Download... January 31, 2010. Sunday Morning Service. Bro. Dave Goble.
Genesis 3:9-13
09 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Most of us like to know that God is near and adds context and meaning to our lives. There is so much today that The True God will not be a part of, and yet some that He will. For all of us, it is a choice of what we allow that dictates whether or not we have His presence or not.
Parents, Adults, children and all of society,we have a seed of faith in each of us that either is being nurtured or ignored which in turns effects that growth or destruction of faith within, and or in others. In a worship service of Truth, truly God is there, yet many other activities God is absent from. It is so prevalent in society of the absence of faith based pursuits, that one must search and nurture evidences of it, to actively encourage it. So prevalent in our day and time where God is absent from all that is "going on" around,the lives of many all around. He (The one True God) is there, but not a partaker of those fleshly pursuits. This is a time when The True God is "excused" and not sought. There are many "gods" of this world,which on the other hand are a part of the fleshly activities all around us.
Genesis 3:9-13 God still dealt with Adam and Eve after they chose to disobey Him
Genesis 18:9-15 Sarah showed her defensiveness by her unbelief,yet God still fulfilled His promise to her.
John 20:26-28 Thomas received Christ compassionate exhortation, in spite of his unbelief or doubts.
The presence of God strips away all of our pretenses and defenses. Sarah's pretense of denial in laughing was stripped away, in her defense. You cannot pretend,... you cannot make believe, in The Presence of God. Thomas could no longer defend his unbelief when Jesus appeared with His wounds for Thomas to actually see, and touch. We also need to be completely exposed to God's Presence. When The Presence of God is revealed, He strips away all the unbelief and defenses of pretense. We need the desire to be Completely exposed by His Presence. To be in the Presence of God, prohibits dishonesty. This was backed up personally for Pastor Goble in his younger years in a foreign place, when God convicted his soul for something that he had not had any teaching against. Again, God's Presence prohibits dishonesty.
We see all around us in society, the absence of God because people are sweeping aside the value that encourage God's Presence. It has become a debate and a false and scary one at that. This secular battle was once and sometimes still known as "Humanism." Today the saying isn't that God is dead but that He is irrelevant. To make God irrelevant is today's society agenda. Too often church has become society and society has become church. Consequently values have been removed, so then God becomes absent in the dishonesty. Yet, The Presence of God Will promote honesty in your hearts.
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For many,.. we either choose to, or are unable in our own mind to allow The real Presence of The True God in our hearts. Many seem unable to choose to accept God's presence because of a "wall of self" that keeps God's presence out, as a reality in our hearts. This is often for the fleshly reasons, sown such as mistrust, unbelief, arrogance, pressures, lack of understanding, rebellion,etc. These are a few "weeds" or destroyers of faith, in the ground plots of our hearts.
If you allow that mustard seed of faith to remain In your heart "ground plots", God will then cause you to find His presence. If kindness is sown, you can have long-suffering for some one's lack in disability, etc. Conversely. (sometimes deliberately) mistrust, selfishness, arrogance also grows as weeds that will bring and cultivate the absence of God's presence. It is what removes that seed of faith, whether by deliberateness or ignorance. If one will only Not cast out that seed of faith, it will at sometime, bring the hope of The Presence of The True God.
A pine cone is a good nature illustration as it's seeds may lay dormant for decades, until eventually a fire will cause them to open and germinate again the ground with new trees. Similarly we should also realize not to judge a book by it's cover in a person. If we allow the seeds of faith to remain in a seemingly faithless person by our compassion, they have more hope again in returning to a now germinating seed of faith in their hearts. Spend time "reading" the pages of a soul's life to encourage that seed of faith somewhere inside.
Preserve the very Presence of The True God, by the very presence of Faith. Years later that faith will germinate!
Ephesians 4:30-32
30: And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31: Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
You do not have to be bitter, etc. Allow the seeds of faith given by God to be preserved and to germinate in your heart! Unfortunately too many because of pride do not want anyone to know what their hearts have in them. So they "pretend" and display the fruits of The Absence of The True God. One must not grieve the Holy Spirit!
Romans 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.
Luke 11:45-54 The Pharisees had a "do as I say and not as I do philosophy. They were motivated by control and pride. Jesus accused, admonished and condemned them that constructed "pathways" in the mind making it hard for souls to have faith to find God's presence. Head knowledge is not always heart knowledge! We can hinder others from getting close to God. We need this admonition to help and not obstruct souls from the very Presence of God. He will always provide a way, but we must not hinder that benevolence with our actions and words.
Matthew 27:3-5 Judas illustrated how the unnecessary absence of God results in death. Only one pathway to God and it is our job to seek it. Generally, when you get to a place, you choose to go there. Good intentions are not sufficient, you must construct a pathway that brings you into the Presence of the True God. God will help us to be good "pathway" builders, so others can find God's Presence.
Luke 15:13-16 A good biblical illustration of how the seed left dormant by love resulted in a return to life in the Father. Without that "germination" there would have been no hope.
The absence of God is well illustrated in the account of Sodom and Gomorrah when the door of Lot's home became invisible because of the men's extreme wickedness.
Genesis 11:1-9 Arrogance is the absence of God which is well illustrated in the biblical account of the tower of Babel. Again also in the account of Sodom and Gomorrah we read (Genesis 19:1-11) of the great wickedness driving those men away (blinded) from God's Presence. God is not dead, but they do not think they need God anymore. In our current society, consider it the same as in our Court and government systems,.. God is considered essentially illegal. They use God only for their political purposes. The absence of God is deceitful. The gospel is our only true escape from the Absence of God. Help only comes from The Presence of The True God, His people, and their love.
