Carrying the Presence of God
16 November 2014
1. Introduction
· 1 Pet.2:5 “You also as living stones are being built up into a spiritual home, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
· Bible uses picture language to describe our identity – spiritual house, holy priesthood, royal priest.
· Royal Priesthood; Rev.5:10 Kings and Priests – God has made us!
· 2 Cor. 2:14 “Now thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus and make manifest the savour of His Knowledge by us in every place.”
(i) Always causes us to triumph = King: ruling, having dominion in every place.
(ii) Manifest the savour of Christ = Priest: carry the presence of God into every place.
Role of Priest in the Old Testament
(i) Offer up sacrifices to God
(ii) Carry the ark of the Covenant – presence of God
2. What is the Ark?
Heb. 9:2-5 “…the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold in which were the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant, above it were the cherubim of glory over-shadowing the mercy seat.”
Exodus 25:10 – 22 The ark of the covenant = the place of meeting with God.
· v22 I will meet with you and commune with you.
· The ark of the Covenant was a type (symbol) of Jesus Christ
e.g. Wooden box overlaid with Gold – Jesus human and divine nature
Mercy seat – Rom.3:25 – Jesus: God set forth us our mercy seat
Pot of Manna – Jn.6:32 – Jesus: I am the bread of life
Tablets of Covenant – Jn.1:14 – Jesus: the Word made flesh
Aaron’s rod – Rom.1:4 – Jesus: Declared to be the Son of God by
Resurrection
· Ark was the meeting place with God.
Meet =H3259= to meet at a stated time, engage for mornings, make an appointment.
· Ark is the place of meeting and experiencing God = presence and reality of God manifest.
3. Priests carried the Ark (Josh.3:6-17)
· 1 Chron. 13:7-10 “They carried the ark of the Covenant on a new cart” = Uzza died.
1 Chron.15:13-15 Proper order – the children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders.
· “Shoulders” = this is the responsibility of the priests to carry the ark – presence of God.
· “Priests” = this was a team effort, walking in unity with other priests.
· “New Cart” = there is no substitute for doing this God’s way – protocol of heaven.
· As priests we are called to carry the presence of God into the community.
· You can only carry unto the world what you experience in private with God.
· God’s plan – a royal priesthood offering up spiritual sacrifices – carrying his presence into the community and making Christ known.
· This is more than one person – it is a body of people in unity.
4. How can I experience the Presence of God
· Lev.16:11-14 Blood – incense – fire
· There were three requirements of the priest to enter and experience an encounter with God.
· (i) Blood shed: Symbolic of the blood of Christ shed for us on the Cross.
· We come into the presence of God by applying the blood to our sins and failures by faith.
· Sin separates us, makes us insensitive to God. God’s remedy is to repent and confess and believe that blood of Christ enables us free access without condemnation.
(ii) v12 Hands full of incense: Symbolic of thanksgiving and praise (Rev.8:4/Ps.100)
· We come into God’s presence with thanksgiving and praise.
· Hands full = abundance of gratitude and praise – this is our spiritual sacrifice.
(iii) V12 Censer full of burning coals of fire: = Holy Spirit ignites our heart with passion.
· Holy Spirit’s role is to help us in prayer e.g. gift of tongues and to reveal Christ.
· Depend on the Holy Spirit to ignite our heart with passion and reveal reality of Jesus.
· Simple process to step into and experience God
(i) Confess sin and apply the Blood (ii) Thanksgiving and praise (tongues) (iii) meditate in faith.
5. How to Manifest the Presence of God
(a) There are realms of God’s Manifest Presence
· God is present everywhere – we are always joined spirit to spirit.
· We need to become conscious/aware of His presence – many levels are possible.
· E.g. (i)Peace - Rom.15:33 (vi) Closed eye visions - Dan 7:1
(ii) Love - Eph.3:19 (vii) Open visions - Act 10:10; Rev.4
(iii) Joy - Ps.16:11 (viii) Unable to stand - 2 Chron.5:14
(iv) Visible awareness - Act8:9 (ix) Caught up in heaven - 2 Cor.12:3
(v) Hear his voice - Act8:29 (x) Visions and dreams - Acts 2
(b) How to Release the Presence of God to Others
Eph. 5:2 “Walk in Love as Christ loved us.”
(i) Practice loving people from the heart – kindness, words, actions (Rom.5:5)
(ii) Minister gifts of the Spirit to people.
(iii) Testify about Jesus.
(iv) Invite the Holy Spirit to come into situations.
(v) Stay sensitive to the Holy Spirit – quickly resolve sin
Avoid grieving the holy spirit
Prayer and fasting
(vi) Exercise dominion in prayer.