LESSON IV
FILLED WITH HIS PRESENCE
TEXT. This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (Matthew 15:9,10)
At the root of all spiritual declension (backsliding) is an inaccurate and unworthy conception of the character of God and an over estimate of man. Matthew 15:9,10 is a reference to Isaiah 29:13, which tells of a time when the leaders in Israel were teaching the fear of the LORD by the precept of men. In our times, like in the days of Israel, something has been lost in the Body of Christ and it is the reverence for a Holy God. Many do not fear Him. They have a Satanic pride and arrogance birthed from a Gospel of Humanism. Men worship a ‘God’ of their own making; a God who they feel is a means to their own end. Yet there is something worth examining in the words of Job. A paraphrase of the passage in Job 23:15 would read; when I consider the Lord I stand in awe, trembling inside and out. This is GOD ALLMIGHTY. In this lesson I propose to show:
I. The fear of God accompanies the presence of God
II. True worship invites the Spirit of God to fill believers
I. The fear of God accompanies the presence of God
A. In our text we have a reference to Isaiah in which we are told that the teachers of Israel taught the fear of the Lord by the precept of men. This is the fear of the Lord according to man and not according to the revelation of God’s Word and His Holy Spirit. Israel would prove over and over again that they were not interested in the Glory of God. In fact, they veiled the Glory when Moses came back from the mountain. When God is near the fear of God need not be taught by men’s precepts to be experienced. Scripture is filled with accounts of men and of angels falling on their faces in the presence of God. It seems to be nearly an automatic response to the majestic splendor of God. When God is not near the fear of God is taught by the precept of men. When God is not near men draw nigh to God with their mouth and honour Him with their lips. When God is not near it is because the peoples heart is far from Him. And though they lift up their voices as a trumpet and sing with great harmony and precision; it is all in vain! Why? Because their words and their heart does not match.
B. Worship must begin with an altar. The entire sacrificial system of the Old Testament was in place for the purpose of allowing man to maintain somewhat of a relationship with God. It is a picture of what Christ has done for us on the cross. Yet we read in Exodus 20:25; And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. The beauty of an altar of hewn stone was of no consequence to God. We are to worship God in the beauty of holiness. God is not a man that is well pleased by outward beauties. God is well pleased when His people worship Him from a pure heart in sincerity. God wants all of us. He wants the entire stone (as it were) to build up an holy habitation. If we keep back a part of ourselves we are ‘tooling’ our stones. In this regard we are not just polluted by what profane thing might be added, but by what part of ourselves that we hold back.
C. Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (I Peter 2:5) This passage parallels Romans 12:1 which tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is our spiritual worship. This is the purpose as to why God saves men. The Father is seeking such to worship Him. (John 4:23b)
D. You will never worship God until you get a vision of who God really is. You will never see God for who He is until you make the leap from time into eternity. This is a hard saying; but there is something about drawing nigh unto God in which He draws nigh unto us and we taste the powers of the world to come (Hebrews 6:5). Isaiah tells us of a God who is high and exalted. Angels that utter their voices and the door posts of the Temple shake. Job tells of a God who speaks from a whirlwind. A God that demanded that He stand upon his feet, gird up his loins, and answer Him like a man (Job 38). In Revelation we read of voices like thunder, voices like a trumpet, and a voice that is like the sound of many waters. In Genesis Cherubim wielded flaming swords in all directions. Before the throne they cry day and night; HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is filled with His glory. Holy is the Hebrew word qodesh, which means apartness and separateness. Literally they are saying God is separate and other and unlike anything. Over and over again, separate, apart (other), separate, apart (other).
E. The Revelation of God’s creation itself is enough to stagger the mind with awe and wonder. The fearfulness with which we are wonderfully made. They way God created the earth and hung it upon nothing. The creation alone is enough to fill our hearts with amazement at His eternal power and Godhead. The angelic host which are greater in power and might than we are only more exhibitions of the awesomeness of His creative power.
F. The time would fail to deal with the sheer number of times that men and angels are said to fall prostrate in the presence of God. The disciple whom Jesus loved fell (Revelation 1:17); the twenty and four elders fell (5:8, 14); the angels, four beasts, and the elders fell (7:11); the elders fell again (11:16); And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia (19:4). Moreover we read in Philippians 2:9-11; Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. In that day everything that has breath will praise the Lord.
II. True worship invites the Spirit of God to fill believers
A. Everyone has just as much of God’s Holy Spirit as they want. If they are filled with little, it is because they desire only a little. If they are full- it is because they desire to be full. Yet, we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit. This is a full invitation unhindered for God the Holy Spirit to walk and live in us. How do we make that invitation? What is a means of inviting the Holy Spirit to live in us? Scripture answers this question in Ephesians 5:18-20; And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. From this passage we may observe:
• Alcohol has the exact opposite effect on a person as being filled with the Holy Ghost.
• Those who are filled with the Spirit will naturally praise and worship God from the heart.
• Praising and worshipping God is a means of being filled with the Spirit.
• Melody from the mouth and lips is of no consequence if melody unto God is not in our heart.
• Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs describe the variety of means of worship with which to employ.
• Though difficult to distinguish we might suggest that psalms are those like unto the psalms of David sang with musical instruments. Hymns can be considered songs of spontaneous praise. Spiritual songs are those sang with the Holy Spirit.
• An attitude of thanksgiving is both the result and the means of inviting the habitation of God by the Spirit.
B. Those who are born again are the Temples of the living God. Jesus told the moneychangers, “My house shall be called the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” We are houses of prayer. From our hearts ought to ascend up the sacrifice of praise unto God continually. We should continually entertain the Holy Spirit in our hearts resisting any temptation to bring things in that would provoke the Lord to jealousy.
REMARKS
When the Holy Ghost is ruling and reigning in His Temple He will keep the members of our body upon the earth mortified. When we entertain (as it were) the presence of the Holy Ghost continually we are enabled to walk in the Spirit. We must be continuously filled with the Spirit in order to continue in this walk that we began in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not just “automatically” present in His fullness. If He were fully present without any effort of our own, there had been no need to command “be ye filled with the Spirit.” There is something we must do continually. You cannot walk in the Spirit when you are not filled with the Spirit. This is why so many Christians fall into carnality.
We must offer up to God the fruit of our lips from a pure heart. We must endeavor to pray without ceasing. We must set our effections on things above and not on the earth. God is more willing to pour out His Spirit than men and women are to receive. The Father seeks such to worship Him. Dr. A.W Tozer writes; The primary work of the Holy Spirit is to restore the lost soul to intimate fellowship with God through the washing of regeneration. To accomplish this He first reveals Christ to the penitent heart (I Corinthians 12:3). He then goes on to illumine the newborn soul with brighter rays from the face of Christ (John 14:26; 16:13-15) and leads the willing heart into depths and heights of divine knowledge and communion… God wants worshipers before workers; indeed the only acceptable workers are those who have learned the lost art of worship. It is inconceivable that a sovereign and holy God should be so hard up for workers that He would press into service anyone who had been empowered regardless of his moral qualifications. The very stones would praise Him if the need arose and a thousand legions of angels would leap to do His will. Gifts and power for service the Spirit surely desires to impart; but holiness and spiritual worship come first. It is true, also, that wherever the church has come out of her lethargy and into the tides of revival and spiritual renewal, always the worshipers were back of it. A survey of church history will prove that it was those who were the yearning worshipers who also became the great workers and the selfless servants. If we give ourselves to God's call for worship, everyone will do more for the Savior than they are doing now!
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Robert Wurtz II ( - )
For almost 20 years I have served as a author and teacher of advanced biblical studies. My interests are the New Covenant, apologetics and classical revival. Native of the Kansas City, Mo area and reside now in Independence, MO with wife Anna.He is the author of many books including the newest Televangelicalism. In this insightful and thought provoking book, Robert Wurtz II traces the history of Christian evangelism from the book of Acts to modern times. The contrast between pre-1900 and post-1900 evangelism is so sharp, that the book is divided into two sections: Part 1, the pre-Billy Sunday era and Part 2, the post-Billy Sunday evangelistic era. This book is a must-read for anyone that has concerns about issues such as "the sinner's prayer" or shallow concepts of conversion.