1 00:00:02,280 --> 00:00:06,320 Good morning. I'll be reading from Genesis 26. 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:10,720 There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:15,400 had occurred in Abraham's time, and Isaac went to a abimelech, 4 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:18,000 king of the Philistines, at Girar. 5 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:23,240 The Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt, 6 00:00:23,240 --> 00:00:24,960 Live in the land that I tell you about. 7 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:28,480 Stay in this land as an alien, and I will be with you and bless 8 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:30,600 you. For I will give you all these 9 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:34,080 lands to you and your offspring, and I will affirm the oath that 10 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:37,800 I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your offspring as 11 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:39,640 numerous as the stars of the sky. 12 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:43,280 I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations 13 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,680 of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, because Abraham 14 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:50,080 listened to me and kept my mandate, my commands, my 15 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:56,880 statutes, and my instructions. From there he went up to 16 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,560 Beersheba, and the Lord appeared to him the night and said, I am 17 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,400 the God of your father, Abraham, do not be afraid, for I am with 18 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:06,880 you. I will bless you and multiply 19 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:09,400 your offspring because of my servant Abraham. 20 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,000 So he built an altar there, caught on the name of the Lord, 21 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,560 and pitched his tent there. Isaac's servants also dug a well 22 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:20,520 there. They replied, We have clearly 23 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:22,080 seen how the Lord has been with you. 24 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,760 We think there should be an oath between two parties, between US 25 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,200 and you. Let us make a covenant with you, 26 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:42,780 the word of the Lord. What's going on Port City family 27 00:01:42,780 --> 00:01:45,180 and friends, how are we doing? Good. 28 00:01:45,340 --> 00:01:48,260 My name is Tanner and I'm excited to be with you. 29 00:01:48,260 --> 00:01:52,180 I'm really excited for what guys got in store for us this 30 00:01:52,180 --> 00:01:55,480 morning. Y'all at Port City we are trying 31 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:59,760 and we love to worship together, like sing together, to look each 32 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,600 other in the eyes, to DAP each other up, hug each other, eat 33 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:04,480 some food together. Y'all, we're trying to live an 34 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,080 embodied life together. We put the Bibles under the seat 35 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:10,960 because we need God's word. We're trying to communicate 36 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:12,680 through everything we do on a Sunday morning. 37 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:14,280 We leave the lights on for a purpose. 38 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,320 We put the music at a level where we can hear each other 39 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:21,280 because we need each other. We need God's word. 40 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:23,120 This is a place for needy people. 41 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:26,240 We're trying to communicate. This is a place you can come to 42 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:30,520 if you need God. So if you don't have a church 43 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,400 family and you're looking for one, you are invited to need God 44 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:34,480 with us. That's what it means to be a 45 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:36,360 member of Port City. It doesn't mean you have 46 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:38,720 arrived. It means you acknowledge you 47 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,320 need God and you need other people and you need his word. 48 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:43,840 So that's what we're trying to do as a as a church here. 49 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:46,320 So what I'm going to do is I'm going to pray for our time 50 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:48,240 because we need God. We need his word. 51 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,320 And then we will dive in here with Genesis 26. 52 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,040 Our Father, we love you. Thank you so much that you want 53 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:58,360 to give yourself to us. God, thank you that we can need 54 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:00,120 you. Thank you that when you save us, 55 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,080 that just brings us into a relationship with you. 56 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:06,400 Got to pray for my friends who are yet to take that step. 57 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:09,720 God would you just open their eyes and for those of us who 58 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,160 follow you, God help us to be reminded that to need you is 59 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:18,400 good and you want to meet us. You see all you know all you are 60 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:20,280 with us. So Holy Spirit, breathe upon 61 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:21,920 your word. We pray in the mighty name of 62 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,920 Jesus, Amen. You ever been in a situation 63 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:29,600 where you're like, get to the point. 64 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:34,640 Some of you are like, I feel that every Sunday at about 65 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:39,440 10:55. I remember one time I was in a 66 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,480 group project in college and like my group just didn't want 67 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,280 to get together and like work on this thing like a presentation. 68 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:47,600 And I'm like, you know, I'm the type A. 69 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:49,840 I'm like anxious texting everybody, ha ha, can't wait to 70 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:51,520 get together. We don't, we show up for the 71 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:53,800 presentation. My man was winging it. 72 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:56,360 I mean, we had like 15 minutes as a group. 73 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:58,480 He went like 20. I mean, he was just letting it 74 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:00,040 RIP. And everybody, it's like you're 75 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,200 saying a lot of things and you're saying nothing. 76 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:07,320 Like you're just talking like get to the point, break it down 77 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:10,320 for me, you know, like break it down all the way down. 78 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,720 So here's what I want to do. If you could break the Bible all 79 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:19,680 the way down to 3 words. OK, these are I think the three 80 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,240 words that break it down. You ready? 81 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:31,200 God with us, God with us. In Matthew chapter 1, Jesus is 82 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:35,240 referred to as Emmanuel. God with us, the Bible ends. 83 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,000 Revelation chapter 21 verse 3 says this. 84 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,040 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the 85 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,280 dwelling place of God is with man. 86 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:47,320 He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God 87 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:49,760 himself will be with them as their God. 88 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:53,840 And notice is not us with God, is God with us. 89 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,040 Order matters. There's so much theology. 90 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,000 We could preach so many sermons on that phrase. 91 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:03,600 So my hope for us today is through this story with Isaac in 92 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,480 Genesis 26. We're going to talk about, think 93 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:11,160 about, set our hearts and minds upon the God who is with us and 94 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:14,280 wants to be with you. So we're going to look at this 95 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:16,080 in five turns. We're going to talk about God's 96 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:20,160 presence in Isaac, God's presence in life, experiencing 97 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:23,360 God's presence, the effect God's presence has on us, and then 98 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:25,920 lastly, how we respond to God's presence. 99 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:27,880 If you are ready, let me hear you say I'm ready. 100 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,760 OK, let's start with God's presence in Isaac. 101 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:35,520 You also, as we've mentioned, every year we're going to go 102 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:37,680 through a different patriarch. Last year was Abraham. 103 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,320 The next longest chunk belongs to Jacob. 104 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:42,600 There's a lot of genesis on Jacob. 105 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:44,520 There's only a little bit on Isaac. 106 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:48,600 OK, so today's story is really the only Isaac story where he is 107 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,080 the protagonist for a long period of time. 108 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,160 A lot of them mention him being involved, but he's a very 109 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,760 passive character with a very short amount of time in Genesis 110 00:05:57,760 --> 00:05:59,920 as it transitions from Abraham to Jacob. 111 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,720 So this is a big story which we will return to in a couple of 112 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,120 weeks to talk about some other dynamics involved. 113 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,680 But today what I want you to pay attention to is just three 114 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,840 statements about God's presence towards Isaac. 115 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:15,120 Are you with me? OK, so there are three 116 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:17,240 statements that I'm going to walk through again just to make 117 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:19,280 sure we understand. The first one comes in verses 118 00:06:19,280 --> 00:06:21,320 one through 5. It says this. 119 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,880 Now there was a famine in the land besides the former famine 120 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:27,240 that was in the days of Abraham. Because this story kind of 121 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,080 mirrors something that happened with, or very much so mirrors. 122 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,440 Something happened in Genesis 20 with Abraham. 123 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,880 And the Lord appeared to him and said, do not go down to Egypt, 124 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,200 Dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. 125 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:42,520 Sojourn in this land and I will be with you. 126 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:49,560 Somebody say we'll be again. I'm no English professor, but 127 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:53,720 that to me is a future tense. He's trying to say something is 128 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:54,720 happening. Famine. 129 00:06:55,280 --> 00:06:59,440 Your actions should be determined by my presence and in 130 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:01,920 parentheses, not by your fear, right? 131 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,000 Like there is a temptation you're going to feel to do one 132 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:06,480 thing. And I'm letting you know before 133 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:07,800 it happens. I will be with you. 134 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:10,480 Now, for those of us who know the story that we'll go through 135 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,800 in a couple of weeks, Isaac very much responds in fear. 136 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,440 He kind of puts his wife in a vulnerable position, and then 137 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:18,800 the people of the land push him around a little bit. 138 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:22,960 Now we're going to jump forward to verses 23 to 25. 139 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,600 Check those out with me. Same chapter, Big 26, little 23. 140 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,640 From there he went up to Beersheba and the Lord appeared 141 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,320 to him the same night and said, I am the God of Abraham your 142 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:39,120 father. Fear not for I am with you. 143 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:43,160 Somebody say with you. Now again, y'all correct me if 144 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:45,880 I'm wrong. I am with you past, present, 145 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:48,160 future. I think that is present. 146 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:50,200 OK. So he says, I am with you and 147 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,160 will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant 148 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:55,400 Abraham's sake. And this time it says in verse 149 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:57,000 25. So we built an altar there and 150 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,680 called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. 151 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:02,080 And there are Isaac's servants dug a well. 152 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:06,840 All right, so that statement #2 OK, this time he seems to 153 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:09,440 respond in some sort of trust, right? 154 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:13,040 The altar, the calling upon his name, the, the digging of the 155 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:15,240 well, which all that didn't really happen the first time. 156 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,320 God says it all. He kind of doesn't really trust 157 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:19,160 him. He's scared. 158 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:21,720 This time God reappears, says I'm with you. 159 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,320 He responds. And then one more statement I 160 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:26,040 want you all to see comes to verse 28. 161 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:29,560 So now and again, you don't really know the story yet. 162 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:31,880 That's OK. We're focused on the statements 163 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:35,200 the people involved in the story who've been pushing him around. 164 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,960 They come to him in the vulnerable position and say hey, 165 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:40,880 it is clear. Look at verse 28. 166 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,960 They said we see plainly that the Lord has been with you. 167 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:51,560 Somebody say has been with you like passed into the like our 168 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:54,120 operating with you right now is on the fact that God's been with 169 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:56,600 you like we've watched it. God has been with you. 170 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,880 So Isaac has been blind, but they can see. 171 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:03,840 Are you tracking? So the idea is he's been with 172 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:05,960 you, he is with you, he will be with you. 173 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,640 OK, so we got past, present, future, he was he is it is to 174 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,520 come that kind of idea. Are y'all tracking with those 175 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:15,800 three statements, the three tenses, the is was will be. 176 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:19,560 OK, now let's talk about God's presence in life. 177 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:25,280 So that's that's Isaac's story. Y'all what this concept of past, 178 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,880 present, future presence of God is known as is called God is 179 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:32,480 omnipresent. I'm gonna let y'all try and say 180 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:35,120 that Y'all with me say omnipresent. 181 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:38,120 Yeah. Omni. 182 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:40,800 Omni. It's a word that means all, all 183 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,640 present. It means God is everywhere 184 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:47,240 present. God is not bound by space and 185 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:49,520 time the way we are. We are literally bound. 186 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:53,560 You can only be and one chair. Some of y'all sometimes sit on 2 187 00:09:53,560 --> 00:09:55,720 chairs. I do that sometimes on Sunday. 188 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,560 I'm like sending a message like just give me some space people, 189 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:01,000 OK. But y'all we are bound. 190 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:03,440 We are one spot one time. That's how we are. 191 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,440 God is not. God is not limited in that way. 192 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,840 He's also not divided up like a percentage like 1% of him is in 193 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,240 Afghanistan and 1% in the United. 194 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,440 No, it don't work like that. God is omnipresent. 195 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:20,040 He is everywhere. He is, He is fully himself. 196 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:25,600 He's also not in this podium, He's not in things. 197 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:29,560 That is a pantheism that God is like in the things he makes. 198 00:10:29,560 --> 00:10:33,200 The Bible is very clear that God is distinct from his creation. 199 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:36,960 He creates, He's separate from it, but He is everywhere 200 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:41,960 present. OK, David, in Psalm 139 verse 6, 201 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:45,280 this is kind of how he describes this reality. 202 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:51,680 He says such knowledge is too wonderful for me. 203 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:57,720 It is high, I cannot attain it. You being everywhere present, I 204 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:00,080 can't get away from you no matter where I go. 205 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:05,760 It is just so wonderful. It blows my mind into those in 206 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:09,760 relationship with God. That is a comforting mind blown 207 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:13,200 position. Like it it comforts him that he 208 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:18,000 can't get away from the Lord. I would argue we know this is 209 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,200 true. Like subconsciously from the 210 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:22,440 time you're born, I would argue we know this is true. 211 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:25,520 You ever been in a situation you're totally by yourself and 212 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,520 you could like, I'll give you all one. 213 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:30,800 I'm thinking of one right now. OK, Halloween. 214 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:36,680 The sign says take one and you by yourself and you're like, you 215 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:38,360 look around and you have a guarantee. 216 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:40,200 Nobody's watching. They don't have a ring camera, 217 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,720 which is rare. And you're like, I can take 1. 218 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:45,960 Now. Either society has put in you 219 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:48,640 that you're not supposed to steal and that is some kind of 220 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:53,920 social agreement we've all made to help us survive, or part of 221 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:55,760 you knows I can't steal that thing. 222 00:11:57,160 --> 00:11:59,480 You know, I've heard it said that integrity is what you do 223 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:01,680 when when nobody is watching, right? 224 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:05,240 I would say the right phrasing of that is integrity is what you 225 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:08,480 do when only one is watching because you know, 1 is watching. 226 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:11,440 You know that. Have you ever tasted something 227 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:13,760 so good by yourself? You're like, oh, like you just 228 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:17,240 want to say thank you. Or you walk upon a site like a, 229 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:21,080 a Grand Canyon or a waterfall and you're like, like you just 230 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:25,280 there's this screaming. You want to do like, or like 231 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:28,000 when you're a little kid and you make an amazing play on your 232 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:29,120 own, you're playing in the backyard. 233 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,200 You're like, did you see that? Your instant reaction is to look 234 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:33,920 for somebody and say, did you see that? 235 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:38,080 And you know, somebody is watching, Like part of you knows 236 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,760 that this is the case. You know, God is omnipresent, 237 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:45,320 even though you might not ever learn what the word Omni means, 238 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,680 which leads to the question, is God with you? 239 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:56,400 And when I ask it that way, I mean, like, we know he's 240 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,600 omnipresent, but is he personally automatically present 241 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:07,000 to every person? No, in the way David talks about 242 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:12,280 it in Psalm 139, in relationship with him is not true of 243 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:14,840 everybody. That is not their experience 244 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:19,440 with his presence. The Bible teaches that. 245 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,560 Y'all, in our sin we turn our back on God. 246 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:25,360 That's what we do. These realities we know to be 247 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:27,840 true. We suppress them, we ignore 248 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:30,720 them. We are unconvinced or 249 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:33,320 unimpressed. We learned this truth from the 250 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,120 Bible that God is always present everywhere and we're like 251 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:39,120 unconvinced or unimpressed. That is what rebels do. 252 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:41,880 You know, we can leverage it from the I don't care 253 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,600 standpoint, or we can argue that it's true and use our minds and 254 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:48,560 come up with arguments, but the reality is we are rebels. 255 00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:52,800 We don't want it to be true. We don't want his omnipresence. 256 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:55,240 We're like, eh, I'm out unimpressed, unconvinced. 257 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:58,760 Yo, we live like we the ones who are omnipresent. 258 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:01,320 Technology gives us that feeling a little bit, right? 259 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:03,120 Like we can learn anything at any time. 260 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,680 Google can go with me wherever I go as long as it's in my pocket. 261 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:12,280 And so in our rebellion, y'all, we don't even want God to be 262 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:16,120 with us. So is God omnipresent? 263 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:17,760 Yes. Is he personally present with 264 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:19,440 every human being? No. 265 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:23,520 The Bible teaches that God is with those who have been made 266 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:27,200 right through Jesus Christ. Y'all it's interesting if you go 267 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:29,960 read Psalm 139 tonight, which I recommend you to do. 268 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:35,760 The first verse says you have searched me and known me and the 269 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:39,320 last verse David asks him search me and know me. 270 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:42,520 So he opens it with you have done it and he ends it with keep 271 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:43,520 doing it. OK. 272 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:47,320 Now, when you are a rebel against God, which all of us are 273 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:51,960 born into, the thought of the omnipresence of God actually 274 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:54,120 isn't originally a comforting thought. 275 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:56,560 That means he was there when you said that. 276 00:14:57,400 --> 00:14:59,200 That means he was there when you did that. 277 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:01,760 That means he was there when you didn't do that. 278 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:04,800 That you should have done it. Means he was there when you said 279 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:06,280 what you said. And you said I was just playing, 280 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:08,920 but you weren't playing. He was there when you gossiped 281 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,080 and then you covered your tracks and you texted that person back 282 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:13,800 to cover what you did say and meant it. 283 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:16,720 He was there when you did it. He was there when you didn't do 284 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:21,840 it. Y'all, God's omnipresence is 285 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:25,440 comforting to those God loves and is in relationship with. 286 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:29,920 It is very discomforting if we don't know him and if we default 287 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:32,600 into not knowing him. It would be like being told, 288 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:36,960 hey, the sun, like the sun is visiting you tomorrow going to 289 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:39,720 be right next to you. It would be like I'm going to 290 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:42,120 burn, you know, like I can't even look at that thing. 291 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:45,200 What you mean is coming to me. That is sort of like when you 292 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:49,600 hear the omnipresent God is everywhere present, including in 293 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:53,360 this room right now. That's kind of what it does to 294 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:56,560 us because it's like, I can't even like squint at the sun. 295 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:59,800 It is so pure. So God's omnipresence is 296 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:03,160 included with all his, his other attributes like His Holiness, 297 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:06,520 his righteousness, his goodness, his moral purity, his beauty, 298 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:08,920 his love, his wrath, his judgment. 299 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:13,160 All that God is, is omnipresent always. 300 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,840 So it's not initially comforting, which leaves us a 301 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:20,760 little bit being like, how do we go from if we're defaulted into 302 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:24,240 rebels who want nothing to do with this God to being told he 303 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:26,000 is visiting? Like, how does that work? 304 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,040 How do we get the Psalm 139 experience? 305 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:34,120 And the answer is Jesus Christ. Jesus is God with us. 306 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,720 He is the God man. He is truly God in his 307 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:42,400 omniscience, and when he took on humanity like us, the 308 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:46,800 omnipresent God became bound. Isn't that crazy? 309 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,840 God allowed himself to only be able to sit in two chairs at a 310 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:53,320 time, you know what I mean? He allowed himself to be 311 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:57,200 confined. And for those of y'all who study 312 00:16:57,200 --> 00:16:59,960 the Trinity, which all of us do at some level, Father, Son, Holy 313 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:03,400 Spirit, y'all, the Trinity doesn't diminish God's godness. 314 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,280 It's adding to the Trinity by him taking on flesh, not taking 315 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:09,440 away from it. But Jesus is the God man who 316 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:15,000 came to live such a life under God's omnipresence as a human 317 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:19,000 being and live it perfectly at all times. 318 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,800 And then at the end of his life, what he did is he took on the 319 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:24,640 death of those who he came to save. 320 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,839 He came to take on the death of those who did the gospeling, did 321 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:29,480 all the things that we were talking about. 322 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:33,480 And in His resurrection, He gives us the opportunity to be 323 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:37,120 accredited as if we lived perfectly under God's watching 324 00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:40,680 eyes all our days. That is the gospel. 325 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,720 So that's the omnipresent God. Let's talk about the experience 326 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,480 of God's presence. Let's talk about the experience 327 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,120 of God's presence. It says this in verse 2, and 328 00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:56,200 then I'll read verse 24 as well. It says, And the Lord appeared 329 00:17:56,200 --> 00:18:01,000 to him, and the Lord appeared to him verse 2 and said, do not go 330 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,320 down to Egypt, dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. 331 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:07,120 And then in verse 24 And the Lord appeared to him the same 332 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:10,800 night and said, I am the God of your father, Abraham your 333 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:12,480 father. Fear not, for I am with you. 334 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,720 So this idea of appearing, appearing. 335 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,480 So I want to ask the question, what can a follower of Jesus who 336 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,560 now God is with you in a personal way? 337 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:26,240 Jesus Christ is yours by faith, right? 338 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,720 By grace through faith, Holy Spirit indwells you. 339 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,880 That's what the Bible teaches. The omnipresent God takes up 340 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,720 residence in those who trust in him. 341 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:39,040 OK so if you are a follower of Jesus, can you expect God to 342 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:43,160 appear to you? Right y'all? 343 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:45,760 I want to start by just saying there's a difference between God 344 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:49,880 being omnipresent and us experiencing his manifest 345 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:54,440 presence in an ongoing way. OK, He is omnipresent. 346 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:58,040 Your experience of his manifest presence will vary. 347 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:01,160 Presence is constant, feeling varies. 348 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:04,280 Presence is constant, feeling varies. 349 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,160 We see in the, the kind of secular world right now that we 350 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:13,200 live in, like there is a rise in spirituality, There's a rise in 351 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,560 religions like Wicca, witchcraft, like these type 352 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:18,280 religions are on the rise because people want an 353 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:20,640 experience of the transcendent. That's what they want. 354 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:22,680 They want something bigger than themselves. 355 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:25,120 They want spirituality. And it's you're going to see 356 00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:28,720 more and more of this the more a secular, more secular a place 357 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:30,040 gets. Religion doesn't go away. 358 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:33,840 It just becomes personalized. And I make it my own and, and, 359 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:36,280 and I have these experiences and it gets a little weird, 360 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:38,760 honestly, because people want experience. 361 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:43,120 They just don't want authority. So what we tend to do is we want 362 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,440 we want experience without the context of submission. 363 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:54,960 And what we've got to see in this instance with Isaac is he 364 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:58,680 was already in covenant relationship with God when the 365 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:00,640 appearances occurred. Are y'all tracking? 366 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:05,560 So the experience of God's presence comes in the context of 367 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:06,560 covenant. It doesn't. 368 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:09,480 Lead to in this case are y'all tracking. 369 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:13,880 So like yes, Isaac had a very vibrant, robust relationship 370 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:17,280 where God is manifesting his presence in some kind of way, 371 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:20,680 but he was already submitted to God, trusting him, trying to 372 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:22,560 follow him as best he could, obeying him. 373 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:25,680 Isaac was in and then the appearance came. 374 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,400 So I just want to see the way the Bible thinks about it is 375 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:32,480 that the Word of God shines a light upon Jesus Christ. 376 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:34,120 It makes us aware that we're rebels. 377 00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:37,080 It gives us the news of how to be made right with God and how 378 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,960 to live in agreement with God in alignment with God. 379 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:43,560 The Spirit of God showcases the Word of God, which showcases the 380 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:46,360 Son of God, and we submit to him and follow him. 381 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:49,560 That's what we do. The New Testament seems really 382 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:52,280 interested in love God, love neighbor, OK. 383 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:57,200 And experience of God's love fits within that context. 384 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:02,320 They're not kind of like separated, like the goal is love 385 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:06,120 God, love neighbor, as Christ says, love you and trust God for 386 00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:07,920 when you're going to feel that experience. 387 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,840 It was explained to me early in my Christian walk. 388 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:14,400 Like you imagine a father and a son walking down the beach. 389 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:18,080 OK, the kid is in front, let's give him 3-4 years old. 390 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,600 Just run it kind of that awkward run, you know that kids be 391 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,080 doing. And the dad is behind the dad is 392 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,240 the dad behind the kid, next to the kid from the kid doesn't 393 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:29,120 matter. The position of the father does 394 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:31,360 not change the status of their relationship. 395 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:35,040 Now, every once in a while, what's the dad going to do? 396 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:39,680 He's going to pick up the kid. He's going to swing them around, 397 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:43,120 helicopter, all those things, hold the hand, dip them in the 398 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:45,960 water, splash them, play in the sand, right. 399 00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:49,880 The child's felt experience of the love can vary, but the 400 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,280 status of the child does not change. 401 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:56,440 We all tracking and that's a helpful thing for us to keep in 402 00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:00,840 mind as we follow the Lord is that experience is a gift and 403 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:04,960 hopeful expectation, but it's not a demand or a frantic chase. 404 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:08,560 It's not AI will follow you. If you give me some new 405 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:10,680 experience. It's I trust you. 406 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:16,680 You have saved me. I was a rebel, I did not care. 407 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,040 You've made me new. You brought me close to you and 408 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:21,920 I love you. David says in Psalm 139 verse 409 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:26,160 five, he says you hem me in behind and before this idea of 410 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:30,920 like you almost enclose me and then you lay your hand upon me. 411 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,840 So let's be clear, David is very pro intimate nearness with God. 412 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:40,720 Please read the Psalms please. We open almost every service 413 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:44,400 with the Psalm because that I hope, is your normative 414 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,920 experience of how near God feels to you when you're mad at how 415 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,920 you're allowed to talk to God when you're high, how you're 416 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:52,600 allowed to talk to God when you're low, when you're 417 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:54,800 everywhere in between. That's what the Psalms are. 418 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:59,120 And for David, God was extremely near, but he did not approach 419 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,000 the Almighty. God was some kind of like demand 420 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:05,280 posture. It was a humble, mysterious 421 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:10,880 trust in God. So y'all, the way this works is 422 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,080 you have to anchor in your soul that God is with you. 423 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:18,040 Take the omnipresent truth. It's true. 424 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,600 God is with you right now. He's with you when you do the 425 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:24,600 dishes. He's with you when you clean 426 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:28,160 teeth. He is with you when you get hard 427 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:31,440 phone calls. He is with you all the time. 428 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:34,320 That's what it means that He is omnipresent. 429 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,720 The great irony is that if we relegate His presence to when we 430 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:41,960 feel the experience of His presence, we make Him not 431 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:43,520 omnipresent. You see how that works? 432 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:47,640 He's only present when I feel him means he ain't everywhere. 433 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:52,080 And then we are chasing that experience to prove his 434 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:53,720 presence. Do you see the great irony? 435 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:57,000 And then what we do is we flip it and now we don't actually 436 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:00,280 believe He's anywhere. Then we make certain spaces 437 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:02,760 sacred in certain environments and certain moods you have to 438 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,480 recreate. And again, I want to experience 439 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:09,480 it just as much as David does in Psalm 139, and I believe I will, 440 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,200 but it's not it. The order matters. 441 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,960 We can't relegate His presence to our experience of His 442 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,200 presence. He is omnipresent and He wants 443 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:25,240 you to experience that. OK, let's talk about the effect 444 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:30,720 that God's presence has on us. Again verse 24, that's what he 445 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:33,520 said or what the text said it said. 446 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,440 And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said I am the God 447 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:40,960 of Abraham your father fear not for I'm with you and will bless 448 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,800 you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake. 449 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:49,360 Somebody say fear not y'all like us. 450 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:53,560 Isaac's main problem was fear. The first time he didn't say 451 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,640 fear not. He just said don't go down to 452 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:58,960 Egypt. I mean it was implied right? 453 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,200 Like hey act this way in light of my presence. 454 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,560 This time God had to say fear not. 455 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:08,760 OK, I've heard it said there are 366 forms of do not fear in the 456 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:09,880 Bible. OK? 457 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,480 The way it was explained to me is that's one for every day of 458 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:14,920 the year and one for when you're extra afraid. 459 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:17,920 OK, the basic idea is you always afraid. 460 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:21,280 We are so living in survival, so afraid. 461 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:24,880 The first 3 instances of Fear Not in the Bible are first to 462 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:30,040 Abraham in chapter 14 to Hagar chapter 21, and then here to 463 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:36,200 Isaac in chapter 26. God says fear not and I highly 464 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,040 encourage you if you did not listen to Pastor John's sermon 465 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:41,560 on Hagar last year, go check that out Y'all. 466 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:44,840 This is this is an example of God's omnipresence in a really 467 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:47,000 hard situation. I would encourage you to go go 468 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,280 listen to that sermon. So y'all, he comes to Isaac and 469 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:52,920 he's reassuring him after he walked in some fear and he's 470 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:56,360 saying, Hey, fear not, I am with you. 471 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:01,080 Yo, God's omnipresence can become the basis of your life. 472 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:05,080 You can build your life on this. He's basically saying, let's try 473 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:09,040 this again, buddy, I told you once now let's, let's let's live 474 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:11,040 like what I'm saying is true, right? 475 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:14,840 Fear not like let's, let's, let's do this y'all. 476 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:18,360 The omnipresence of God can make every moment matter because God 477 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:20,720 is there. It can make everything you do be 478 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:24,000 filled with purpose. And we can trust God in a broken 479 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,800 world because y'all, the reality is this world is broken. 480 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:32,560 And at some level fear is logical because it is not as it 481 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:34,800 should be. Things go wrong, bad things 482 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:38,960 happen. So God's command of fear not is 483 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:42,480 not a demand. You are broken because you're 484 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:44,680 fearing. It's an invitation in your fear 485 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:46,280 to come to him. Are y'all with that? 486 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:49,360 I've heard it said recently that we live in a love story but we 487 00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:53,240 live in a savage land. So God is after you seeking you 488 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,280 down to his love. But it is like a war-torn 489 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:58,920 environment we're in. Even though it looks comfortable 490 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,920 and has lots of technology like it is a busted place. 491 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,480 It is a broken place in need of redemption. 492 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:07,680 So when fear feels logical, don't hear God saying you better 493 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:11,160 stop fearing, hear God inviting you a new way. 494 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:15,400 Hey, you're afraid, come to me Psalm 56 When I am afraid, I put 495 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:18,360 my trust in you and God whose word I praise, I shall not be 496 00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:19,920 afraid. What can man do to me? 497 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:22,920 Because I know how y'all handle fear right now because you do it 498 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:27,680 like I do it. Which is we, we suppress fearful 499 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,680 thought, shoot it down, OK in our flesh. 500 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:33,080 The best we can do is suppress that it that is the best we 501 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:34,840 could do. And you know what neuroscience 502 00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:38,800 is showing us it don't work. You know, I love neuroscience 503 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:40,600 because what it does is just tell us things we already knew. 504 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:42,560 And it just gives us great language for it. 505 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:45,760 OK, It's very helpful. What what what is basically 506 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:49,680 showing us what we do is your brain is told what to look for, 507 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:51,800 to suppress. And it gets a basically think 508 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:54,000 like a bodyguard standing around waiting for it. 509 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:57,240 And it creates a hyper vigilance within yourself that you're now 510 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:02,160 looking for the thing that you're not supposed to do in 511 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:05,280 that vigilance, brings it back up so it can shoot it. 512 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:08,960 Are you tracking with me? So it's like your brain is wired 513 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:11,560 more into the thing you're trying to suppress, if that 514 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:13,560 makes sense. And that's why we keep thinking 515 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:15,080 about it. So if you fear that conversation 516 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:17,960 with your boss or with your parent or whatever it is that's 517 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:21,400 coming, it ain't going away just by you even. 518 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:25,440 Here's what's crazy, reciting a verse just because it's a verse 519 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:29,160 doesn't just give you extra suppressed power. 520 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:32,760 And the goal of the verse isn't to give you more suppressed 521 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:36,080 power. The goal of truth in the midst 522 00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:39,200 of fear is presence, not suppression. 523 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:42,520 Presence is the goal, not suppression. 524 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:46,480 When your kid is afraid, logic does not help them. 525 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:48,440 You know this parent well. Don't worry. 526 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:51,600 You'll be fine. Oh, thanks. 527 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:53,600 That's good. Don't worry. 528 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,240 Got it, yo, what we need is presents. 529 00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:00,200 So even behind the words do not fear or Philippians 46 don't be 530 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:05,160 anxious about anything is not a suppression memory tactic. 531 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:11,840 It is a presence invitation. So what we do is we face our 532 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:13,280 fear with God. That's what we do. 533 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:17,480 We go into it with God. His presence re narrates the 534 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:18,680 moment. That's what it does. 535 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:22,000 This situation hasn't changed. Your awareness of His nearness 536 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,560 has. He feels closer, therefore you 537 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:26,520 feel stronger. Does that make sense? 538 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:28,320 We can face it now because he's with me. 539 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:31,680 Notice in the Bible when people are afraid, God reassures them 540 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,440 and says, now go do it. Moses says, I can't go there. 541 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:35,880 I can't talk to him. I can't speak. 542 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,880 And he goes, here's Aaron, now go Abraham. 543 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:41,320 I can't do it. I don't even have a kid here. 544 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:43,200 She's it's going to be 25 years. She's barren. 545 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:45,320 Now let's go. Jeremiah, I'm too young. 546 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:47,520 I can't go. Ain't nobody going to touch you. 547 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:49,160 You're going to be an impenetrable wall. 548 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:53,280 Now get up and let's go. He never says, oh, you're right, 549 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:57,760 let's change the circumstance. He reassures them of who he is 550 00:29:57,760 --> 00:29:59,920 and what that makes them. He says, now let's go. 551 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:04,720 So how do we respond to God's presence? 552 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:10,560 Verse 24 What Isaac does is he builds an altar. 553 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:12,480 I'm sorry. Verse 25 So he built an altar 554 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,240 there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent 555 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:17,200 there. And there Isaac's servants dug a 556 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:19,720 well. Y'all, Isaac built an altar. 557 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:23,280 Worship is a response to what God has done. 558 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:27,320 Worship does not conjure more of God's activity, it responds to 559 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,720 God's activity. True worship isn't to get God to 560 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:33,120 do something, it's a response to what He's done. 561 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:37,040 We don't come here and worship God to get Him to bless us. 562 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,280 We come and worship Him because he has blessed us, because in 563 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:42,680 Christ he has given us everything. 564 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,960 So worship is not a responsive duty from those who tolerate 565 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:49,560 God. It is a spontaneous booming of 566 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:51,440 those who love God. That makes sense. 567 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:54,160 Worship is a response to what God has done. 568 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:58,400 And notice he built an altar, so he probably got a thousands year 569 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:00,760 old version of a hammer and something in rocks and he was 570 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:03,800 doing his thing. We live in a day and age where 571 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:06,120 we know that Christ indwells us by the Spirit. 572 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:10,560 You are the temple believer. God does not live in places 573 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:12,560 built by hands. He is omnipresent. 574 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:16,160 He has chosen to manifest His presence through those who have 575 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:20,560 the Spirit indwelling them. So that's an amazing thing. 576 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:22,720 We don't have to go anywhere if we want to find the Lord. 577 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:25,600 The path is repentance, not walking. 578 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:28,440 Are you with me like the path is trust and faith? 579 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:31,440 However, your body still matters. 580 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:37,760 Somebody say my body matters. You are an embodied being, so 581 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:41,520 your body needs to believe God's omnipresence. 582 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:45,120 Are you with me? There's 1 practical way this 583 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,840 week Challenge for you. Every single day this week, I 584 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,720 want the first thing we do. Wake up and bow. 585 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:55,760 Wake up and bow. As comfortable as your body will 586 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:59,000 let you do that. Get on your knees, which you'll 587 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:01,600 face to the ground. Recite the Lord's Prayer. 588 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:05,600 You need your body to believe in God's omnipresence. 589 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:09,080 Wake up on your knees and say God, you are God and I'm not. 590 00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,600 I think that's that's one thing from this text that we sometimes 591 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:16,600 can miss in our modernity. What a gift it is that the 592 00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:20,480 Spirit indwells us. But there's so many practices in 593 00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:24,600 the Bible that are assumed corporate embody things that we 594 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:26,120 need. So I'll give you that one. 595 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:28,400 Get on your knees first thing every day this week. 596 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:35,000 Our bodies need omnipresent belief #2 Isaac called on the 597 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:37,720 name of the Lord. Y'all calling on the name of the 598 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:40,720 Lord just means in our vernacular prayer. 599 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:45,720 It is trust filled prayer. Prayer is how you vocalize 600 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:49,000 trust. Prayer is not a wish to a genie 601 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:52,280 somewhere. It is the vocalization of trust 602 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:55,400 based on who you know God to be, right? 603 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:57,840 Like my kids don't ask me things they don't think they'll get. 604 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:00,840 They keep pleading for things they know have the power to give 605 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:02,760 them. They're not like, take me to 606 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,320 Montana, you know, I'm like, get out of here, man. 607 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:08,720 Like put on the game, you know? Put it on, put it on. 608 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:10,280 It's within your power and you love me. 609 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,960 You will do it. So prayer is calling upon the 610 00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:16,440 name of the Lord. It is vocalizing our trust. 611 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:19,720 As the book of Hebrews tells us, when you know Jesus, you're 612 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:21,800 sprinkled by his blood. You're cleansed. 613 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,240 What it does is increase your confidence in nearness and 614 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:27,760 intimacy with God. You move closer to God. 615 00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:30,520 As you know Jesus, you're more aware of your sin, but you get 616 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:33,600 closer to him and you're more aware of your need for Him. 617 00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:36,120 So guess what happens? The better you think God is and 618 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:39,160 the more needy you are, the bigger the gap is that you think 619 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:41,840 He can fill. I'm more aware of my need and 620 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:44,280 more aware of your goodness. That's growth and maturity in 621 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:46,320 Christ. And then you ask and you call, 622 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:48,760 and you call, and you call upon the name of the Lord. 623 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:51,320 Another application. Pray out loud more. 624 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,760 Pray out loud more. You'll feel a little silly 625 00:33:55,760 --> 00:34:00,520 because you need embodied belief that God hears you. 626 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:05,040 You need embodied belief. Not just mentally praying, but 627 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:08,000 say them out loud. Read scripture even in your time 628 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:09,480 in the morning, read it out loud. 629 00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:14,960 So bow, pray out loud more. Call upon His name, y'all. 630 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:18,760 Some of y'all today are afraid. I got things I'm afraid of. 631 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:23,360 While in some of you God is inviting you through those 632 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:26,639 circumstances to trust Him for the first time, to call upon His 633 00:34:26,639 --> 00:34:30,520 name in repentance and faith. To trust Him to turn from your 634 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:35,920 sin, to agree with God that you are a Sinner, that you've been 635 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:38,080 in rebellion, and that you need to follow Him. 636 00:34:38,679 --> 00:34:41,560 If that is you, I invite you to call upon His name for the first 637 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:43,840 time and trust, knowing God, this is who you are. 638 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:45,920 I am not worthy, but you have saved me. 639 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:48,120 You've done it. This is the cross I'm in. 640 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:49,440 I believe it. I'm sorry. 641 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:50,800 Forgive me. You've done it all. 642 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:53,440 I trust you. And if that's you, we want to 643 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:54,800 hear from you. We want to talk to you. 644 00:34:55,639 --> 00:34:59,600 For others of us who follow Jesus, y'all fear can be just 645 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:01,240 such an accepted part of our lives. 646 00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:05,040 Fear has helped you survive, but it's not going to help you 647 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:06,520 thrive. That's the truth. 648 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:09,920 What's helped you survive in the past will not help you thrive in 649 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:12,320 the future. So part of your future is 650 00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:15,840 learning to embody the presence of God and trust and believe it 651 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:17,520 in such a way that it shapes how you live. 652 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:19,640 I was reminded this week of the story. 653 00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:22,520 We've got this book in the back called The Insanity of God. 654 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:24,760 There's a story in there about a dude named Dimitri. 655 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:28,360 OK, this story took place and I'm, I'm, I'm doing a Tanner 656 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:31,760 summarization here of this story, but go check out that 657 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:32,960 book and read it. It's amazing. 658 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:37,040 Y'all back in the Communist Russia, back in the day, they 659 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:39,960 were snuffing out pastors in this particular region. 660 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:42,600 Anybody teaching about Jesus who had public ministry, where 661 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:44,920 people were gathering in any way, they were catching them and 662 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:46,320 saying, you got to stop this now. 663 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:50,040 OK, So they were monitoring Dimitri and eventually they find 664 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:51,920 this guy and they're like, you got to be quiet. 665 00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:54,200 He says, I'm not going to be quiet. 666 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:56,400 So they come back one day, they grab them, they take him to 667 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:59,840 prison, OK? He ends up spending 17 years in 668 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:03,120 jail for loving the Lord and teaching the word. 669 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:06,120 He wasn't even like a trained pastor or something like that. 670 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:09,440 He literally just was like a Bible reading loving person and 671 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:12,240 they were like, you're a leader, get them, you know, they grab 672 00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:15,160 him and take him to jail. Well, Dimitri goes to jail and 673 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:18,320 every day he started his day, he would wake up, he would turn his 674 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:20,520 body towards the east and he would sing. 675 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:23,880 He would write down every verse he knew on a piece of paper that 676 00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:25,920 he could find and he would sing out loud. 677 00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:29,440 There's 1500 other prisoners present and day after day 678 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:31,840 they're mocking him. The guards are mocking him, 679 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:34,360 they're beating him, asking him, just sign the document and you 680 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:37,040 get to go see your kids and your wife begging and pleading, 681 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:38,920 begging, pleading. Just sign the document that you 682 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:41,600 won't talk about this Lord no more recant that you follow him 683 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:44,440 and all will be well. Day after day after day he 684 00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:48,320 stands, sings, worships vows. Day after day after day. 685 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:50,920 Years are going by. So finally, like we got to get 686 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:53,360 to this dude. So they make up a lie, they go 687 00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:55,440 in and they pull them out one day and they say, hey, we just 688 00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:57,160 want you to know we just went back to your house. 689 00:36:57,160 --> 00:36:59,640 We roughed up your family. They're gone. 690 00:36:59,920 --> 00:37:01,920 It's over. You ain't even waiting on 691 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:03,640 nothing no more. So you can stay here as long as 692 00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:05,840 you want. So he's broken. 693 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,120 He's just like, man, what's the point? 694 00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:13,640 He's weeping. He goes to bed, he's like, y'all 695 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:14,880 bring it back tomorrow, I'll sign it. 696 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:21,680 He's like he's lost hope in the night, the Lord as he's just 697 00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:26,080 weeping and like praying the Lord audibly lets him hear his 698 00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:29,840 family praying for him like they he hears his kids and his wife 699 00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:33,160 praying for him and he immediately knows a they're 700 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:34,520 still alive and they still love Jesus. 701 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:36,640 They were lying to me. They come back into the cell the 702 00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:39,000 next morning. He's he's, he went from laying 703 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,480 down crying to like, I ain't signing nothing. 704 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:43,520 They're like what you mean? He said, I know they're alive. 705 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:45,760 I know you lied to me. I know they're still there and I 706 00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:49,000 know they still love Jesus. And literally they were just 707 00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:52,560 like, who are you, man? Like, how what is going on? 708 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:54,920 OK, They get so fed up with Dimitri. 709 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:55,800 They're like, all right, that's it. 710 00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:58,120 Then what we're going to do is we're just going to kill you. 711 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:00,360 So they drag him out of the prison cell. 712 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:04,320 And as they drag him out, the next thing that happens blew 713 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:07,080 Nick Rifkin, who wrote this story down after hearing it from 714 00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:11,120 Dimitri. All the prisoners in unison at 715 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:13,280 their they're hearing that they're doing this to this guy 716 00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:14,760 who they've been mocking for years. 717 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:17,960 They all stand up and in unison turn their bodies towards the 718 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:20,080 east and start singing the song he is saying every day. 719 00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:22,960 And the guards were just freaked out. 720 00:38:23,720 --> 00:38:26,320 There's like, this is crazy. Like this is wild. 721 00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:28,880 They just let him go. He goes back to a cell and 722 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:32,840 within a not too long amount of time they let him go home. 723 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:37,040 I read recently an update that his son went and served at that 724 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:38,800 jail. Like his job is to work at that 725 00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:40,720 jail where his dad was held for a long time. 726 00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:43,200 Y'all, why do I tell you that story? 727 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:49,560 We can trust the Lord. He knows when we need a really 728 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:53,320 embodied, manifest experience of His nearness. 729 00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:57,000 We can trust Him. There are some long, hard, dark 730 00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:00,040 days, but we can trust Him. The Lord knows what you need and 731 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:03,600 when you worship in a way that nobody can deny, trusting His 732 00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:05,920 omnipresence. That He was with me every day. 733 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:08,400 I stood and said those things. He was with me every day. 734 00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:13,360 I sang those songs when we let that truth shape our life, When 735 00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:15,840 who God is dictates my circumstances and my 736 00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:18,160 circumstances don't dictate who I think God is. 737 00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:22,920 When we get the order right, y'all other people will notice, 738 00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:26,240 they will see and things will change. 739 00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:32,160 Shadow of the Almighty before me and behind me. 740 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:35,000 Whom shall I fear? I know who goes before me. 741 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:38,120 I know who stands behind. The God of Angel armies is 742 00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:40,480 always by my side. The one who reigns forever. 743 00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:43,280 He is a friend of mine. The God of Angel armies is 744 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:45,120 always by my side. Let's pray. 745 00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:49,840 Our Father, we love you, God, We declare that you are here. 746 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:53,400 God, you are omnipresent. You're always. 747 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:57,240 No matter what happens this week, you are there and God, You 748 00:39:57,240 --> 00:39:59,280 are with some of us, You are with us. 749 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:02,600 You are with those who know you through Christ by the Spirit 750 00:40:02,960 --> 00:40:06,600 God, I pray for those of us who are not in relationship with you 751 00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:09,960 today that your omnipresence would make them. 752 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:12,800 Think about their life. Think about their their need for 753 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:14,880 a Savior. Think about their desire to know 754 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:17,440 you. And God, for those of us who are 755 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,640 in fellowship with you, may we trust you, may we obey you love 756 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:23,240 our neighbor. And God give us a Psalm 139 757 00:40:23,240 --> 00:40:24,840 experience. Let us be able to set you, him, 758 00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:27,680 me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon us. 759 00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:30,440 God bless this church. Fill us with the Holy Spirit. 760 00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:32,080 We pray in Jesus name, Amen.