PURSUING GOD’S HEART
Nathan Goodin | August 17th & 18th, 2019
1. God wants you to
God is
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. —Psalm 139 NASB
If God’s presence is the same everywhere, at all times, then:
• There is no purpose in seeking God’s presence.
• We are currently experiencing all of Him.
• Our relationship with Him was completed the moment it began.
• There is nothing left of Him for us to experience.
Therefore:
• There is no need for desire or hunger
• There is no reason for passion.
• All we need to do is keep obeying the Christian life.
• Worship, prayer, & learning the Bible are merely Christian disciplines one must exercise.
• Baptism of the Holy Spirit is either obsolete or completed at the moment of salvation.
• All we have left to do is increase in knowledge and works.
• Our relationship with God is static.
• What do we have left to hear from Him?
If this is true of God that His presence is the same everywhere, at all times, then how long has it been true of Him?
• Since the resurrection?
• Since the pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost?
• Since the Apostles died?
• Since God is omnipresent and always has been omnipresent, then it must have always been this way.
If it is true that God’s presence is the same, everywhere, at all times then:
• What did Moses experience at:
o The burning bush?
o Standing on Holy Ground?
o The pillar of fire?
o The giving of the 10 commandments?
• What was the purpose of the Holy of Holies where the priests met with God?
• Why would God’s glory fill the temple repeatedly in the Old Testament?
• When Jesus was being arrested, what happened to the soldiers that caused them to fall over?
• What happened to the disciples when the Holy Spirit filled the room with the sound of a rushing wind?
• Why would Psalm 22:3 say that God inhabits the praises of His people?
• Why would God say to draw close to Him and he will draw close to us?
If it’s true that God’s presence is the same, everywhere, at all times then, then so much of the bible makes no sense at all.
However, since it is NOT true that God’s presence is the same everywhere, at all times, then:
• It means there is more of God for you to experience.
• If you aren’t pursuing God, you are missing out.
• We have reason for passion and desire to hunger and thirst for righteousness.
• We need to pursue God’s presence, seek His face, open our hearts and ears.
• We have significant purpose in prayer, worship, and Bible reading because we are growing our relationship with Him. They allow us to experience more of God.
God
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. —Psalm 51:10-11 NASB
Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the Lord. —2 Samuel 21
2. God wants you to
5 The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples have seen His glory. —Psalm 97
31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. —Acts 4:31 NASB
We need to face the
18 But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; —Acts 3:18-19 NASB
3. God wants to
Oxford Dictionary defines
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.
8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. —Genesis 3:7-8 NASB
Nearer My God to Thee
Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to thee;
Will you
7 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp.
8 And it came about, whenever Moses went out to the tent, that all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent.
9 Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses.10 When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent. 11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. —Exodus 33:7-11 NASB