On Saturday the 23rd the omer ended. Today is Shavuot, the day of Pentecost.
Two thousand years ago a small group of men & women who
had studied under an unknown rabbi waited in prayer in an upper room in
Jerusalem. They had been waiting for some time, about ten days if we take Acts
literally, because Jesus was with them for 40 days before returning to the
father. They were waiting in obedience to Jesus instruction to not leave
Jerusalem until the Father sent the Gift He had promised. [Acts1:4] That gift was the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit. It was a gift that shook the
nations & changed the world as the disciples knew it.
The Holy Spirit was given on Shavuot, a festival which
celebrates the giving of the Law on Mt Sinai & ends the festival of First
Fruits with the wheat harvest. We have seen that Jesus is the Living Word of
God & as such becomes the Living Law.
We understand that the word Torah, which we translate as Law, would be
better rendered Instruction. Thus Christ was the living instruction that
showed us how to walk with God.
He
is also the first fruits of the resurrection: 1 Cor 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that
slept.
Now
this is a Holy Spirit Church. We believe
implicitly in the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the empowering of the Holy
Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including speaking in tongues, the living
presence of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Without Him we have religion but no life.
Over
the past few weeks we have looked at different aspects of the Holy Spirit, His
work & attributes. Today I want to
explore with you the heart of God for greater & greater intimacy with those
who are called by His name.
We
are going to start in Exodus 20:18~21 When
the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram's horn, and when
they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain,
they stood at a distance, trembling with fear. And they said to Moses,
"You speak to us, and we will listen.
But don't let God speak directly to us, or we will die!" "Don't be
afraid," Moses answered them, "for God has come in this way to test
you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!" As the
people stood in the distance, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.
Twice
in this passage the word *fear* is used.
The Hebrew is yirat. Yirat
has a variety of meanings & 3 different levels of meaning. It can mean wonder, amazement, reverence,
worship, awe, mystery, astonishment. In its deepest sense it can mean to see
something as it really is. When we are
talking of God it means to really see God for who He is.
At
its most basic yirat refers to the fear
of consequences. This is perhaps the
most common way westerners would view this word. The 2nd type of yirat concerns anxiety about breaking
God’s law. The 3rd type is
the reverence that comes from rightly seeing the presence of God in His whole
creation, beholding His glory & majesty in all things.
We
see all 3 types of yirat at work in
this passage but note something ~ perhaps the greatest indictment ever uttered
of the Israelites in the Old Testament: God has manifested Himself. He wants to speak to His chosen people &
what do they do? They draw back!
Why? Because they were conscious of their
unholiness, their lack of righteousness.
They did not rightly understand or know the heart of God & so they
were unable to approach Him. Moses
however drew near & entered the dark cloud where God was.
Remember
when we quoted James last week from chapter 4:8~9…& it says Cleanse your hands you sinners ; &
purify your hearts, you double minded… It is talking to believers, not
unbelievers. The word for sinner is harmatolos, literally one who misses the
mark. If our thinking about God is wrong
our whole theology will be askew & we will quite literally miss the mark.
Moses
however drew near. He had cultivated a
heart for God. Proverbs 4:23 says to Guard your heart above all
else, for it determines the course of your life. We guard what we value.
Here
is the first key. So many Christians do not
guard, treasure, protect what Christ died to acquire for us. We accept it far too casually, almost as if
it were our right. We come to church if we feel like it, having been up too
late the night before, our hearts unprepared for worship, our minds distracted
& then wonder why we have so little of God’s presence.
In
many synagogues, inscribed over the Ark, are the
words, Da Lifnei Mi Attah Omed, “Know
Before Whom You Stand”. Do you know before whom you stand?
Again & again we see in
scripture God coming in his glory. The
Hebrew word kabowd means the weight
of splendour, abundance, honour… In Exodus 33 Moses asks God to show him His
glory & God replies that He will…Make
my goodness pass before you… Tuwh, goodness, implies that nothing is being
withheld.
It is very easy to acquire a
distorted image of the Lord & remake Him into what we consider is more
acceptable. Sometimes we do it
through ignorance. Sometimes by
attempting to reach others by watering down the truth & some do it quite
deliberately.
Now we want to see God’s tuwh
in operation. It implies that His
presence has manifested & where His presence is there is the glory of the
Lord. So we need to guard our hearts
& develop a correct understanding of who God is.
I am not going to go into
great depth. I am merely going to touch
on those things that can hinder a greater understanding of who God really is.
· A religious spirit. There is no true freedom in religiosity.
Religion always manifests in rules & regulations & they cannot save
anyone.
· Thinking we can change His rules to suit
ourselves ~ especially when it comes to worship. We are to worship Him in Spirit & in
Truth. It does not matter what men have
decreed in the matter of a church service.
What matters is what God deems acceptable & much of what passes for
church has never been ordained of God.
· Thinking you’re being obedient when you’re
not. This happens when people step out
of the place ordained for them & try to take a place not meant for them. It can look good. Their motive can seem good but if it is not
God’s will if will never be blessed.
· An idolatrous heart. We are not to covet anything. It steals our peace, makes us dissatisfied,
makes us discontent with what God has supplied. Just look at the story of
Israel!
· Drawn away by our own desires [James 1:14] According
to Ezekiel 14:4&5 we can become estranged from God by our idols.
· The worst scenario is to get what we have
coveted. Israel wanted a king so God
gave them one. They were taxed, lost
their sons & daughters & eventually were led into captivity by their
kings.
·
I remember
the first time I heard the following story because it struck a chord. A visitor attended a Quaker meeting for
worship, ignorant of the fact Quaker worship is traditionally silent. After enduring the silence for some time he
turned to his elderly
neighbour
& enquired: When does the service
begin? After some thought the Quaker replied, The Service begins when worship ends.
Here is the
core. In the west we tend to
compartmentalise our lives. You know:
work, home, family, church… we do not think holistically but God does think
holistically. Our entire being is to be
consecrated to the Lord. True worship is how we live our lives & our lives
are to be one of self~sacrifice & dedication.
If you are
like me you have no idea of whereabouts in the bible the term worship is first
used. It is Genesis 22:5
"Stay here with
the donkey," Abraham told the servants. "The boy and I will travel a
little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back."
Yep, when Abraham sets out to sacrifice his son.
I have gone this circuitous route to point out that The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously…
James 4:5 Love of God is the first commandment but how can we love Him whom we
do not know?
Everything we have discussed over the previous weeks about
partnership, fellowship, communion with the Holy Spirit is to bring us to that
place where the presence of God can manifest in our lives & His glory
engulf us!
According to the amount we honour & reverence the Lord
our God will be unto us the glory of His presence. It is not in the music. It is not in our prayers. It is evidenced in our obedience. It is not about what we can get from God~
health, wealth & happiness ~ but about aligning ourselves with His known
& revealed will & doing what
He says. We do not want to be a people
who worship the Lord with our lips only while our hearts are far from Him.
Matthew 15:8 Rather we want our hearts of stone replaced with hearts of flesh,
tender & sensitive to the whispered seeking of the Holy Spirit. It is as we lose ourselves for His kingdom’s
sake that we enter most truly, most deeply into the inner sanctum, the Holy of
Holies, the very presence of God wherein no man can stand & the weight of
His Glory falls.
Acknowledgements: I am grateful for the insights of John Bevere for some of this sermon.
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