6/7/2020- God's Presence brings Joy, God's Joy brings Strength

God’s Presence brings Joy. God’s Joy brings Strength.
Sunday, June 7, 2020

During our recent experience of more time at home, I read a lot. There’s a Christian fiction book I read about a young woman who lived in Egypt and went through the nine plagues described in the book of Exodus, and eventually traveled with God’s people through the Red Sea. This was, of course, about 3500 yrs. ago.

The main character in the novel, Kiya, started out not being a believer. Like many of us before Christ, she believed in other things.

As the story unfolds, she becomes friends with a Hebrew girl who saves the life of her and her family. They all walk through the miraculous frozen sea away from four hundred years of slavery and Pharoah’s army and begin a new life on the other side.

Through her friend, Shira, she learns more and more about God, or Yahweh. (Note to selves: develop relationships with non-believers, at God’s direction, to then be able to lead them to Christ.) Along the way, though journey of the book, she comes to believe in Yahweh herself. With all of her heart. She becomes a fully devoted follower.
(Our vision statement:
Fully devoted followers of Christ impacting communities for God.)

There is a scene in this book which has stayed with me. It is from Exodus 19.
It is when Moses leads the people, to stand together, at the foot of Mt. Sinai,
or “The Mountain of God.”

The Cloud that had shimmered and changed shape and color and led them by day through the desert now hovered above the summit of the mountain. It grew in size.
It became darker. It thundered loudly and flashed lightning. All who wanted to be included and willing to follow The Lord’s commands were about to take part in a covenant ceremony with Yahweh.

They had spent three days washing, preparing, and making new garments.
They were ready. A Heavenly trumpet blasted, and kept blasting.
Everyone fell to their knees, or on their faces.
“Mt. Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire.
The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.”
(Exodus 19:18, 19)
{Pause for a moment if led…}

An earthquake shook the valley, rattling the mountains. Everyone was on their knees or their faces, pleading with God for mercy, or crying. There was no getting up.
The weight of the force was immense.

The sins of each one of the people came to their minds as were washed clean of every thought word or action contrary to the ways of God they had ever committed.

Then came the healing and the hope. Yahweh spoke and the words were musical.
A song far more beautiful than words could describe. And there was a fragrance.
The sweetest and loveliest smell ever to be imagined.

Some of us have experienced that weight upon us when we’re in the Lord’s presence. Some of us have smelled a sweet fragrance and looked around for someone else entering the room with perfume, and there is no one else.

Then the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and all the rest faded away.

Long minutes passed before the people began coming to their feet and moving off toward their tents. Slowly. Thoughtfully. In silent wonder.
People had been healed. People had been filled with ecstasy.
People were walking in joy.

They had been in the Presence of God.

This scene from the book from Exodus, chapter 19 has stayed in my mind because we are a church who has always said, from the beginning, that we must be a Presence Based Church.

I believe as we come back from “The Divine Reset,” we are coming back into a higher level. We are going deeper with God.

An Elevation worship song, (As it is in Heaven) begins with the words, “The atmosphere is changing now…” I believe this is happening with us and with Dove and with all the true believers around us, and throughout the world.

If you recall the proclamation from Pentecost Sunday, (Last week?!) we prayed together for the Holy Spirit to revive us!
Like the covenant people in Exodus, we agreed to humble ourselves, pray, and seek Yahweh’s face and turn from our own wicked ways. (2 Chron. 7:14)
We prayed for enlightenment.
We received God’s promise to pour out His Spirit on everyone.
We prayed for boldness and signs and wonders through the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. (Acts 4:29, 30.)

As we seek more of God’s Presence more often, we will experience these things.

It’s sad that, fourteen chapters later, in Exodus, many of the same people who vowed their love and their lives forever to Yahweh, instead, turned back to their old, familiar, false gods of Egypt and even persuaded Moses’ own brother Aaron to take their gold jewelry and melt it into a golden calf which they worshiped.

Yes! Moses had gone back up on the mountain, with Joshua by his side, I might add, and stayed there for forty days. It was while he was gone the people rebelled.

Moses came back down from the mountain and found many of the people drunk and partying and worshiping the golden calf. He was furious! He was enraged!
He threw the 10 commandment tablets to the ground and broke them!
(As John Smith said, he was actually the first one to break the 10 commandments!)

Anyway, if you know the story, (and if you don’t, PLEASE, read the book of Exodus!), what followed was terrible. Those who took part in the rebellion had to be killed,
and everyone was struck with a plague.

Imagine how heartsick Moses must have been. And Joshua.
And imagine how heartsick and disappointed the Lord was.
The very people He had created and saved and shaped for Himself, had betrayed HIm.

He told Moses to go ahead and pack up and head on up towards the Promised Land, but He wasn’t going with them anymore.

Moses went off to meet with God privately on a regular basis. He pitched a tent outside the camp, some distance away, and called it “the tent of meeting.” It’s where He met with God. We’re told in Exodus 33 “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” We’re also told “Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.” (:11)

Have you ever thought about that before? Joshua remained in the Presence of God. Often. And as long as He could. Once you get a taste of that you want more.
And if you’ve read the book of Joshua, (and if you haven’t, READ IT!), then you know that God worked through Him in powerful ways to conquer (most of) the Promised Land! Did you ever think about the fact it took years of preparation before he was able to do this?
The most important part of his preparation was spending time with God and in His Presence.

Beloved family, honored guests, I’m here today to invite you to continue to spend time in God’s Presence.

Right now we’re experiencing a great deal of turmoil in our country with all the protests and riots from last week.
Before this, we’ve just gone through three months of a pandemic. And now there’s also a tropical storm and we’re in hurricane season and there were even tornado watches out last night.

It almost feels like it might be the end days, doesn’t it?!

Well, it just might be. And if so, I want to encourage you this morning not to be dismayed, but, instead, to be filled with joy!

Yes! Joy! In the midst of uncertainty and uneasiness and turmoil and fear… we can be the people of God who are not uncertain. Or uneasy. Or in turmoil. Or in fear!

As the country moves towards more racial equality, (there is no prejudice in the Kingdom of God), and the pandemic recedes, the people of God have got to lead the way to binging in a new day with calm. And balance. And hope. And joy.

Because, you see, it is being in His Presence that brings true joy.
You cannot find it anywhere else. And, it is His Joy which brings Strength!
Just ask Joshua!
Last week a very close and dear friend sent me a podcast to watch from a site entitled “His Inscriptions.” This particular session was entitled “Trade Your Trials for Joy!”
(Check it out on UTube.)

In it, Deborah Perkins says part of the blessing of this period of lockdown has been the intimacy many have experienced with God. She said, as we leave this time, we don’t have to leave this place of abiding, or living with, Him!

She said He’s preparing us for the battle. And yes, things are rough! And yes we need to be bold and stand up and speak out against things that aren’t right.

The Lord also told her “those who love my Presence will have a continual feast of joy.” And it is this joy which gives us “enduring strength.”

Do you feel weak? Do you feel depressed?
You need strength. You need joy.
You can find it in spending time in God’s Presence!

Carve out time to spend with Him on a regular basis. Have a place and a time you meet with Him regularly. In other words, where’s YOUR “tent of meeting?”
It can be a rocking chair in the morning for 30 minutes, or an hour, or two. Surrounded by worship music. With a Bible, and a journal nearby to write down inspiring Scriptures or words from God or even questions you may have. The point is, get to know God. And get to know Him better. Hang out with Him! Develop that tent of meeting to have such a lingering feeling of His Presence you can’t wait to go back there!

In God’s Presence is where you’ll feel your cares, anger, concerns and everything else melt away. It is here you’ll receive hope. And comfort if you need it. Encouragement. Love.

David, another one who knew God well and spent a lot of time in His Presence, wrote the words to Psalm 16:11 which say, “In Your Presence is fullness of joy.”
It’s in the Bible! In God’s actual presence is where you will find joy. And not just a little bit. But fullness of it!

In her podcast, Deborah reminded us there are scenes in the New Testament where joy emerges in contrast to the evil coming against the believers.
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas are in prison. They’re not complaining or bemoaning their situation. “Around midnight,” we read, “Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” (:25)

Long story short, an earthquake just happens to occur, the prison doors fly open, and they are set free! The jailer’s about to kill himself, Paul says “stop,” jailer receives Christ, and is saved. He brings in his family, and they too, believe in Christ and are saved, and also baptized, and then at the end of this story in verse 34 it says, “he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God…”

Back up nine chapters.
Steven, our first Christian martyr, is being stoned to death.
Stephen fit the criteria for leadership over daily food distribution, as one of seven men “known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.” (:4) He was known to be “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” (:5) He was also known as a man “full of God’s grace and power,” and he “performed great wonders and signs among the people.” 6:8

May we also be known as someone “full of the Spirit and wisdom; full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; and full of God’s grace and power.” And yes, as we prayed the Day of Pentecost prayer, “performing great signs and wonders among the people.”
Not for our glory, but God’s. Not point to us, but Jesus.

So anyway, opposition arose as it always does. The Jewish leaders had a mockery of a trial. They ask him if the trumped up charges are true, and he gives them a review of Jewish history which shows God’s faithfulness and sovereignty. He winds up his speech by calling his accusers “stiff-necked” and hard-hearted.
And he accuses them of murdering the Messiah. Jesus the Christ. “The Righteous One.” At this they are furious and even “gnash their teeth.”
But Stephen. He has joy. Yes. In the midst of this tense scene, he’s still filled with the Holy Spirit. He’s still staying close to God. He says, “Look, I see heaven opening and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (:56)
At this they go crazy and rush him, drag him out of the city, and begin to stone him to death. Even then, he cries out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (:60.) Yes, like Jesus. He had extraordinary emotional strength to be able to do what he did. He remained plugged into His Light source until the very end.

Yes, dear friends, we are in a war. And yes, it’s a dark time.
But God has given us everything we need for such a time as this!
Do NOT be discouraged. Do not allow yourself to dwell there should you slip into it!
Fight it! Wrench your eyes off of whatever is taking you there, and put them on Jesus, instead! Wake up to the reality of His Presence in your life! Get into the Word!
In Exodus 33:15, Moses essentially said, “If Your Presence, Yahweh, doesn’t go with us, we don’t even want to go.” Thankfully, God said “My Presence will go with you and I will give you rest.”

There is rest in the Presence of God. There is peace in abiding in His Holy Spirit.
Are you tired? Do you need rest? Do you need peace?
Spend time with God.

Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would come after He left and be with us forever. (John 14:16) And later on in that chapter He said, “Peace, I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (:27)

In His Presence is fullness of joy. Peace. And joy.

As we transition from the end of this message to Prayer and then Holy Communion, hear these words from Hebrews 10:19-25 [Read]

[Turn over to Marty…]