THE IMPACT OF GOD’S PRESENCE                                  

Jan27- G17cPV08

Isaiah 6:1-8

Condoleeze Rice,  Sec. of State and advisor to the President, wrote this. “Although I never doubted the existence of God, I think like all people I’ve had some ups and down in my faith. When I first moved to California in 1981 to join the faculty at Stanford, there were a lot of years when I was not attending church regularly. I was traveling a lot. I was always in another time zone overseas. One Sunday I was in Lucky’s Supermarket not far from my house – I will never forget – among the spices, and brown sugar, an African-American man walked up to me and said he was buying some things for his church picnic. He said, “Do you play the piano by the chance?”  I said, “Yes.”  He said they were looking for someone to play the piano at a little African-American church.  I started playing for that church. That got me back into churchgoing. I don’t play gospel very well – I play Brahms – and you know how black ministers will start a song and the musicians will pick it up? I had no idea what I was doing, so I called my mother, who had played for Baptist churches.  “Mother, they just start. How am I supposed to do this?”  She said, “Honey, play in C and they’ll come back to you.”  That’s true. I tell that story because I thought to myself, “My goodness, God has a long reach…I mean, in Lucky’s Supermarket on a Sunday morning.”  

How is your detective work going? Are you filling your evidence notebook? Are you finding God’s fingerprints on your life?  There are five categories where we might dust for fingerprints:

·           Any obvious answer to prayer.

·           Any unexpected evidence of his care.

·           Any unusual linkage or timing.

·           Any timely insight into God’s Word that lifts or challenges.

·           Any help to do his work in the world. This is today’s focus!

Pat and I were going to Nashville for a conference. The week before Pat told a client that she was planning to attend a session by Neil Anderson, author of some books she had recommended to the person. The first day of the conference, Pat went into a seminar and looked for a seat. One was opened next to a middle-aged man. As she sat down she noticed his name tag.  He was the very same Neil Anderson she planned to hear later in the week. She asked him some questions and they conversed for several minutes.  There were 7,000 at the conference and she sat down next to a person she never expected to be able to talk to one-on-one.

i. isaiah discovered a vision of god for ministry.

A. God appeared to give reassurance at a time of uncertainty. Isaiah 6:1-8

1. Isaiah sees God for the first time in, 740 B.C., the year King Uzziah died.

2. This must have been tough for Judah to lose this leader because was a good king who did what was  right in the Lord’s eyes. (2 Kings 15:3, NIV). 

3.  Isaiah was probably a member of the royal family. One day, during that awful year, he goes to the temple.

·           He saw the Lord, on his throne, high and exalted. His glory filled the temple.

·           Celestial beings sing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.”

·           The temple shakes as it is filled with the smoke of the glory of God.

·           Isaiah realizes the situation and responds. “Woe is me. I am a mess. I am a filthy wretch. I live with depraved people and I’ve seen the King of Glory!”

A.      God prepared his messenger for ministry.

1.           At Isaiah’s confession, the angels come and touch his mouth with a hot coal. “Your guilt is removed, your sins are pardoned.”

2.           Isaiah hears more divine words: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”

3.           “Here am I,” he responds. “Send me.”

4.           Isaiah experienced the 5th category that day —help to do His work in the world.

I.         grasp the five keys to discover god’s hand.

A.      To be God’s servant and see His fingerprints, you need spiritual focus.

1.           Col 3:1-3 explains the training needed to make the spiritual eye the dominant eye.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1-3 NIV

2.           Isaiah went to the temple to worship God. Christ-followers seek to live in the presence of God and worship Him with others on the Lord’s Day.

God must become our focus.  In the film “Out of Africa”, Karen Blixen, was lost on safari as she transported supplies to British officers. She is met by the explorer Denys Finch Hatten. He gives her his compass and says, “Fix a place on the horizon each morning and steer by it. South by southwest. You should get there in about 3 days.”   If we are to see God we must fix a spot on the horizon every morning and steer by Him.

3.           He is the Great I AM, ever present. Through the Holy Spirit the living Christ is available, near us to comfort and assure us.

4.           He has promised to be where His people gather. In our worship we can sing his praises. O Thou who art enthroned upon the praises of Israel. Psalm 22:3 NASV

·           Grasp the promise: where two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among them. Matthew 18:20 NLT

·           Until we get to heaven, the closest we can get to Isaiah’s experience is as we gather with his people and worship him

5.           If you want God’s fingerprints on your life, be in his presence. Worship him with his other children and also on your own.

B.      To be God’s servant, you must be a person who is cleansed by God.

1.           Isaiah could not go out for God until God had cleansed him.

Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. Psalm 21:3-4 NLT

2.           Satan may tell you you’ve gone too far, for God to use you, you’re too dirty.

3.           No matter how dirty you are the Lord wants to cleanse you and forgive you. That’s why God sent his own Son to the cross, where his blood was shed to cleanse you from all unrighteousness!

If we are living in the light of God’s presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin…If  we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.  1 John 1:7-9 NLT

C.     To be God’s servant, you must search in His Word.

1.           Read the scriptures. Mull over the words and meanings and cherish the promises. 

You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.   Psalm 139:3-5  LNT 

…we are already God’s children, and we can’t even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.   I John 3:2 LNT

God has given us the task of reconciling people to him…We are Christ’s ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you.  II Corinthians 5:18b,19b NLT

 

D.     To be God’s servant, you must hear his call and respond in obedience.

1.           When God called Isaiah, he answered.

We were living in Toronto where I served as President of a small Bible College. I really didn’t see myself as a college president and didn’t plan to stay in that position very long. In fact, I wanted to plant a church in the metropolitan area. But as I approached area believers, none seemed interested.  In the summer of 1976 we were making plans to visit Pat’s sister in Arizona and then attend the NACC in Denver.  A couple of weeks prior to flying to Arizona, out of the blue, I was contacted by a congregation in Onalaska, WI. Although I didn’t know anyone there and had not indicated to anyone outside our family that I was wondering what God had in mind for the future, they wanted me to get in touch with them.  I told them of my plans and they said they would send a packet of information to Arizona.  It arrived while we were in Phoenix and it sparked my interest even more. We flew to Denver and the first person we met when we walked into the Convention Center had a name tag on with their name and Onalaska, WI.  I asked who they were and it turned out to be the church secretary and her husband!  To make a long story short, the next week we flew from Denver to Onalaska, went back to Ontario, drove our family out to WI to see the church, and they invited us to come. We found a prospective home under construction, made an offer on it, and went back to Canada to conclude our ministry there. In less six weeks from the first contact we arrived in WI, all our supporting churches had been contacted, many in person, and our home in Canada was sold.  The next five years were some of our best in ministry.

2.           If you want God to empower you for his service, you need to be ready to respond when he calls. You need to step out in faith and walk in his ways.

3.           We have some wonderful volunteers who serve the Lord here at PV. We appreciate their ministry in His name.  But we need to remember the Lord expects each of us to step forward to serve.

4.           What is God calling you to do? 

5.           He’s looking for front-line soldiers, people who are actively searching for clues to His presence in the world and who are always ready to testify about His gracious involvement in their lives.

6.           Are you connected to service?

E.      As God’s servants go out for Him, they are not alone.  Matthew 28:18-20

1.           The Lord promises to be with us always as we do His work in the world.

I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents and innocents as doves…But when they deliver you up, do not become anxious about how or what you will speak; for it shall be given you in that hour what you are to speak.  Matthew 10:16,19  NASV

2.           He also places us in the Body of Christ with brethren so we can share in the work.

A lady phoned me, “I have a half a ham, do you know anyone who can use it?” I said bring it over. A few minutes after the ham was in the church frig a member was in the office. I knew her husband was hurt, unable to work and I said, “Do you like ham?” She said “we love it.” “Come with me and I’ll give you some.”  There were also some canned goods in a bag which I gave her.

3.           The Apostle Paul learned the importance of fellowship in the Gospel. He teamed up with others: Barnabas, Mark, Timothy, Titus, Luke, Silas, Aquilla & Priscilla.

II.       DON’T GIVE UP ON YOUR SEARCH.

A.      Have a God-searching perspective. 

1.           Oxygen is vital to life. We all need it to live.  Breath deep.  We don’t see, taste, touch or smell it.  Evidence of its presence is non-the-less evident. The same is true of the Lord’s presence.

2.           Paul challenges us and gives us assurance.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.  Ephesians 1:18,19a  NASV

3.           May the eyes of your heart be enlightened. -  Our perspective needs to change.

B.      We need a childlike sense of wonder.

Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all.  Luke 18:17  NASV 

Children may be better at spotting God than adults.  Dear God: Why isn’t Mrs. God’s name in the Bible? Weren’t you married to her when you wrote it?  Dear God: How come you only have 10 rules and our school has millions?  Dear God: There were no clouds Saturday so I think I saw your feet. Did I really?

 

A father was hearing his 5-yr-old son’s prayers. Afterwards the boy asked, “Does God have legs?” After some discussion, the boy answered his own question. “God doesn’t need legs because anywhere He needs to go He already is.”  - A powerful truth!

1.           Children are spontaneous, but spontaneous celebrations of God seem more infrequent as we grow older. 

2.           Wonder and the ability to believe often go hand in hand. We stand in awe of something that captures our attention; then humbled by the magnitude of what we are discovering we say, “Isn’t it wonderful?” Don’t ever lose the wonder.

3.           Most of us have lost the childlike ability to find God in the commonplace. We must work to restore that childlike wonder to discover God is nearby in our everyday lives.

CONCLUSION:  God wants to be partners with us in His redeeming work. He will help us.

Tony Campolo was at a worship service when a man prayed a very pointed prayer for a friend. "Dear Lord, you know Charlie Stoltzfus. He lives in that silver trailer down the road a mile. He's leaving his wife and kids. Please do something to bring the family together."  Amazingly the man repeated the location - "the silver trailer down the road a mile." Tony wanted to say, "Knock it off, Fella. Do you think God is asking, 'What's that address again?'"  After the prayer, Tony preached, then left to drive home. On the turnpike he gave a hitchhiker a lift.  "My name's Tony, what's your's?"  "Charlie Stoltzfus," the hitchhiker said. Campolo was dumbfounded. It was the young man for whom the prayer was offered. Compolo got off at the next exit. "Hey, where are you taking me?" asked the hitchhiker. "Home," Compolo said. The hitchhiker stared in amazement as Tony drove right to his silver trailer. That afternoon that young man and his wife surrendered their lives to Christ.  And today that hitchhiker is a preacher of the gospel.

 

The truth is, God wants to walk with you in every situation to enable you to meet life’s challenges and come out a winner. The essence of being a Christian is allowing the Lord to live out His life through you. As you do so, you will see His fingerprints everywhere and sense His presence.

 

How would your live change if you realized God is present with you every moment?

 

Become a God-seeker, a God-finder, a God-showing-it-forth person, a God-lover.  Hear His claim on your life and step out in faith to do what He calls you to do.

 

The following material is provided to assist you in application of the sermon. You may go over this individually, share it with a small group or your family.

OPEN - Share your “story” with some others.

4.      When were you last called into the office of your chief principle or boss’s boss? What for?    How did that affect you?

5.      What volunteer ministries have you been involved with? How were you recruited?

 

DIG – Look into the Bible’s “story” to discover insights that will help your understanding.

1.      In Isaiah 6 if King Uzziah represented stability to Judah, what does his death mean? Why does God choose this time to reveal himself?

2.      What makes Isaiah despair for his life and confess his sin? (vs 5)

3.      Compare Isaiah’s response in verse 8 with verse 5?  What is significant about that?

4.      What does Jesus command in Matthew 28:18-20?  What assurance does he give?

5.      What promises are given in the following verses?

Matthew 18:20______________________________________________

I John 1:7,9_________________________________________________

Psalm 139:3-5_______________________________________________

II Corinthians 6:18-19_________________________________________

6.      How important is it to have a spiritual focus in our search for God’s finger prints? (see Colossians 3:1-3)

 

REFLECT – Here you apply the “story” of the scriptures to your own life; to take personal inventory and share with others what you will do about it.

1.      How is your experience with God like Isaiah’s: Awestruck?  Guilt-ridden?  Cleansed?  Are you willing to serve anywhere, anytime?

2.      Do you have any sense of God’s calling on your life as His child to serve with your fellow members of the local church?  If so, where?  If not, why not?

3.      As you think about Jesus’ “Great Commission” (Matt 28:18-20), what holds you back from actively passing on the Good News of Christ?   __ feeling like I don’t know enough. __ feeling like I don’t have time. __ feeling like others are better at it.  __ just ignoring it.

 

4.      In what ways can you fulfill the Great Commission in the context of your family? Work? Community?

5.      Why has God sent you to your world?

6.      As you look over your life have you recognized different times when God was reaching out to team up with you to do His work in the world?  If so, how did you feel when you sensed He was with you?  If you haven’t had this experience, how do you think you would be affect if you did?

 

Special Assignment: Begin each day this week focusing on the horizon in the sense you meet with the Lord and invite Him to be your partner.  Then look for the opportunities He opens to you. Step through those doors in confidence He will give you the words to say.

 

Additional Insight:             HELP TO DO GOD’S WORK

Whenever we do something that brings forth good, that stands for what is just, honest and true, that witnesses to his love and shares the good news of the gospel, we have been helped to do God’s work in the world.  

 

In Old Testament  times the living God stepped into the lives of ordinary people. There were holy moments. The New Testament world experienced God in the flesh, through Christ. Today we can experience God in the everyday through the gift of the Holy Spirit.  As we search for God in the everyday, the Holy Spirit enlightens the Scriptures when we look to them. 

 

We all enjoy finding something special. The younger generation boasts about what they have bought or sold on eBay. Financiers brag about “beating the stock market.” Some scan the ground with radar devices, looking for treasure.  And when we purchase something we‘ve been hunting for a while, we just have to tell someone.  No matter what you are seeking, there is a thrill when you find it.  Can you anticipate the excitement about discovering the Lord at work in your life?

 

Scripture teaches that God is an active and communicative being, present in his creation, ready to come to the aid of those who love him and eager to be in constant communion.

 

In the Bible the men and women who discovered God were sheepherders, farmers, vinedressers, servant girls, slaves, fishermen, tax collectors, town prostitutes, the sick and dying, the wealthy, kings and commanders, religious leaders and the intelligentsia – People just like us!.  God intervened in their ordinary routines.

 

SOME PRINCIPLES OF SEARCHING FOR GOD

• What you are seeking is closer than you think.  God is the great I AM.  He is always in our moment.
• Develop your spiritual focus. If we are to keep God in our sightline, we need to have a spot on the horizon each morning to steer by.
• The first step to intimacy with God must be brokenness and heartfelt desire for God to manifest Himself to us. 
• Keep a life list. Write down your sightings. Keeping a record is a way of encouraging our awareness of our unique place before God and our unique journey with Him.  There is no better tool to develop our capacity for spiritual sightings. Did you ask something of God? Did you make a request? Did God grant you favor?  How do you remember this? Write it down. Record both request and how it was answered.  Keep a life list of all the records of divine activity in one place.

 

A PERSONAL RESPONSE.  

Linda Hawn, an RN and  mother in Salem, Illinois lost her 20 something son in an auto accident. She shared several “God Sightings” and we reprint the following with her permission.

            After we lost Jimmy in 1997, some of my friends at work were telling me about a new Christian radio station WIBI. While looking for it on the radio dial, I came across 91.3 AFR. I know God meant for me to find that one because there were many talk programs that seemed to speak right to me and my needs at that time. One was Zig Ziglar talking about the book he wrote after his daughter died. It was called, “Confessions of a Grieving Christian,” which I read and highlighted areas which helped me most. I have loaned the book to many others who have lost children since. There were always songs, played exactly when I needed to hear them.

 

WHO DO YOU WANT TO BE?  - REMEMBER THE PRINCIPLE

Our regular, daily search for God helps us sight the one we are seeking to know; and in the act of continual sighting, when this becomes a lifetime habit, we will become like the one we are seeking. (Yes, dear friends, we are already God’s children, and we can’t even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.   I John 3:2)  

 

If it’s money you want, you will become a money-first person. If it is power, then you will find a way to squirm and worm yourself into positions of influence. Who do you want to be? Beware! You will become like whatever it is you seek.  Make sure your life-hunt, the hours you devote to searching for that most important treasure, is what you want to become.