The Power of His Presence

Introduction

I cannot guarantee that of which Scott just spoke, that it will get better with my efforts. But I will give it the old college try. Of course, I didn’t graduate from college. So here we are. I don’t do what I’m about to do very often, in fact, ever.

And everything just appears. But I don’t like that. That bothers me. So I like to animate. I like things to move very smoothly from one slide to the next, or from one point to the next. But I sort of stay away from the more exciting animations and transitions. But you know what I’m about to do, right? I’m about to unveil one. And I will unveil one that I’ve never used before because I think it fits. So watch the screen. Boom. The power of his presence. I would show you that again, but I think he got it the first time. Psalm 114. I hadn’t intended to use Psalm 114, but when I saw this title slide at Graceway Media, I thought it fit the passages I was going to talk about.

And so then I then I thought, well, I wonder what Psalm 114 is about. And then I thought, wow, that’s pretty cool. And it’s one that I’d overlooked. It’s a shorter psalm. And I just wonder when reading it what it sounded like when they sang it. When Israel went forth from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language. Judah became his sanctuary. You did that on purpose, right? Was that an accident? Wow. Good accident. Judah became his sanctuary. Israel his dominion. The sea looked and fled. The Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams. The hills like lambs. What ails you, O sea? That you flee. O Jordan, that you turn back. O mountains that you skip like rams. O hills like lambs.

Tremble, O earth, before the Lord, before the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of water. Israel’s heritage was extremely rich. So many manifestations of the power of God as he was indeed their sanctuary. I wonder if we, as the people of God in the 21st century, because we never crossed over on dry ground through the Red Sea. Because we never saw the Jordan parted, because we did not see the dramatic events at Mount Sinai. Or all of the things that affected Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, the Tim Plagues. I wonder if we have lost a sense of the power of his presence. Do you not realize that Jesus said to his disciples, say to this mountain, be cast into the sea, and it will be done.

I don’t know that there was ever an occasion for an apostle to speak to a mountain to have it be cast into the sea, but the point is that if that were necessary, God could do it and would do it. And it is that same God who promises us that he can do exceedingly beyond all that we ask or even things. The passages I want to look at tonight, I want to read back to back, and then make some observations, and we’ll be done tonight. The first is 2 Timothy chapter 1. I’ve been thinking about this text. I love it. Paul is writing to the young evangelist. Listen carefully to what Paul says. He speaks of the faith that first originated in his grandmother and mother and had been passed on to him.

He’ll talk about that again in chapter 3. And then he says this in verse 6. And for this reason, I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. I would like to have witnessed Paul doing that. I would like to have witnessed Timothy receiving that. This special manifestation from an apostle of the power of God. But then he says, For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and discipline. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me as prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, according to the power of God. Notice an emphasis on the power of God. Who has saved us?

The power of God. Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. This plan has not come about in a moment, but from all eternity. But now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Paul says, thus I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher. And for this reason, I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed. For I know, for I know whom I have believed. And I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

Retain the standard of sound words, which you have heard from me in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus, guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. Notice that connection from what we read this morning about the stewards of the manifold wisdom of God. He says, This treasure has been entrusted to you. Kindle afresh the gift of God. The other text is 1 Peter chapter 4. And I have to blame Scott for this. Actually, I have a couple of thoughts, one from Scott and one from Bill. And their part from our assembly last Sunday night. Though I’m going to say again, all six of our guys did an outstanding job, even though Jay got a little long-winded.

And holds the distinction of speaking the longest of all the six speakers, but it was still excellent material, Jay. 1 Peter chapter 4. In the context of suffering as a result of one’s faith.

And to the degree that you share in the sufferings of Christ, why keep on rejoicing, he says in verse 13, so that also with the revelation of his glory. You know, this is all going somewhere. You’re suffering now, but you may rejoice with exaltation in the end. And he says, if you are reviled, and this is the verse I have circled, if you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed. And then I have this phrase underlined. Because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Not tonight. If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed. But in that name let him glorify God. It is with difficulty that the righteous are saved. Don’t be surprised that hard things come to you as a believer. Circumstances that challenge. Pain, persecution, whatever comes. And trust your soul to a faithful creator in doing what is right.

1. Not Everything Has the Same Relevance to Us

The power of his presence. So I want to make a couple of observations before we get into some specifics. This is an important rule of Bible study. I’ve so much enjoyed teaching the young people about how to approach study of the Bible. We’ve talked about all sorts of things, but one of the things that I want to emphasize tonight, that’s sort of a supplement to the material we’ve been looking at, not everything spoken in the New Testament has the same relevance to a 21st century audience, that’s us, as it did to the initial audience. This is a very important aspect of the proper interpretation of the biblical text to consider that the audience of the initial statement might have had a significance to them, that it may not contain to us some of the instruction of the Bible in both the Old and the New Testament, especially the Old Testament, was for a specific time and a specific people.

It doesn’t have a direct relevance to our circumstance. And while we cannot derive authority from the Old Testament, since it greatly involved a covenant to a specific nation, a specific people, the nation of Israel, that does not argue, as some have suggested, well, we just don’t need to study the Old Testament. If there’s one thing that’s become abundantly clear to me, is that you can’t really appreciate what the New Covenant is telling you unless you understand some things that the Old Covenant is telling you about what was coming. That is not repeated in the New Testament. Or as I said in a Facebook response to the marvels of the Word of God, hashtag Isaiah 40 through 66. That material is not repeated in the New Testament.

However, some incredibly valuable insights are given to what life under the Messiah was designed to be. And we learn so much from the Old Testament about Israel’s relationship to God. Things that were good, more often things that were bad. Things that would pertain to your relationship to God and mine. We learn about the character and power and person of God. How he feels about behavior. So much to learn, though, again, it was a covenant given to a specific nation, a people.

In Christ. So we come to the New Testament, and there are places where the instruction that is given does not have a specific relevance to you and me. There’s a lot we could say about what was spoken to the apostles. Like when Peter made the confession in Matthew 16, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And he said, Flesh and blood hath not revealed that unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And then he says to them, Whatever you shall bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven. Matthew 16 and verse 19. And I read a verse like that, and I’m just telling you tonight, I don’t get to bind anything. That’s not a role that God has given me.

I know I have all this power as a preacher. You know, and you’re laughing, and correctly so. I have a very limited power. But I don’t bind anything. That was a specific role for the apostles. Paul, as we saw in 2 Timothy 1, laid his hands on Timothy. Now I can lay my hands on you, but I would not expect any power to be imparted. You will not be able to speak in tongues. You will not be able to perform miracles. My hands do not have that kind of power. You see, there were some instruction that pertained only to those in that initial audience. And not even all the Christians of the first century. And the same would be true of, and this is an important point that I want to elaborate on tonight, the Holy Spirit’s work.

And I would just take you quickly to Hebrews chapter 2 to illustrate this point. Where the Hebrew writer says, How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? One of the great questions of the New Testament. If you neglect the salvation of God, there will be no escape. How shall we escape? It’s a rhetorical question. You shall not escape. Well, what about this salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us. The Hebrew writer says, whoever he may have been, it wasn’t Paul, I think. After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard. I think that rules out an apostle writing this book. God also bearing witness with them.

Now, why would that be necessary? Because they didn’t have this. They had their old testaments, but they didn’t have the new covenant. And so, how do we know this message, this message of salvation is from God? Because it was attended by something tangible, by something powerful and miraculous. It had to be from God bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

As these signs and wonders were being performed, as people did those things that the Holy Spirit gave them the abilities to do. Drinking deadly poison and no harm coming to them, taking up poisonous serpents, speaking in tongues, various sorts of miracles. Those things provided tangible evidence to the power of God among these people. And so when we come to this statement in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 6, Timothy is told to kindle afresh the gift that Paul had imparted to him. This special equipping and power is actually referred to in the first epistle in 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 14, when a similar instruction is given, do not neglect the spiritual gift within you. Now, that could be a lot of things, but it’s specified, which was bestowed upon you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbyter.

2. Kindle Afresh the Gift of God

But I want to just look at this phrase.

Whatever gift he’s speaking of that was imparted to Timothy, I don’t have that.

But 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 6 doesn’t relate to me. That has specific relation to Timothy, upon whom Paul laid his hands. But it’s this phrase that intrigues me.

Was it not a constant? In 1 Timothy chapter 4, he was instructed, don’t neglect it. In 2 Timothy chapter 1, he is told to kindle it afresh. Now, I’m not sure exactly what all is involved in that. I’m just going to throw out there that prayer was probably a part of it and meditation. But I find it interesting that despite this miraculous imparting of power, that Timothy still had to act to receive all of its benefits and all that could be done. He was endowed and equipped with power. But he must stay stirred in the pursuit of the will of God. His personal discipline is the topic here. And all of God’s gifts, whether natural or spirit imparted, need to be nurtured, developed, and employed. And notice what the impact of the power of the Spirit was supposed to have in Timothy.

And many have suggested that Timothy struggled from fear because of all that Paul says on the subject. God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and discipline. Maintain spiritual discipline, Timothy. The daunting task and opposition could naturally cause fear. There is a force, Paul says, working on our behalf. In Acts chapter 18, verses 9 and 10. The Lord said to Paul, not just the young evangelists that Paul is trying to encourage, but to Paul, do not be afraid any longer. How many times disciples were told not to be afraid? Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you. And no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.

He tells an apostle, don’t be afraid. What’s sort of the tenor of 1 Peter chapter 4? Don’t be surprised at what’s happened to you. Don’t be afraid.

You live it out in your life, and regardless of the circumstances, regardless of the consequences, do not be afraid. God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and discipline. All right, so that’s a little heavy. So I just want to say this. Let’s make a simple lesson from these points tonight. Use your God given abilities. Whatever you have been endowed with, whatever it is that you can contribute to advance God’s cause, you use those abilities towards spiritual and noble ends. And that’s where Bill’s comments last Sunday night come in. Use your gifts. Use, employ. Whatever it is that you have. And you know, I did notice tonight. Some of you have a voice that you can use to sing. The singing was stirring tonight.

3. The Spirit of Glory and of God Rests upon You

And you know, you have sort of a body that you could bring to a building where that voice is contained so that you can encourage others with your participation. You have things that you can use. Make sure you kindle them in the right direction. But what about this phrase in 1 Peter chapter 4? Despite what’s going on in your circumstances, you are blessed. Because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Now I capitalize the word spirit here. And that could be subject to debate. But why do we have any anticipation of glory? It’s because of the Spirit’s work. And as he speaks of the suffering that was coming upon them, perhaps this is the backlash that he’s already ascribed in the first part of the epistle when he says, Look, don’t go on living your lives after the lust of men in verse 2, but for the will of God.

That was what you did in the past. No more. He says in verses 1 through 3. And then he says in verse 4, you know, the rest of humanity, they may be surprised that you do not run to the same excess of riot that they do. And they will malign you. That leads into this passage of experiencing suffering for the gospel. They may malign you. And then he says, but don’t fear, because a day of reckoning is coming for them. They will give an account, he says in verse 5, who is ready to judge the living and the dead. Interesting about this phrase. There is an addition in the New King James, where the additional phrase that’s not found in the newer translation says, On their part, he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.

Now, I don’t know if that belongs in the text or not, but it is really neat, and it’s consistent with what the New Testament is teaching that really, when people mistreat you for what you believe, their angst isn’t really with you.

And as they reject you because they reject the truth about a powerful God, as you suffer on your part, he is glorified.

I’ve overlooked this statement in Matthew 10 and verse 25. Listen carefully to this.

It is enough for the disciple that he has become as his teacher. Another statement I have absolutely overlooked until now. It is enough for the disciple that he has become as his teacher. If for some reason we are called upon to suffer for our faith, for someone to ridicule you because of what you believe, and it’s happened to me. For people to laugh at you and mock you because your standards are different than theirs, because you are loyal to the king, because you won’t run to the same excess of riot that they do, because you won’t imbibe of alcoholic drinks, because you just forfeit your sobriety, because you have standards that will keep you from committing lascivious acts. When people make fun of you, and when that stings and when that hurts, know this.

It is enough that we have known a little bit of suffering as our Savior has suffered, considered worthy to suffer for his name. Let us go to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. When this context starts in 1 Peter 3 and verse 14, actually we could go to 13. And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? Even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed, and do not fear their intimidation, nor be troubled. Lesson. Alright, let’s get to a lesson here. We can have confidence in God’s care for us, even in the midst of great trial. So many people, when they go through trial, ask God, where are you? Why are you allowing this?

Why haven’t you fixed this? But these passages are telling us the spirit of glory and of God rests on you. The Spirit is ultimately going to lead you to the glory of God. God is with you even in the midst of suffering, even if it means that you must surrender your life, and we see examples of that throughout the New Testament. In your worst circumstances, in your greatest pain, the faithful.

4. God Is Powerfully at Work in Believers Today

So if we’re going to draw right conclusions about the Holy Spirit’s work tonight, we’re going to need to be thorough. Okay? How long do we got? We got about four hours. And that’s probably not thorough enough. So just want to make that observation right here. Digest the material. That’s what we’ve been talking about with the young people. And they’re good at it. Man, they’re good at it. I’ve enjoyed watching them. Recognize figurative language in the Bible. So often, this is the short course on the Holy Spirit. So often, it is not the person of the Holy Spirit that is under consideration, but the result of his work, the impact of his work in the life of believers. Think about that as you read those passages. And whatever the Spirit might still be doing.

Know this. It will be consistent with the truth that he has already revealed to us. So let’s make a couple lessons will be done tonight. A lesson from this very challenging subject is that God is the power of his presence. God is powerfully at work in the lives of believers today. And one of the things that may keep us from greater blessing in our lives is not perceiving the power that is there and that is available. The one who does exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. Perhaps we are depriving ourselves of greater blessing and awareness of his presence because we simply don’t have a strong enough faith and confidence in him.

The whole point of that is hey, you need to pick yourselves up by the bootstraps and get to work. Work out your salvation. It all depends on you. That’s not what that passage is saying. That passage is saying you do your part in faith and then let God work in you to accomplish his will. That’s what Philippians 2 is saying. God is powerfully at work in the lives of believers today. All the host of heaven. God and his angels are poised and assisting in the human drama. God wants us to cry out to him in our trouble. Invoking his compassion, his aid, imploring him to act. But mostly affirming our utter dependence on him. And God is more concerned about our faith and our ongoing transformation into the likeness of Christ that we talked about this morning.

5. God Makes All Things Beautiful in His Time

He is more concerned about that than he is fixing my circumstance right now. Sometimes when we’re praying, we’re more about God, fix my circumstance right now. He’s more concerned about our faith. Final lesson. One thing we learned from both the old and the new testament is that God makes all things beautiful in his time. All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Now, I think that verse is misused sometimes. I think the point in Romans 8 is do you see what God’s done through history? Do you see how he brought about his powerful salvation in Christ? Do you see that despite all of the disobedience of Israel, all of the troubles and trials that God worked in history to bring about a glorious result, and he’s still doing that, and a greater and more glorious result will happen in the last day.

God, this is what he does. He makes all things beautiful in his time. And so whatever’s going on in your life, it is temporary. It is not permanent. And the faithful, the faithful are headed to something. Extremely beautiful. All that God has prepared for those who love him. Things that I have not seen and ear has not heard.

Conclusion

That’s talking about that hidden wisdom that was revealed. And what Paul is saying is, no man could have imagined what God was doing. It never entered the heart of any man. No man saw it, no man heard it. God provided it. And that’s just the beginning. And that’s why I put in caps the word all. We haven’t experienced it all yet. We have experienced a taste of it now. If we could only stop and appreciate a little bit the all that God is planning for us. All that God has prepared for those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose. Are you so aligned with Him? Do you know the power of His presence? Can we assist you to know it better? Let’s stand aside.