will go “with” you, and I will give you peace.”
Joshua 1:5 – When God calls Joshua to lead the people into the new land, He says, “No-one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was “with” Moses, so I will be “with” you. Be strong and courageous.”

A constant theme runs through this idea of God being “with” us. The promise of God’s presence brings confidence when we are unsure, it brings peace when we are in turmoil … and it gives us courage to undertake endeavours which are far beyond our human capability. It means that we are “safe” where we are – wherever we are – when God is with us.
And, in fact, it might even be foolish to want to be anywhere else.

I want us to ponder a story this morning … it’s the account of Paul and Silas in prison in the town of Philippi.
Let me give you some background first …
While Paul & Silas were visiting the town during their first venture into Europe, they were followed by a slave girl who was possessed by an evil spirit. By this spirit she was able to tell fortunes and she was shouting out that these men were “servants of the Most High God who are telling the way to be saved.”
All this was true but – I guess, Paul and Silas were still under cover, their mission to Europe was still in the exploratory stages. And the evil spirit was messing things up. They then spoke to the spirit and exorcised it. This meant that the spirit was cast out and she was no longer able to predict the future and her masters had thus lost a means of income.
And so they had Paul & Silas arrested and thrown into prison.

READING – Acts 16:22-40
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.

Paul and Silas are in the inner cell of a dungeon. Its dark and damp. There’s no electricity, no beds, no toilets and no air-conditioning. But there are rats and spiders.
Their legs are fastened in the stocks.
They have been there since the time of prayer, which was about 3pm. Its now midnight and they are singing hymns and praying. The other prisoners are listening to them.
Suddenly there is an earthquake –the doors fly open and everybody’s chains come loose.

Now a normal person would say that this was a miracle, an answer to prayer – they can all escape.
The jailer, who is a normal person, wakes up. He rushes from his bed and he finds the doors open. Oh no! They’ve escaped. He doesn’t even look. He grabs his sword and is about to commit suicide.

But, hang on a minute. The prisoners haven’t escaped. They are all still inside.
As the jailer points the sword towards his heart, he hears a voice from inside the dungeon, “Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here.”
And the jailer calls for lights, he rushes in and falls before Paul & Silas … “What must I do to be saved?” he asks.

I’ve read this passage many times. I always figured that the jailer was converted because of the earthquake – you know, the power of God displayed and all that stuff.
But do you see this?
His conversion happened not because the earthquake opened the doors but because despite the fact that the doors were open and the chains had fallen off – the prisoners chose to stay inside!
Why?
What was it about them?
What did they have that the jailer did not have?

I say, that it was because God was “with” them in the jail.
Remember the story of Daniel and his two mates in the fiery furnace. When Nebuchadnessar looked he saw four people in the fire completely unharmed. And the fourth looked like the Son of God. God with “with” them in the fire, just as He was “with” Paul and Silas in the dungeon.

When God is with you then your circumstances are circumstantial – they are not very important.
We can be strong, secure, confident! As the psalmist says, “We can scale a wall, advance against a troop…”
And God is always with us. Jesus said, “I will always be with you, I will never leave you or forsake you.” He is with us in the ordinary things of life. And He is not just with the Christians – He is with everybody, for He is the God who created each one of us.

Brother Lawrence, a monk who lived in the Middle Ages wrote a series of letters about his life “with” God. They have been put together in a book called “Practicing the Presence of God”. He was not a great or important man – he worked his whole life in the kitchen of the monastery but he wrote of how he found deep fulfillment in what he was doing because God was “with” him.
He never got to the chapel with the other monks, there were no solemn rituals or sacred communions for him – he was always elbow deep in dough or dirty dishes, but he had God “with” him.
Its not the circumstances that matter but whether God is in the circumstances.

The jailer thought that in the circumstances of an open jail, his prisoners would have taken the opportunity to escape and so thought that he had failed his earthly masters and so he thought that his best option was suicide.
When he realized that his prisoners had not escaped their circumstances he wanted to know what it was that kept them there – because whatever it was, it was more than he had. They found joy in the dungeon, he had been looking at death.
His prisoners had been praying and singing hymns to Go – they were “with” God – and so they saw no need to escape. God was “with” them and they didn’t want to leave Him.

How many have there been who have found God “with” them in the crisis of cancer, in a life turned suddenly around, in the circumstances of chaos.
They knew or have come to know a peace, through the Presence of God with them.

And how many, like the jailer, who, without knowing that Hod was with them, wanted to end their life or run away from their circumstances.

When we know that we have God “with” us, something different happens in our life. We find a peace and a joy that is not at all dependent on our circumstances. And it is attractive for those who are still struggling to see God. They see the potential of an answer to the meaning of their life.
And it is far more compelling than standing on their doorstep with a big black Bible in your hand. It is through our peace with God and our situation that people begin to see that God does actually make a difference in your life.

READING – Philippians 1:27-2:5
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Sermon: How do we know? by Kevin Tengvall

How do we know what God wants us as individuals to do in this world? The short answer to that is, I don’t know.  For some people it is easy there calling is obvious, but I would hazard to guess that for most of us our callings are not quite so easy.

For me I think it has taken 50 years for me to work out what it is God wants me to do with my life. I must be slow learner because it has taken that long for the penny to drop. But then again I’m a firm believer in that God uses all things in our lives to his glory if we just open the doors a little. I think Gods glory is shown not because of just what we do, but sometimes in spite of what we do.

This sermon is more in the shape of a testimony. As the start of Ride for life approaches I thought I’d take this opportunity to explain how I think God has worked in my life to get me to the point where we are now. Seeing as how this church, has given this project so much amazing support.

It was only a couple of years ago that I discovered that God had already moved in my life in huge ways before I was 4 months old, but that’s another story I’m not ready to tell yet. I will start with when I was 3 years old. Mum and Dad sent me to a riding school (2) near where we lived in the UK.  Between then and 15 I rode when I could until I was able to buy my own horse when we came to Merredin.

I will come back to that in a minute, we moved from the UK to Australia in 1967 when I was 9 (3) I had a pretty good time until I went to High school, where I was bullied quite badly it was then I started to learn Judo which I became fairly proficient at (4) in 1972 we moved to Merredin and as there wasn’t a Judo club here, I started one and started teaching (5) this was my first foray into teaching kids.

It was around this time that I started learning about Horses. Doing pony club in particular the prince Philip games, training and driving pacers, polocrosse, and about 20 something years as clerk of the course/catcher at the trots.(6)

Some where in amongst those years I taught swimming interm and vacation for a bit over 10 years. (7)

I also joined Rostrum later to become Speakers Forum where I learnt public speaking and chairmanship.(8)

As a Christian I have often wondered what it was that God wanted me to do? I have often felt that I should be doing something for God but had no idea what, I’m not a great singer(just ask those who sit in front of me) I am no theologian and therefore am quite fearful when preaching Gods word.

So what I have often asked myself does God want me to do, now this is where I’ll admit to being a bit of a slow learner. I did not take into account of how great God is and how much work he does in our lives without us realizing it.

It took quite a while for me to realize that all three of the jobs I have at the moment are working with kids or even that it was significant for what was to come.

A bit over a year ago Jeff Hughes joined us at DCP as the youth worker (9) and I was telling him some of the things I had done in the past working with kids. And he said why aren’t you doing anything now? That pulled me up quick smart because I didn’t know how to answer that. It was one of those times when you get an epiphany.

And so the first beginnings of Ride for Life were born. The more I thought about it the more convinced it was the answer I have unknowingly being looking forward to for 50+ years.

In the 12 months since the idea of RfL was first manifested I have been continuously amazed at how god has moved in people. Rarely have I heard a word against the idea. On the contrary people Christian and non Christian alike have been exceedingly generous with there time, money, equipment and horses. I won’t mention them all here but if you look up our website or Facebook page you will see who they are.

Around the same time Jeff came to Merredin and set me alight David also joined us as our minister,(10)who when I tentatively mentioned the idea was so encouraging which gave me the courage to string things together.

I gave myself 12 months to get it up and Running and then I called for people to help and join the committee  mainly to keep me on track and in line and not go off half cocked, because if I have learnt one thing in my life it is that I do tend to rush in where angels fear to tread.

But the way the committee has got behind RfL has been very humbling and I know that with out them RfL wouldn’t be starting in a week.

On searching the internet for similar programmes I came across one called Crystal peaks Ranch take a few minutes to see how God can work when his servants listen to him.

This is not to say how good I am but how great God is and if we open the doors to him a little, then great things can happen for his glory.

We are having our opening day this afternoon between 1-3 and you are invited to come and see for yourselves what it’s all about and why your prayers are needed.

AMEN