HIS PRESENCE ROSS SMITH
ALL REFERENCES FROM THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE UNLESS NOTED
We have long sought to attain to a place in God where we can not only experience His presence but to LIVE AND ABIDE in His presence.
WE KNOW THE BENEFITS, BUT HAVE WE COUNTED THE COST?
I ask myself the question, “Do I understand what I am looking for, and am I prepared for the consequences?” What will I be called upon to do and how will I be expected to live if I enjoy that “ENTHUSIASM” of His presence, “enthusiasm”, which really means “GOD WITHIN”. (Theos = God, En = within)
A similar dilemma arose when some of the Disciples decided that they wanted to enjoy a special place of privilege, a similar place to that which we desire, a “Place by Me, called THERE”, (Exodus 33:21) that is to be in His presence or by His side. Now I am not sure that they had not been coached in this matter, they were, of course, the earliest Disciples appointed and so maybe they had a sense of entitlement.
Presence involves proximity, we can be either in the area or in contact.
Mark 10:35-38 And James and John, THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE, approached Him and said to Him, Teacher, we desire You to do for us whatever we ask of You. (Is that not a familiar attitude and oozing presumption .. comments mine) And He replied to them, What do you desire Me to do for you? And they said to Him, Grant that we may sit, one at Your right hand and one at [Your] left hand, in Your glory (Your majesty and splendour). But Jesus said to them, YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE ASKING. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism [of affliction] with which I am baptized?
What we ask is always “conditional, and often the reason why we fail to get an answer is because we have ignored the “condition”. The disciples had already been told what was to occur, but their ego blinded their understanding.
It is imperative that we understand that anything we ask for is conditional, and therefore requires a significant degree of discernment. I often hear people say, “The Lord never answers me “and so my question is, “are you sure you were praying according to His will. Do you know what you were really asking, would it have been good for you, or for the person you were praying for?”
John 15:7 IF you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] (This is real “PROXIMITY” .. comments mine) and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, (THEN)ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. (Note the Apodosis!)
1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) ACCORDING TO HIS WILL (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us.
We can no longer live according to what we prefer or what we imagine, or what we want, we must quickly bring our concepts and perceptions acutely into focus and accordance to the directions of the Bible. There is no point in using the excuse that we didn’t know what we were asking for. Our weakness and short-sightedness appear and are evident as much in our prayers as in anything else.
Ephesians 4:18 Their moral understanding (or their “ethics” .. comments mine) is darkened and their reasoning is beclouded. [They are] alienated (estranged, self-banished) (Not even “in the area” … comments mine) from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] BECAUSE OF THE IGNORANCE (the want of knowledge and perception, the willful blindness) that is deep-seated in them, due to their hardness of heart [to the insensitiveness of their MORAL NATURE].
Often when we refer to “MORAL NATURE” the discussion reverts to the theories proposed by Charles Darwin. The apostle Paul summed it up in this verse when he said, “their reasoning is beclouded”, and the reason for their reasoning, is “ignorance”.
Paul’s use of the expression “MORAL NATURE”was probably around 52 AD when he visited Ephesus, and Darwin appropriated the term in his dissertation “Descent of Man”, when publishing his book in 1871. This is an attempt to ascribe the principles that Paul had established 1800 years earlier, to that of animal behaviour. Can there be more graphic example of “beclouded reasoning” and due solely to “ignorance and wilful blindness”.
Romans 1:21 Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honour and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened.
KJV uses the term “blindness of heart” and the heart is the seat of our “MORAL NATURE”. Easton describes it as “Hardness of heart evidences itself by light views of sin; partial acknowledgment and confession of it; pride and conceit; ingratitude; unconcern about the word and ordinances of God; inattention to divine providences; stifling convictions of conscience; shunning reproof; presumption, and general ignorance of divine things.” What an indictment!
Paul clearly identifies at least some of the reasons why we are alienated from Gods presence, and an ongoing awareness and continual service to the Lord, he calls it “IGNORANCE”, brought about because the people refuse or neglect to put into practice the things he had been teaching, a sure sign of hardness of heart.
And maybe the same conditions exist today in our lives and circumstances. WE HAVE TO GET IT RIGHT! And when we do then there will be no question as to how we should pray or how we should act. Where we have failed to put into effect, or to apply the principles that we have been so well versed in, but blunder along in the same dilemmas as we have done so for ages, then we qualify as “hard-hearted and insensitive”.
Before we proceed there is an interesting aspect to this story, and it leads me to believe that the Disciples were not entirely to blame for their “presumption” because I read in Matthew a different side to the matter.
Matthew 20:20-21 Then the mother of Zebedee’s children came up to Him with her sons and, kneeling, worshipped Him and asked a favour of Him. And He asked her, What do you wish? She answered Him, GIVE ORDERS that these two sons of mine may sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left in Your kingdom.
There has obviously been collusion here somewhere, who initiated it doesn’t matter, none of them understood the implications of what they were asking. But still further, who was she to tell Jesus what to do? We are categorised similarly when we make requests without knowing Gods will in the matter.
And that is still a familiar pattern, someone has a great idea that we as a church or a nation should pray for something, totally oblivious as to why the situation exists, but most often to satisfy their own wants.
James 4:3 [Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures.
The Disciples thought that Jesus was going to set up His realm here on earth. They expected that he would reign on the earth with great pomp and glory, they supposed that it would be attended only with honour and happiness if their request was granted, whereas it would include much suffering and trial. The disciples, here, had no reference to the kingdom of heaven, but only to the kingdom which they supposed he was about to set up on the earth, and in so doing didn’t have a clue to what they asking or what the end result would be.
They wanted to LIVE IN HIS PRESENCE just for the acclaim it would give them, these two disciples were emboldened at once to ask for prominent positions amongst the thrones. We must know the fellowship of His sufferings if we are to share His glory.
Now I don’t want in any way to dissuade anyone from seeking that serene and sacred place of dwelling in His presence, but we need to be prepared for what it entails. It is not all “beer and skittles”, and as Jesus said to the Disciples basically, “Can you cope with what I have to cope with?”
So the same question is posed to us when we seek to live in His presence, what are our concepts of that place. What do we expect, why do we have this ambition?
Psalm 16:11 You WILL SHOW me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
WILL SHOW For this to occur there has to be a readiness, which means we have to be open and prepared and listening, but also evidencing our sincerity by our obedience to the truths to which we have been exposed.
If we take just a few moments to review what we have heard, and compare it to how we have complied, we will readily identify if we are qualified to be “SHOWN”. It is presumptuous of us, just like James and John, if we think we can “take the road” if in our preparation we haven’t “taken the medicine.”
The “fullness of joy in his presence” will follow our traversing the path of life Father has already determined for us and can only become a reality when we are prepared to “cope” with the circumstances we face, and which Father has already endorsed in His plan for us.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,
This is a checklist that the apostle Paul put in writing to the Galatians so that we as individuals can assess if we are evidencing these characteristics. The wider society will also recognise the “FRUIT”, and then we will be called upon to relate the path to this sublime state.
Are we displaying all those characteristics, all that fruit, the proof of his presence within our lives? The fruit is from an inward condition, “His presence within” and what an attractive harvest it produces — but if we persist in behaviour not included in this list, then that may be a reason for a poor harvest. Of consequence, is Pauls expression, “His presence within”. The term is that of “ENTHUSIASM”, which differs from our current understanding. The word originates from “THEOS”, or GOD, and “EN” means inside, or correctly “HIS PRESENCE WITHIN”.
Ephesians 2:21 In Him the whole structure is joined (bound, welded) together harmoniously, and it continues to rise (grow, increase) into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, consecrated, and sacred to the presence of the Lord].
The church has an awesome responsibility, a responsibility which today seemingly does not properly represent what the Apostle Paul prescribed, a spiritual edifice that would stand out and up in the midst of the perversity that has overtaken society. Instead of a structure, “JOINED, BOUND, WELDED”, it is more like a loose arrangement of construction materials languishing on a building site rather than the tightly formed and elaborately adorned finished structure inhabited by the rightful tenant.
Not only is it intended to be a beautiful result, it is also to be a “HARMONIOUS” result. The finished product, the church or body, can never be regarded as “HARMONIOUS” when there is schism, competition, compromise, lack of sincerity, all those things that comprise “division” so roundly condemned by the Apostle.
1 Corinthians 11:18-19 For in the first place, I hear that when you gather as a church there are divisions among you, and I partly believe it. Of course, there must be factions among you to show which of you are genuine!
Some would excuse those aberrations mentioned because Paul mentioned that it would identify those who were truly Christian and those who were “fake”. I use the term “fake” as it is the opposite of “genuine”, and therefore the characteristics, the growth, the harmony required is contaminated and will negate the profession of that anticipated “PRESENCE OF THE LORD” because of disqualification. The real “body” looks like this:
A HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD [A SANCTUARY DEDICATED, CONSECRATED, AND SACRED TO THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD].
God intends His church to be “A TEMPLE, A SANCTUARY”, not for the salving of our conscience, or the satisfying of ambition, or the opportunity to show how “CHRISTIAN” I am, but “DEDICATED, CONSECRATED AND SACRED”. It may pay for us to just pause and reflect on these terms.
KJV uses a simple term, it calls this structure “HOLY”. But this doesn’t explain it adequately and the Greek is also a little obscure.
G40 Hagios (HOLY) (an awful thing) sacred (physically pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially consecrated): – (most) holy (one, thing), saint.
I ask myself, will the true body of Christ be “an awful thing” or an “awesome thing”. When Father views the church with such jealousy as recorded in 1 Corinthians 3, then it will qualify for the rest of the definition, “physically pure, morally blameless, or religious, ceremonially consecrated”.
1 Corinthians 3:17 If anyone does hurt to God’s temple or corrupts it [with false doctrines] or destroys it, God will do hurt to him and bring him to the corruption of death and destroy him. For the temple of God is holy (sacred to Him) and that [temple] you [the believing church and its individual believers] are.
Acts 11:21 And the presence of the Lord was with them WITH POWER, so that a great number [learned] to believe (to adhere to and trust in and rely on the Lord) and turned and surrendered themselves to Him.
One of the identifying characteristics of the early Apostles was that “the presence of the Lord was with them WITH POWER”. There is a tendency in men that when they are afforded some degree of “POWER” that it corrupts their sense of what is proper, and I wonder if James and John had some ambition to be able to use the power they saw operating through Jesus.
God’s presence within us will always involve the demonstration of His Majesty. The “LIGHT” that constitutes the Godhead is irrepressible and undeniable, and we are invited to “Walk in the Light”, or in other words, walk in the power of His presence within. When we do so, the light will be bright enough to extinguish self, and God will receive all the glory.
But this is a dangerous occupation because the power of God is intended to purify and rectify and qualify and modify and unify and edify and mollify
Jonah 1:3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from being in the presence of the Lord [as His prophet] and went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish [the most remote of the Phoenician trading places then known]. So he paid the appointed fare and went down into the ship to go with them to Tarshish from being in the presence of the Lord [as His servant and minister]. [Gen. 4:16; Job 1:12; 2:7.]
Why did Jonah flee, he well knew the graciousness of the Lord and his petulance was incompatible with the demands of the Holy Spirit on his ministry. No matter how unpalatable the task Father asks of us, it is inadvisable to try and escape it. This is just one more reason why we need to be sure we want to “LIVE IN HIS PRESENCE”,
IT COMES WITH RESPONSIBILITY AND CONSEQUENCE.
Ross Smith 