I'd like to give you all a warm
welcome to our worship here this morning. Let us ask the Lord's
blessing in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord God of heaven
and of earth, do grant unto us thy blessing upon this thy day,
a true spirit of worship and that help from the sanctuary,
that there might be a meeting, meeting of the true eternal God,
with poor sinners. O Lord, we do thank Thee for
Thy unearthly courts. We thank Thee for Thy promised
presence. We ask this blessing to be upon
us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Hymn, 739. Tune, Dennis 26. Let us read together from the
holy word of God The Prophet Jeremiah and chapter 23. You have one of our free Bibles,
that is page 726. Jeremiah 23, and I'll read through
to verse 32. Woe be unto the pastors that
destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord
God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people. Ye have
scattered my flock and driven them away, and have not visited
them. Behold, I will visit upon you
the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the
remnant of my flock out of all countries, whither I have driven
them, and will bring them again to their folds, and they shall
be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over
them, which shall feed them, and they shall fear no more,
nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and
a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Therefore behold
the days come saith the Lord that they shall no more say the
Lord liveth which brought up the children of Israel out of
the land of Egypt But the Lord liveth, which brought up and
which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country,
and from all countries whither I had driven them, and they shall
dwell in their own land. Mine heart within me is broken
because of the prophets. All my bones shake, I am like
a drunken man. and like a man whom wine hath
overcome, because of the Lord and because of the words of his
holiness. For the land is full of adulterers,
for because of swearing the land mourneth, the pleasant places
of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and
their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are
profane. Yea, in my house have I found
their wickedness, saith the Lord. Therefore their way shall be
unto them as slippery ways in the darkness. They shall be driven
on and fall therein. For I will bring evil upon them,
even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. And I have seen
folly in the prophets of Samaria. They prophesied in Baal and caused
my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets
of Jerusalem an horrible thing. They commit adultery and walk
in lies. They strengthen also the hands
of evildoers that none doth return from his wickedness. They are
all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as
Gomorrah. Therefore thus saith the Lord
of hosts concerning the prophets, Behold, I will feed them with
wormwood, and make them drink the water of Gaul. For from the
prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto
you. They make you vain, they speak
a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that
despise me, the Lord hath said ye shall have peace. And they
say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his
own heart, no evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood
in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his
word? Who hath marked his word and
heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord
is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind. It shall fall grievously
upon the head of the wicked, and the anger of the Lord shall
not return until he have executed, until he have performed the thoughts
of his heart. In the latter days he shall consider
it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets,
yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet
they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel
and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have
turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God at hand, saith the
Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret
places? that I shall not see him, saith
the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth,
saith the Lord. I have heard what the prophets
said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed,
I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the
heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets
of the deceit of their own heart, which think to cause my people
to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to
his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name. for bail. The prophet that hath a dream,
let him tell a dream, and he that hath my word, let him speak
my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat,
saith the Lord? Is not my word like as a fire,
saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh a rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against
the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one
from his neighbour. Behold, I am against the prophets,
saith the Lord, that use their tongues and say he saith. Behold, I am against them that
prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them and
cause my people to err by their lies and by their likeness. Yet I sent them not, nor commanded
them. Therefore they shall not profit
this people at all, saith the Lord. Thus far the reading of
God's holy word. May he bless it to us and help
us in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord God of heaven
and of earth, we bow before Thee and plead Thy precious name of
Jesus Christ. That name which Thou hast given
Him, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow. O do solemnise our hearts and
our minds. Leave us not to the likeness
that we've read of. Lord, do grant, Lord, that thy
word might be before us as the word of truth and that we might
truly be profited through thy word this morning and each time
that we gather together. Leave us not to turn away from
it or to introduce something different. Lord, we would be
searched by what we have read. O Lord, deliver us from every
false way. Deliver us from every evil way. To grant, Lord, we might be found
in thy sacred word. Forgive and pardon our many sins. Bless that which we have read.
We thank thee for the prophecies of the coming of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ, that we have the record that are fulfilled. that thou hast been pleased to
come as the Lord, our righteousness. Oh Lord, do bless us with that
righteousness as being our maintenance for heaven, our clothing, that
we might be also given that name as well, the Lord, our righteousness. Oh Lord, we do seek the blessings
of thy house. Lord, do grant us thy word graciously,
grant us thy felt presence, grant us, Lord, that faith might come
through hearing this day, and that we might be strengthened
to speak and strengthened to hear, and that thou would meet
the cases and needs of thy poor, tried, and afflicted people,
and the gospel might be a joyful sound to them. We would fall
before Thee in the ordering of Thy providence. Lord, we do acknowledge
that Thou hast a sovereign right to do with us as Thou seest fit. And Lord, do help us whenever
Thy hand does cross our hand. Whenever afflictions lay us low
or change our plans, whenever those things come and we look
not for them, but they have had a profound effect on what we
have done, what we have planned. Lord, do grant us to humble ourselves
before Thee. Lord, we confess our many, many
sins. Do deliver us from them, from
the power and dominion of sin. Take away the love of sinning,
grant us holiness, grant us to be sanctified and made meat for
the Master's use. And in spite of ourselves, be
brought to endure unto the end. Lord, do keep us. We commit our
souls unto thy keeping. That which we see not, teach
thou us. Lord, do fasten thy word upon
our hearts. Bring us, Lord, to hate evil.
and to love holiness and righteousness. Grant us a real appetite for
thy word, a real desire and longing for those times that we may draw
near in the closet and have thy presence known and felt in our
hearts. Lord, we do pray for that close
walk with thee, a calm and heavenly frame, a light to shine upon
the road that leads us to the Lamb. O Lord, do bless us then
with help this day. Lord, we would worship Thee.
We would be of those in this land that gather for that purpose. O Lord, do grant a real spiritual
revival that we might see many come to the house of God. Many
believe on Thy name. Many seek unto Thee for Thy salvation. give Thee thanks for temporal
mercies and every temporal blessing. O Lord, we confess our sins as
a nation that has turned its back upon Thee, that are lovers
of pleasure more than lovers of God. Lord, do Thou grant a
real change in this, that there might be perceived and seen increase
in the desire for the things of God. Lord, may there be many
inquiring after the ways of the Lord. O Lord, do turn us again,
we pray. Help us to serve our day and
our generation, and leave us not to be ashamed of thee and
of thy word. Lord, do grant the encouragements
that we need in the house of God, encouragements to continue
to press on. Do grant above all that good
hope through grace, the hope beyond the grave. To be with
those in bereavement at this time, do comfort them, and do
pray for help for them, to remember those that are sick and unwell,
You grant thy kind healing hand and strengthening hand. Those
who have operations before them this week, bring them safely
through. Those who have fresh courses
of treatment. Do we please to bless that treatment,
subdue the side effects, if we could please Thee and help them
through. O Lord, we do ask this blessing
upon Thee for Thou art the one that doth bless and it is blessed. And Lord, we look to Thee then
to bless the means that are used. O Lord, we do pray that Thou'st
be with the rising generation Lord, do work in our children's
children and the young people. Lord, do bless that which was
attended to at Heathfield yesterday. And Lord, do bless thy word to
that generation. Lord, do thou shine upon our
churches. Remember them each in this land
and those that gather as we do this morning. And Lord, those
in Australia, those in America and Canada, I will do grant thy
blessing upon them. Lord, do be with thy servants
that take up pastorates as we come near to the close of this
year and entrance of another. Help them, Lord, that wait upon
thee to appear for them in their house moves. appear for them
to settle them near their churches. O Lord, do remove those obstacles
and hindrances, if it could please Thee. O Lord, help our dear brethren
that walk through trials and fiery trials at that, and do
support them. Lord, we do pray for those in
authority over us. We seek wisdom and help for them. We pray especially regarding
the assisted dying bill. We pray that it might be stopped,
it might not come into law, and that there even might be good
come from it, that there might be a better palliative care,
and that there might be a stronger resolve not to go down that track
of assisted suicide. Lord, we confess our sins in
this nation, that already we have made many laws so contrary
to thine. Now, Lord, turn us again and
do deliver us from wicked and unreasonable men, and do grant,
Lord, that thy word might be spoken in our parliaments and
those that are professed Christians might be able to stand up and
say, that what they say and what they testify is because of their
faith. Lord, there are those of humanists
and others that will unashamedly stand in our parliaments and
say what they believe and what they stand for, but we mourn
that thy people are so often ashamed of thy word and do not
speak it. O Lord, do we be pleased then
to take away the fear of man, and wherever we may go and whoever
we may speak with, leave us not to be ashamed of thee and of
thy word. Now, Lord, do help us this morning,
do bless us this day, and do remember each one, those that
gather with us online, do bless them, and bless each of us in
the house of God. Lord, do be pleased to Fill this
house with hungering, thirsting souls. May there be many in this
town, some that we know, brought to come in here to be dear, beloved
brethren. Lord, do work in this place.
We cannot but feel that there are many here whose parents,
grandparents have prayed for them. And Lord, do bring them
to a true knowledge of thyself and answer those prayers. and
may we see the fruit of thy spirit's word. So Lord, we ask thee now
these mercies and those spirits aid and help as we turn to thy
word. We ask thy blessing as thy word
goes forth from the Bible boxes and the web offers to bless each
one who has received a copy of thy word. We ask through thy
name, Lord Jesus, Amen. The announcements. God willing,
I'm expected to preach here this evening at 6.30pm, on Thursday
evening at seven o'clock and next Lord's Day at 11am and 6.30pm. The Bible's distributed during
the month of November through the Bible boxes, 10 Bibles, and
through the web offer, 29, a total of 39 Bibles. We noticed in recent months a
dropping off of the number, and we value your prayers that the
distribution might continue. We have the provision for it,
but we need that interest and need the Lord's blessing upon
those who have received the word. Hymn, 957. Tune, Keble 357. Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Jeremiah chapter 23, and reading
from our text, verse 23. Am I a God at hand, saith the
Lord, and not a God afar off? Jeremiah 23, verse 23. a God close at hand. May this word be a help to those
that may be tempted and tried that the Lord is far off. He doesn't regard them. He's
not present. He's not near. He's not close. He isn't able to help them. But
may we know that the Lord is A God at hand, that He is close
to His people, He's not far off from them at all. In the word
here, the very next verse, speaks of the Lord being in every place,
in fact filling heaven and earth. Do not I fill heaven and earth,
saith the Lord. And we have with our text and
the verse following, two ways that the Lord's presence is to
be known and realized. One is His presence everywhere,
in heaven and in earth, His omnipresence. The other is his specific presence
that is felt, his manifest presence, in a particular place, at a particular
time. And these two themes, they go
right through the Word of God. And in fact, redemption is all
about the Lord's manifest presence. And right through the Word, that
is what is emphasized, though we have in this portion that
God is everywhere, yet the main theme is that man be brought
nigh to God and God brought nigh to him and shall actually know
the presence of the Lord. In the Psalms, we read in Psalm
31 of the Lord's presence, and if I
can turn to it, we have it in verse 20. Thou shalt hide them
in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man. Thou shalt keep them secretly
in a pavilion from the strife of tongues, that which is to
be the comfort of the people of God, the Lord's presence,
and hidden really in that presence. Well, we have the context here,
and really it's a very searching one, especially for us who are
in the ministry, We have pastors that are pictured here that have
just scattered the people of God. We have those that are speaking
words out of their own heart, out of their own mind, and what
they are doing is confirming the people in wickedness and
in sin. And the Lord tells that if they
had been faithful, if they had spoken, the word of the Lord,
then they would have turned the people of Israel away from their
sins, away from their iniquities. What a reminder it is, isn't
it? The way of the word of God and the way of salvation is to
deliver us from sin, to turn us away from sin, to bring us
to know the way that God pardons and forgives sin, but also that
we might be sanctified and separated from it. And really many in our
day, they know that that is the way of the word of God. Our Lord
spoke of those that do not come to the light, lest their deeds
be found out. And so many would rather not
hear the word, not know what it said, lest they be reproved
and have to change some of their ways and stop walking in some
of the things that they do. But the solemn situation here
was that the prophets were, false prophets, were pleased to pander
to the people what they wanted and just confirm them in the
way that they were walking in. It's a constant reminder to all
the servants of God right to the end of time. Don't just give
the people what they want. Don't just bring a word out of
your own heart. Bring the word of the Lord. Bring
that which deals to the old nature to deliver us from the power
of that and to bring us to those things which are pleasing to
God. and to save us from our sins. His name shall be called Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. And in this
very portion, verses 5, especially 5 and 6, we have the Lord Jesus
Christ set forth the prophecy of those days that we know have
come and are recorded in the Gospels. The days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch. It is a holy branch, not sinful,
not one that's going to confirm the people in wickedness. A king shall reign and prosper
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his
days, Judas shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely. And
this is his name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Now here's a real reminder, we
have no righteousnesses of our own. We need an imputed righteousness,
but those that know the Lord Jesus Christ will also seek to
walk in his ways, drawn by love and hate the ways of wickedness,
and of sin. Well the word then that is upon
my spirit is that the Lord is close at hand and I desire it
to be a comfort, a help to us to realise this and also the
difference between God's omnipresence and God's manifest presence. I feel it's a very important
thing to consider. I want to look first at God's
omnipresence and then secondly, his manifest presence. Most people
generally, when they think of the presence of the Lord, will
think of him that fills all things. is in all places, at all times,
at the same time. And we cannot comprehend a God
so great and so mighty as that. The psalmist in Psalm 139, David,
he speaks of that presence, that it is Too wonderful for him, such knowledge
is too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot attain unto
it. There is not a word in my tongue,
but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. And this is what
the Lord was saying concerning these prophets. He knew what
they were saying. He knew what they were speaking. He was aware of all what they
were doing. And so, David, in Psalm 139,
he speaks of the Lord, If he ascends up into heaven, thou
art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning,
dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there, shall
thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. And so right through that psalm,
he speaks of it even when he is formed in the womb, that the
Lord saw him there, he knew him there. And this is a truth that
is set forth in the context of our text and in this psalm, that
none can hide themselves from the presence of the Lord. All things are naked and open
unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. And we need to
remember this. For those that are wicked, it
is set forth as a reproof, like in the context. These prophets,
they can't think that God is not noticing or seeing what they
are doing. Taking notice of it, he does. And then for the people of God,
There to know the Lord does know the way that they take. He does know all about it, He
does acknowledge it. We cannot be in a place and He
not know where we are. And in one sense, where this
is a comfort, is when we don't feel His presence, when we don't
feel His nearness, then to know that He is everywhere and we
think of those who have tried to hide themselves from the Lord. We think of Jonah who thought
that he might flee away from the Lord but the Lord found him
out and the Lord brought him again to walk in his ways. Now we never think that we can
go in any place in this world and do anything or say anything
and the Lord not know about him. It is one attribute of God that
doesn't belong to any human, doesn't belong to Satan, doesn't
belong to angels, that God is everywhere present. We want to look secondly at the
main theme that runs right through the Word of God And that is the
Lord's presence in a particular place being manifest. There are some that seem to have
despised the thought of God saying He is in a particular place,
saying you don't need that because He's everywhere. And yet the
Bible, from beginning to end, emphasizes the Lord's specific
presence to be known and felt. And truly, if we are the Lord's,
that is what we will want, that is what we will desire. Instead
of just a knowledge of the Lord's presence, that it is everywhere,
to actually feel and know and enjoy the presence, in thy presence
is fullness of joy, to actually realize that blessing, perceived
that the Lord is with us. You think of Job, oh that I knew,
where I might find him, that I might come nigh unto his seat. He looked on the right hand,
looked on the left, looked where he did work, but they did not
see him. The people of God desire the
felt presence and blessing of the Lord. I want to trace and
go through The Word of God, where this is really reminded to us. In the Garden of Eden, when God
created Adam and Eve, he created him, put him in the garden, which
in one sense, the paradise of God, a place where God met with
man. And Adam knew the presence of
the Lord. When man fell, then Adam and
Eve, they heard the voice of the Lord walking in the garden. They were afraid. They went and
they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord. And when God dealt with their
sin, when the sentence of death was executed, When they were
brought into spiritual death, they were banished from the garden. The Lord's presence was still
everywhere, but the Lord took it from man, so that that communion,
that union, that fellowship was severed, was stopped, was not
enjoyed, was not felt. That is where we are by nature,
that is where we are in the Fall, and the whole aim of salvation
is to restore that again, to bring nigh that which is far
off, and to bring a reconciliation so that the Lord will dwell among
His people, We think of that as the beginning of the Word
of God. And then if we were to go right
to the other end of the Word of God, into Revelation 21, where
we see a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the
first earth were passed away and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride for her husband." This is the Church of God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former
things are passed away." And the great blessing in heaven
is that the Lord is there, His presence is known. Our Lord's intercessory prayer
in John 17, Father, I will that they whom thou hast given me
be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. And so this theme of redemption,
this theme of the Lord's manifest, felt, visible presence is to
be seen throughout the Word of God. And may it be from this
morning, that we try and see this, we notice this as we read
our Bibles, we notice not only the truth that God dwells everywhere,
but that the truth that he does come and make himself known and
visit his people and bless his people. When Israel had sinned,
who read in Hosea, I will go and return unto my place, until
I acknowledge their transgression. They were to feel his absence,
feel that he was not with them. It is a great blessing to feel the
Lord is with us. So I want to look and trace some
of the ways through We think of the case of Noah, where when
the ark was completed, then the Lord said, come thou into the
ark. Now, where the Lord fills all
things, the Lord's special presence was
in that ark. It was a beautiful type, of our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It was through that that Noah
and all that were with him were to be saved through being lifted
up over the water and brought to the other side. They were
delivered from the destruction that was coming upon the earth.
And the whole deliverance was really by the Lord's presence,
come to me. Come thou, the Lord was already
in that ark. You see the echo, come unto me
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, I will give you rest.
The refuge, the help, is in the Lord Jesus Christ, is in his
people being with him. The Lord shut Noah and all those
that were with him, into the ark. The Apostle Paul says that
I might be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is by the faith of Jesus
Christ, who loved me and gave himself for me. We think of the pre-incarnation
appearances of our Lord. He promised seed of the woman
that was to come, that which the people of God look forward
to. The Lord did choose to show himself
to his people on several occasions. We think of Jacob as he left
home, as he fled from Esau, his brother, and when he comes to
Lars, or Bethel, and he lays down with stones for his pillow. And then he dreams. And he dreamt of a ladder set
up on earth and on top of it reaching to heaven. Behold, the
angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood
above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father,
and the God of Isaac. The land whereon thou liest,
to thee will I give in, and to thy seed. Thy seed shall be as
the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west
and to the east, and to the north and to the south. And in thee
and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And there's the same promise
to thy seed, which is Christ, which was the blessing given
to Abraham. Behold, I am with thee and will
keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee
again into this land. For I will not leave thee until
I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. So in that verse, in that promise,
the Lord is not speaking of his omnipresence, but a specific
presence to be with Jacob. I am with thee and will keep
thee, will bring thee again. I will not leave thee. He is
speaking of a specific blessing to Jacob. And what does Jacob
say when he awakes out of his sleep? He says, surely the Lord
is in this place. And I knew it not. He was afraid and said, how dreadful
is this place? This is none other but the house
of God. This is the gate of heaven. You
might say, Jacob, didn't you know God is everywhere? He fills
everything. He's in every place. Of course,
he's in that place. But no, Jacob is knowing the
manifest presence, the specific presence, and the promise of
the Lord's presence to be with him in all places wherever he
went. And so later on, when he comes
back, and again he's fearful of Esau, he's 20 years later,
and he wrestles with the angel, I will not let thee go until
thou bless me. and he was blessed there. There
wrestled a man with him to the breaking of the day. Again, another
pre-incarnation appearance of our Lord that wrestled with God
and with man and has prevailed. Our poor minds, we cannot get
into us how it can be. God can be everywhere, but can
be in a specific place. Many will stumble at this with
the Trinity, the Jehovah's Witness do. They mock, they think, how
can the Lord Jesus Christ be truly God, truly one with the
Father? How can He pray to Himself? How
can He be in one place and in another as well? Great is the
mystery of godliness. God manifests in the flesh. We
only understand it by the words of Scripture. I and my Father
are one. If you have seen me, you've seen
the Father also. The joy that he had with the
Father before the world was. I leave the world, I return unto
the Father. The Lord tells us of the union
and tells us how it can be and for us We can't work out how
can a God that dwells in eternity, where there's no time, come into
time? And how can he visit in specific
places and times in time? These things are a great mystery
to us. But it is revealed to us in the
word of God how that God does visit his people and his whole
aim is that his people might be with him and enjoy him forever. And so we have appearances like
it was with Gideon, the Lord appeared to him, with Manara
and his wife, we have seen God, therefore we shall die. Would
the Lord tell us such things as these, said his wife, show
us such things as this, if he meant to kill us. We have Moses
in the burning bush in the wilderness, put off the shoes from off thy
feet, the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. The Lord's specific presence
in that holy ground, in that presence. We have the children
of Israel, the very reason why Moses was sent, why they had
to be brought, out into the wilderness in Exodus 29 at the end of that
chapter, and I will dwell among the children of Israel and will
be their God. And they shall know that I am
the Lord their God that brought them forth out of the land of
Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God. Again, the emphasis is the Lord
dwelling amongst his people in a very manifest, a very special
way that is different from his omnipresence, from his being
everywhere, he was with his people. And we see how that was evidenced
by the fiery cloudy pillar over the tabernacle, the tabernacle
itself, The holy place, the ark in that holy place, only the
high priest and that without blood could enter once a year. It was a special place of God,
the Lord's special presence. When the Lord came down on Mount
Sinai, Moses, they had to put guards around the mount that
no one break through to gaze. It was holy. The Lord's presence
was there. The mountain in smoke, with fire
and smoke, the earth quaked. They heard the thunder. The Lord's
presence was known and demonstrated in a very special way there upon
the mount. I think of later on with Elijah,
and he is out in the Horeb, the same mount, and the Lord passes
by. A great fire, an earthquake,
and a wind that rends the rocks. But we read the Lord was not
in the fire, not in the earthquake, not in the wind. but then a still
small voice, and that was the Lord's voice, the Lord was there.
Different ways, the Lord passing by, but then when the Lord is
in, in His Word, and in His presence, in a very specific way. When we come back to the first
promise, the promise of the seed of the woman, that should bruise
the serpent's head. We come back to Emmanuel, God
with us. What Solomon said, the heaven
will God in very deed dwell upon the earth. The heaven of heavens
cannot contain thee, how much less this house that I builded. And of course, with our Lord
Jesus Christ coming, He was very specifically in one place or
another place and walking through the earth and visiting his people
and speaking to his people in the presence of God that is really
promised in John 14. The Lord speaks this to His people, may it be a real
comfort and help to us to realize this. In verse 23, Jesus answered,
and this is the answer to the question, Lord, how is it that
thou manifest thyself? This is the Lord's manifest presence. Manifest thyself unto us, but
not unto the world. Jesus answered and said unto
him, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father
will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode
with him. The Lord then speaks that those
things he is speaking is being yet present with you, but the
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name. He shall teach you all things,
bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. We have also the verse in Matthew
18. And this is sadly a verse that
some say, well, you cannot reply to Other gatherings of the people
of God in the name of the Lord, it only applies to when there
is discipline, when there is a church meeting or those gathered
for discipline. That is the context here in Matthew
18 certainly. But the truth applies to every
gathering in the Lord's name. or where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. And many
have said, in trying to wrench that word from the people of
God and any comfort there is to them, that while God is everywhere
present, we don't need a word like this. Yes, we do. We do
need to know that when we gather together in the house of God,
Even if it be two or three, the Lord is there as we gather in
his name. There is a blessing there. God
is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints. Yes,
that is where his presence is. All those that are about him,
unto him shall the gathering of the people be. And it's a
blessed thing to feel the presence of the Lord and to know. Why
did Israel know it? With the tabernacle, they knew
it in the tides and the shadows. But in the New Testament church,
when they meet, no special blessing. No wonder it is that many church
buildings now, they're no longer consecrated. They're no longer
just used for the worship of God. We know God is not confined
to bricks and mortar, to a place, it is his people. But the picture
throughout the word of God is that we can come to where the
people of God gather and that place is a separated place, a
place where there is a reverence and fear of the Lord, a quietness
to come away from the world and to gather in his name. It's a
blessed thing to seek for, desire and to know and feel the presence
of the God of heaven and of earth. And to know in these days The
Lord does bless his people. You know, Paul, when he writes
to the Ephesians, he says that we are brought nigh by the blood
of Christ. And the whole gospel is for this
work of God and sinners reconciled. Take my yoke upon you. What closer union can there be? Learn of me, for I am meek and
lowly in heart, ye shall find rest unto your souls. In thy
presence, that is where there is joy and gladness and comfort
and help. When we feel far off, the Lord
still knows us, he still sees us, but we don't have the comfort,
the joy, the feeling of His presence, where like Job, oh that I knew
where I might find Him. May it be our desire that we
might know more of His manifest presence, more of His felt presence,
more of the joy of the Lord. How can two walk together except
they be agreed? When the Lord departed from His
ancient people, It was because they had sinned. There were those
things that they were doing, they were walking in, and the
Lord would not walk with them. He would say to them, either
you have that or you have me. You can't have both. And now,
Lord's words, ye cannot serve God and mammon. Now may our desire
be that we enjoy the presence of the Lord. Am I a God at hand? saith the Lord, and not a God
far off. Blessed thing, your trial today,
your affliction, your perplexity, am I not a God at hand? The Lord is at hand. He is present. He is near. May you be encouraged in our
prayers, our petitions in that. No, the Lord knew Job, even though
he was sighing, crying, looking in that way. And it's a blessed
thing when the Lord comes, and sometimes in a moment, he can
change our captivity, visit our souls, and we know his sweet
presence. We know it by his word, by this
softening influence that he brings, that still small voice, But Elijah
knew. We know that presence by the
joy that is felt. Those two on the way to Emmaus,
they knew the Lord's presence, though they hadn't recognised
him by their heart burning within them while he taught with them
by the way. The disciples on the lake when
the Lord had risen, they knew who it was by The miracle that he did, cast
the net on the right side, they tore it all line, they'd taken
nothing. And then John, he says, it is
the Lord. They recognize God is known by
the judgment that he executes. Jacob, he knew it by the vision,
the word that was given him, and it's a blessed thing. to
realize the presence of the Lord. Dear Samuel did not yet know
the Lord. He did not know the Lord was
there speaking to him. Samuel, Samuel, Eli directed
him. When he comes again, when he
speaks again, speak Lord for thy servant heareth. And we read
that the Lord appeared again under Samuel by the word of the
Lord, the Lord's presence. often known thy words thy words
were found says jeremiah and i did eat them and of course
this is the context here prophets they are not speaking the words
of the lord the people of israel were not hearing the words of
the lord and the lord says in the last days there shall be
a famine not of bread and of water but of hearing the words
of the lord He that receiveth you, receiveth me. He that receiveth
me, receiveth him that sent me. It's a blessed thing to realise
the presence of the Lord when we have His Word, when He gives
His Word. The Lord gave the Word, great
was the company of them that published it. The Lord's presence,
then with His people in their assemblies, the Lord's presence,
when they're there in their homes and in their closet, when they
are praised unto the Lord, enter into thy closet, shut the door,
call upon him that seeth in secret, he shall reward thee openly. The presence of the Lord. We
think of the three Hebrew children in the fire, and even Nebuchadnezzar,
he says, did not we cast three in the fire but there is now
four. The former, the fourth, is like
unto the Son of God, the Lord's presence there with them in the
fire. I am with thee, Israel passing
through the fire. May we desire this blessing.
May we seek it where we know the reality in the word of God
of the Lord's not only omnipresence, but his manifest presence, drawing
nigh to his people, blessing them, comforting them, a God
that is at hand, right near his people, not afar off. May we
realize that. Mr. Ransbottom tells of a wicked
old man that was in hospital and put over his bed. God is
nowhere. And his little granddaughter
came in And he asked her to read that sign. Well, she was just
learning to read, and she put the gaps in a different place.
And what she read was, God is now here. And that man trembled,
and the Lord used him to bring that truth to him, that instead
of God being nowhere, he was now there. May we know that,
where we have felt that God was far off, To feel this, God is
now here. The Lord has visited, he has
blessed, he has favoured our souls, we know little of his
special sacred presence here, and we desire to be with him
forever in heaven. Am I a God at hand, saith the
Lord, and not? A God afar off. Lord bless the
word. Amen. Hymn, 927. Tune, Maryton 366. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all now and evermore. Amen.