We are going to talk about the face of God. We
only have two left, by the way, and then an overview.
So in less than a month, we will be done with
this series. And very soon, we're changing our
structure a little bit up in the room anyway.
So I'm excited about that. So let's pray together,
and then we'll... Let us seek the face of God
in prayer, shall we? Father in heaven, first
of all, we want to praise you. There would be
no words, there is no list, no poetry, no song.
that gets the job done. You are an amazing God,
and we praise you for all that you are that we
don't even know. We surrender to you in praise.
At the same time, Lord, we confess to you that
you have worked plans, even in our midst, right
in front of our faces, steering us in the right
direction that we did not understand, and at
times we can now see we even worked against you.
Forgive us for that. Thank you for sending your
son Jesus to pay that price. Set us on the right
course. Thank you for letting us be here in this
place. And even for this material that we've
been going through. Looking at the anthropomorphic
words for God. Each one speaks to us. And it's
kind of like studying the whole Bible in little
bits. And we're grateful. I ask you to watch
over us during this time. The kids as they play.
Have fun. Learn Bible verses. The youth as they
serve. The adults as they serve. Lord, we got
big things on the horizon. We got Back to School
Bash on Saturday. It's going to be a busy day.
We got a lot of promotion between now and then.
And I pray that there will be hundreds come.
I pray that there will be any number, dozens
saved. Lord, that your will be done. That people
would be saved here on the earth. As we look
forward to Surf Tour, that's looking incredible.
Looking like there's going to be some awesome
things happening in that couple of days. And
I pray that there will be people getting saved
all over Toledo. Perrysburg, Maumee, Bowling
Green, Florida, everywhere in this area that
people hear the gospel and get saved. We know
that a rising tide raises all boats is a very
real thing. The kingdom needs your lifting. And
we submit it to you to do what we cannot and
then use us to do whatever you would. And we
pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right.
So I prayed about. Back School Bash, don't forget
that's Saturday. Also, Surf Tour is just over
a month away. So that's going to be exciting.
So the face of God, again, occurs all throughout
Scripture. We've got a lot of that. Remember
that we're looking at these anthropomorphisms
of God because we realize God is spirit. Not
physical. So God does not literally have a face
like you or I have a face. Could he if he wants
to? Sure. Has he at times? Probably. But these
phrases where it says the face of the Lord teach
us important things about God. To seek God's
face, then, is to seek him personally. So, for
example, I talk to you on the phone or if I write
you a letter or send you a text. we know inherently
that that is not as personal as being together.
So we can talk over the phone about cooking chili
together, but until we cook chili together, that
presence, that experience of being together is
missed. So to seek God's face is to seek him
personally, to be with him in his presence, to
know him personally. To have God's face shine
upon someone is to receive his favor. And the
scripture talks about that. To have God hide
his face is to experience the withdrawal of God's
fellowship and blessings. When God pulls back
his face or when our sin creates a barrier between
us and him, it's like he's behind a curtain.
Right. And you cannot have that personal experience
with him. So the face of God communicates at
least four great truths. And these go in that
first box. First box. Number one, God desires
fellowship. with his people and i would even
go say you can take out the his if you want and
just put with people because even those people
that god does not have fellowship with in any
way shape or form yet god desires fellowship
hence the call to evangelism right so god desires
fellowship with his people or with people god
blesses those who walk with him so Time and time
again, we see in Scripture that those who choose
to be on God's side, doing what it is that God
would have them to do, going God's way like that,
that God blesses. In fact, I guarantee everyone
around the room right now, we could tell stories
about how God has blessed us when we were doing
the things that God wanted us to do. And sometimes
those stories are truly amazing. Now, it also
happens, side note, that people then want to
do those things only to get blessed, and it does
not work that way. You cannot follow God specifically
for the blessings. It's the other way around.
God blesses those who walk with him, not those
who walk alongside him to manipulate him to give
them blessings. God disciplines by withdrawing
his favor. So a lot of times people like the
Bible says he chastises those whom he loves.
So what does that mean when it says that God
punishes people? Because it doesn't sound very
gracious or merciful or kind. And we already
have talked about how God blesses those who walk
with him. And so if you choose not to walk with
God, not to go the way that God would have you
go, then by natural extension, those blessings
are withdrawn. So the world is kind of like that.
I know a man right now who's going through some
significant trials. He came to our church. He
said, I'm going to live with the Lord. I'm going
to put God first, and God's going to be first
in everything. And then he allowed some things
to interfere with that. And so now he's going
through some of the greatest trials he's had
in recent years. And you say, well, God would
not do that. Well, yes, he would. As a parent
would. So let's say any parent in the room would
be the same way. Let's say we're supposed to
go today at 7 o 'clock. To the movies, and everybody's
going to get a large popcorn, and everybody's
going to get a treat. We're going to go to dinner
right before. We're going to see the movie that
everybody's been wanting to see. And two hours
before we're supposed to leave to go to the movies,
our child is acting up bad. Or our teenager is
back -talking an assassin as being a jerk, right?
Now, do we go to the movie or not? And the answer
is probably not, right? Because you cannot reward
that kind of behavior. Well, God is the same
way. God naturally blesses those who walk with
him. God naturally withdraws that favor or those
blessings for those children who choose another
course who need to be disciplined. And then the
fourth one is God will one day dwell visibly
with his redeemed people. And you could put forever.
So God will one day be with us visibly. And the
Bible talks about heaven forever and how folks.
So you realize that. Revelation talks about the
angels that surround God and sing, holy, holy,
holy, and they are doing that right now, up until
the moment at which Christ is about to come back
to the earth, right? So what humans physically
approach the throne of God right now? The answer
is none, because there are angels surrounding
the throne that are singing, holy, holy, holy.
That's the image of heaven right now. It's not
that people don't go to heaven, they do, but
they do not come physically up to the throne
of God right now, because if they did, they would
experience wrath, right? Those angels are protecting
all creation, and even humans who have been redeemed
would suffer that wrath. And so we have this
understanding that God will one day, he's going
to live with us invisibly, and we will be with
him forever. But it's not like that now. Even
when somebody dies and goes to heaven, it's not
like they can just crawl up on God's lap, right?
Because Jesus has not yet returned and completed
the final step of putting everything under God's
feet and the redemption. Okay, so when a frightened
child is separated from his parents in the store,
he's not looking for their hands or for their
voice, right? He's looking for their face. One
time I was at Kmart when I was a kid. Most of
us remember Kmart, I think. It was right over
here on Navarre. And we were in the store. And
we were in the line. We were checking out. And
next thing we know, we're walking out. And I
walked out the door of Kmart onto the sidewalk,
headed for the car. And I knew where our car
was. I was headed for the car. And as far as
I knew, as far as I was thinking, I was walking
with my mom and dad. They were with me. They
were checked out. And they walked out. And I
thought they were with me. And then I got to
the curb and went to step down off the curb.
And I looked to see. It was not my mom and dad.
It was a guy wearing a jacket, kind of like my
dad's jacket, and pants the same color as my
dad's pants, but it was not my dad. And it was
not my mom. In fact, it wasn't even a woman.
It was a man, right? And I'm going like, oh,
crud. I'm no longer with my parents. And so immediately
I thought, well, this happened for one reason,
which was I didn't look at their faces. I didn't
look at who they were. And then secondly, when
I started to look around, guess what I looked
for? I looked for their faces. And I realized
you cannot identify somebody by their legs. You
can't identify them by their jacket. You have
to identify them by their faces. And so I was
scrambling to find my parents' faces to get back
where I needed to be. The face of God represents
his presence, his safety, his relationship, and
his love. And all throughout scripture, believers
long for something that's much more than like
earthly security, like a better job, better paycheck,
health, whatever. There's something bigger than
that. And it has to do with the presence of God.
And that's what we're going to talk about then
today. as we look at God's face. All right. So
the first point there, God's face shines with
blessing. So the reference is Numbers 6, 24 to
26. Okay. Numbers 6, 24 to 26. And this is most
of it. Anyway, the Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious
to you. The Lord lift up his confidence on you
and give you peace. And so this is obviously
the promised land people, the Israelites come
out of Egypt, theoretically going to go into
the promised land. So the priestly blessing that
the priests would pronounce this blessing over
the people in general, in general, it's one of
the best known passages in the Old Testament.
So you can memorize this blessing. And then you
can pronounce it as a prayer over top of your
spouse, over top of your boyfriend, your girlfriend,
your child, whatever. And you're praying scripture.
And praying scripture is always a good thing.
Lots and lots, probably millions of Christians
have memorized and prayed this scripture over
the years. God's shining face here symbolizes
his approval, his favor, his grace, and peace.
Just as sunshine brings warmth and life to the
earth, God's smiling face brings spiritual blessings.
to his people. Notice the progression. First,
he blesses. He keeps. He shines. He gives grace.
He grants peace. Everything flows from God's
gracious presence. So if you have God, you have
all that. I know a woman, she just told me a
story less than two months ago. She was on the
table at the hospital and they told her she probably
was not going to survive. And she started freaking
out. They had to do a procedure. She was code
blue or whatever. Her heart was not beating or
beating correctly. And they told her she probably
wasn't going to make it. They were talking over
time. I don't think they told her, but they were
talking about it, stuff over top of her. She
felt like she probably wasn't going to make it.
And she said she had such an amazing peace because
she knew if she died in that moment, she was
going straight to heaven. And then they saved
her life. And now she's serving Jesus. Hopefully
every day, but I know a lot. And so that presence
brings that blessing. It keeps you, shines, gives
grace, gives peace. The application then is the
greatest blessing God gives us is not his gifts
or anything else that you can hold in your hand,
but his presence. I've preached it a couple of
times, and I believe it's absolutely true. I
believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross primarily,
number one, above and beyond everything else,
in order that God's presence could be with God's
people. And that is what happens in the form
of the Holy Spirit, right? So Jesus said, I go
to heaven. You should want me to go there because
I'll pray to the Father and he'll send you another
comforter. And they talked about the Holy Spirit.
Before the New Testament, the Spirit did not
live in people. God's Holy Spirit did not live
in people. It would settle on people. He would
settle on people. He would affect people. He
would affect their minds, cleanse their minds,
that kind of thing. But now, from Pentecost on,
God's presence, His Holy Spirit lives in us.
That is what Jesus really died for. That was
the joy that was set before Him. Okay, then that
brings us to number two. We are called then to
seek God's face. Psalm 27 .8 is the reference.
Psalm 27 .8. When you said, seek my face, my
heart said to you, your face, O Lord, I shall
seek. So God is saying, seek my face. And the
psalmist writes, when I heard that, my heart
said, I will seek the face of God. OK, but David
didn't seek God's blessings. Obviously, he wanted
God's blessings. Right. Everybody wants God's
blessings. But that's not what he was after.
He sought God himself. Remember that David was
called during part of his life, at least a man
after God's own heart. And so what does God want?
He wants us to seek him, his presence, not. His
power, not what you can do because he makes you
able, not what he can give you, not the healing
that he can give. All of those are good things.
There's nothing wrong with them. But what we
kind of already learned is that God wants to
give them and will give them if we get the first
thing first, which is to seek his presence. Seeking
God's face means pursuing intimacy. OK, so that
same word that we had from Sunday, for those
of you who were on Sunday, there was a word that
talked about. They wanted to know the man and
it was a know him in intimacy. He's talking about
sex. That same word is what we're talking about.
To be intimate with God is to try to hide nothing
from God. To expose everything that you are and
be willing humbly to take whatever God has for
you. It's intimacy. And then worship him because
that is the natural outpouring of knowing who
he is. Obedience. So you should obey God. Whatever
God says, that's what we should do. And we have
a lot of that already. We don't have to ask him.
He's already told us because it's in the Bible.
And then fellowship, right? And that's fellowship
with God. But don't miss that a key way to fellowship
with God is actually to fellowship with God's
people. Remember that when you mistreat a human
being, you're actually mistreating somebody who
is made in the image of God. Even though their
image might be flawed, they were still made in
the image of God. And so... One of the greatest
things about fellowship with other believers
is that we're fellowshipping with someone who
is made in the image of God, whose image is being
renewed. So they're becoming more and more like
God. It is possible to desire God's provision
without desiring his presence. That's very common.
Even people will say, I want to feel like God
is with me. I want to know what God is doing.
I want to see God save people. Hear all those
phrases? It's all, I want, I want, I want. And
there is a man, or being, not a man, a being
who is the I want being and is not a Christian.
That's Satan. Satan is the I want being, right?
And he taught Adam and Eve how to be I want beings.
And then they propagated that in every generation
spiritually after that. David refused that mistake.
He would not allow himself to want the provision
of God. He was chased out of his kingship. Before
he was ever made king and put on the throne,
Saul hunted him for years with armies to kill
him. And during that time, he was not praying,
God kill Saul. Which, in my heart, I think maybe
I would have been praying something like that.
Because I don't want to be hunted to the ends
of the earth. His family was at risk all the
time, right? And so you might be thinking, God,
take care of this man. You know he's a bad man.
Get him off the throne. And David didn't do that.
He always sought the presence of the Lord. So
then the application then is God desires to be
more than your provider. FYI, everything that
you have, God provided. And so that's done. That's
already done. We do pray, Lord, give us this
day our daily bread. But some people want the
bread for tomorrow and the bread for retirement,
too. And that's not necessarily godly. Or they
want to take their bread from somebody else.
And that's not godly. So God desires to be more
than your provider. He desires to be your closest
relationship. And that word is chosen very specifically.
Your closest relationship. God is more close
than your wife. God is more close than your kids.
God is more close than your parents, right? So
God is your closest relationship. And the truth
is, you will never be able to have the intended
relationship with any other human being that
you want to have unless God is closest. God is
the conduit, right? So if you want to love somebody,
God is love. If you take God out, you will not
love them. You will do something to them or for
them or by them or about them. because you will
like what you see, you will like what you feel,
whatever, but if you take God out, there's not
any love in it. That's why people have asked
me, I think some of the teenagers in our youth
group asked me just not that long ago, you know,
if you don't know God, can you really love somebody?
And the answer is probably no, not in the biblical
sense. Okay? All right. Then we're, okay, so
we're moving on to number three. First of all,
let me illustrate. A young man might initially
pursue a relationship because he likes what someone
gives him. So Jaden might hang out with Hannah
because Hannah is pretty. Because Hannah is friendly.
Because Hannah encourages him. Because Hannah
makes him feel good when she is around. Those
kinds of things. But that is not what a healthy
marriage is built on. So a healthy marriage is
built on... delighting in the person not merely
the benefits of the person that you're connected
to right so if you're uh hanging out with uh
your best friend let's say it's not a female
at all it's your best friend and he's strong
maybe he's got warrior skills you know you know
he's and you run into some gang members on the
street or something then you might say well i
feel safe because i'm with this guy he's pretty
tough i think he'll take care of it right And
so you might like to hang around with somebody
like that, especially if you're going into a
dangerous area. Well, God is like that. He has
all those benefits. He's big. He's strong. He's
also beautiful. He's powerful in every way. He's
merciful, gracious, kind, all kinds of good things.
But you can't seek him for the good things. You
have to want him by virtue of who you are and
who he is. So mature believers then seek God
for who he is. not what he provides. So if you're
a young believer, you might be still thinking,
I want to be saved. And a lot of people do that.
They pray to God to be saved and they want to
be saved on the day that they're going to be
saved because they want to be saved. They don't
want to go to hell. They're afraid of hell, right?
There's been a lot of foxhole conversions. I'm
going to die today. The bombs are coming down.
Oh, Lord, if you save me, I'll live for you for
the rest of my life. And they seek God because
they want to be saved. But if you stop there,
you'll be nothing but... seeking him for what
he can provide. But if you realize then once
you meet God, he's so much bigger than what he
can provide. He's so much more important. It's
so much more important to have that relationship
with him directly rather than to look at what
he can provide. Also, if, by the way, you're
after God for what he can provide, then when
you're diagnosed with stage four cancer and given
six months to live, your relationship with God
is going to suck. It's going to be really bad.
He loses a job, doesn't have any money, bills
are coming in, can't keep the electric on in
your house, and all of a sudden your relationship
with God is going to be non -existent. Because
apparently God is not providing. But if you seek
him for who he is, look at Job. Job literally
lost everything, but he was in a relationship
with God for who God was. And he said, well,
you know, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh
away. Who am I to take what he gives and then
to be upset when he takes away? And so he must
have his reasons, basically, is what he was saying.
And so that's where we need to be. If you're
seeking God for who he is, not what he gives,
then when things aren't quite going right, you
won't automatically be accusing God. All right.
Number three, God sometimes hides his face. Isaiah
59 to another classic Old Testament verse. But
your iniquities have made a separation between
you and your God and your sins have hidden his
face from you. So there's this idea of a curtain
or a barrier that comes up between us and God,
or a rift, if you will. This is like one of Scripture's
dangerous, sobering, scary, whatever you call
it, warnings. God's people had assumed that he
was ignoring them when this verse was written.
They said, well, God's ignoring us. But actually,
Isaiah explained that persistent sin, had broken
their relationship with God. So God was telling
them, don't do stuff. They were doing it anyway.
And then that created a rift between them and
God. And they started thinking, oh, God has abandoned
us. And that was maybe reflected on God's character,
that kind of thing. But actually, it was they
were continuing in sin. So if you're continuing
in sin, God will always seem far apart, far away.
You know, that's the way it works, because you're
like throwing up a barrier, a curtain between
you and him. So God had not ceased to exist.
He had not stopped loving his covenant people.
But his favor and his fellowship had been hindered
by unrepentant sin. Because they would not turn
from their sin and turn back to God. They were
looking elsewhere. They were seeking elsewhere.
So what we're talking about is relational distance.
We're not talking about a loss of who God is
or his sovereignty. So God is still sovereign.
He's still in charge of your life. And if you're
saved, you're still saved. But you can be saved
and God can be distant. And the fellowship, even
though you're like, well, but wait a minute.
He said, I'll be with you even under the end
of the age. And that would be true. You would
still be saved. He'll take you all the way through.
Right. But if you're sinning against him and
unrepentant, then you have a relational. So I'll
give you an example. My wife and I had an argument.
This is some years ago now. And I got mad. And
I went in the kitchen, and I was banging the
pots and pans. I'd wash the dishes and throw
the pans in the cupboard, making a noise. I wanted
her to know that I was angry. After I got done
throwing all the pots and pans in the cupboard,
a little harder than I should have and whatever,
I went back in the living room, and she wasn't
in the living room anymore. She'd gone to the
bathroom. And I sat down in the living room.
When she came back in the living room, we were
in the same room. that there was a distance between
us, even though we were only five, six feet apart,
right? It was clear that she was upset with me.
I was upset with her. I was upset with her for
being upset with me. She was upset with me for
being upset with her. We were both upset about
what we had argued about. So we sat in the same
room five, six feet apart until one of us would
break that silence and get it started. And that's
what it's like when God's face is hidden by unrepentant
sin. You can watch TV with God now. You can have
dinner with God. God will be with you while you're
working. He's still there, right? You're dragging
him through the mud and doing the things you
shouldn't be doing, but you're the presence of
God, the face of God, that fellowship and blessings
is separated from you. It feels distant. So sin
does not, the application then is sin does not
remove God's omnipresence. So sin does not chase
God away. When I was a young believer, I had
a seasoned, kind of mature, thought he was mature
Christian tell me, that God cannot see people
when they sin, that God will not look on sin.
And there is a verse that supports that general
idea that God will not look on sin. But that's
not what it means. That's not what Scripture
says. God sees all the sin. His eyes look through
all the earth looking for people who will be
obedient to him. And as we've heard when we talk
about the ear and the eye, we know that God is
searching out people that he can be a blessing
to. So he's still omnipresent. He's everywhere,
everywhere that he wants to be. But it hinders
our enjoyment of the fellowship with God. So
you will lose all the good spiritual, emotional,
mental aspects of being a Christian by having
unrepentant sin. So let me stop. We're going
to do a stunt in a second. I want to talk about
unrepentant sin just for a second. I understand
what it means. So does unrepentant sin mean you
sin? Let's say you told a lie. And then a week
later, you told a lie. And then a month later,
you told a lie. Is that the definition of unrepentant
sin? It is not. All three of those lies are iniquity,
and they will start to build a barrier between
you and God, right? But repentance has to do
with your heart condition. What did you want
to do? So before the first time you lied, maybe
you didn't realize it was an ignorance. And then
you went, oh, crud, I lied. God, I'm sorry. I
don't want to do that. And a week later, you
did it again. Now it's not ignorance now because
now you know what you did, right? And immediately
you go, oh, God, I'm sorry. And you try to make
it right, try to do what you can and move on.
A month later, you do it again, right? But it's
about heart condition. It becomes unrepentant
sin when one of two things happens. When you're
willfully doing something that you know is wrong,
and usually it's a Bible verse, right? Like the
Bible's telling you don't do this or do this,
and you know the Bible verse, but you're just
not applying the Bible verse. You're doing whatever
you want to do in that moment, even though the
Bible says you can't do it. Or the Bible says
you should do something different, right? But
if it's not the Bible, however, you became aware
of the correct course of action, and you willfully
choose the wrong course of action despite knowing.
That is not right. That's unrepentant sin. And
it remains unrepentant sin until you repent,
right? And you say, hey, whoa, wait a minute.
I screwed this up. I shouldn't have done that.
That was wrong. I went off course there. I see
that, right? It might be a day, might be weeks,
could be years. I know people that have slayed
away under a certain unrepentant sin for years,
right? So the other way that you get it done,
the first one is when you don't follow something
that you know to do. The other way of unrepentant
sin is when you find out after the fact that
something is wrong, and instead of turning to
God to deal with it, you keep kind of dealing
with it yourself, right? So maybe to use the
lying example, this wouldn't probably be true,
but maybe you say, well, everybody in the world
lies. I don't think God wants us to not lie.
And you just kind of live your life with an occasional
little lie here and there and there and there,
right? And then... God convicts you and you start
questioning what's wrong. Something's wrong.
I don't feel right. My relationship with God
doesn't feel right. I don't know what I'm supposed
to do. And then God points you to the lying,
but you're like, oh, well, I'll fix that. I'll
take care of that. So you intend to stop lying.
So you just start trying to enact plans. So here's
what I'll do. I won't tell anybody that I'm going
to do anything in advance because that might
break my promise. Or I won't talk to that person
anymore because I really want to have a good
relationship with them and I'm afraid I'll be
lured into lying. You start all these action
plans of how you're going to keep from lying.
And you miss step one, which was to turn to God
for forgiveness, to confess your sins, and to
receive the help that God can provide. And so
that's what people do. Either A, they start and
they repeat. And they know what they're not supposed
to be doing already before they ever really get
moving on it, sometimes right after getting saved
or whatever. Or B, they come convicted of sin
later, and then they don't get the help from
God. They just keep trying to fix it themselves.
And I've known people that did that. So I knew
a man, for example, who had gotten into almost
an affair. He was flirting with a woman. pursuant
to probably having an affair with her, and he
was married. And so then he was convicted about
it, and he said, well, okay, well, I'm not going
to have anything to do with her, with that woman
anymore. So now he basically hated her. He was
very mean toward her. He didn't want nothing
to do with her, wouldn't help her, nothing. But
he worked with her. So they were constantly seeing
each other, and he was treating her very rudely.
Well, if that's evident, then he didn't handle
that in a biblical way. He didn't repent, turn
to God, get it fixed. All he really needed to
do was make sure that they were never alone together,
make sure that he wasn't flirting with her anymore,
make sure that maybe he was open and transparent
with her that that was wrong and that he should
not have done it, was not going to do it anymore,
talk to his wife about it, make sure she was
on the right page, and amend the situation, give
it over to God and move on. And it would have
been fine. But instead, he went to a humanistic
way of doing it, which I'm going to... shun that
person, treat them disrespectfully, that kind
of thing. And that's what we tend to do if we
don't repent and turn to God. By the way, the
Bible says, John wrote that if you confess your
sins, that God will forgive you your sins. He's
faithful and just to forgive you your sins and
to cleanse you of all unrighteousness. So when
you go to him and say, God, please help me, then
he washes that away. It may only stay gone until
you delve back into it, right? You might do it
again. If you do, then you got to repent, go
back to him again. That kind of thing. Again,
we're not talking about losing our salvation.
We're talking about that closeness with God that
we can have. Okay, so we're going to do a stop
for those who would like to do a stop. I took
the liberty of getting out three cards. I will
still randomize them, but I got to play the game
today. Okay, so this is pairs, two -person teams
participating. Who wants to play? Who plays my
game? You need a partner. And if we're odd, I'll
be a partner with somebody. Come on. He already
asked you now. Okay, you need this. Good catch.
All right, we need a partner for Mike, or I'll
do it. I got back -to -back with your partner.
Okay, so this is what you have to do. You have
to toss the ball up over your head, and you cannot
move away from each other. And then your partner
has to catch the ball and toss the ball back
to you. You have 60 seconds to complete that
task. If you complete the task, you get three
tickets. If you fail to complete the task, you
get one. Let me start the timer. A little higher
so people can see. Probably would be a good call,
I think. On your mark, get set, go. Okay, you
can go get it. Try again. You have 60 seconds.
Try again. That was a good reflex if you caught
it. Try again. Oh, there's one. And? Oh, you
almost had it. 25 seconds. Oh, she dropped it
that time. All right, got three right there.
13 seconds. Yeah, communication is key, I guess.
How much do we have to catch? No! Thank you.
Stop. Stop. Stop. Okay. I'll try to remember
to cut that out of the podcast. I don't think
anyone will hear my phone alarm. All is well.
Okay, number four. We're over halfway. God's
face brings joy. So we already have, right, the
face represents the presence of the Lord, and
his presence will bring the blessings. We already
got that. And so in Scripture, we see that God's
face brings joy. Psalm 1611 is the reference.
Psalm 1611. In your presence is fullness of joy.
In your right hand, there are pleasures forever.
So even though in this verse, the word face is
not explicitly used, God's presence is the central
theme throughout Scripture. And it's a lot of
other places they use the word face. So joy is
not ultimately found in circumstances. So my
first Christian devotional book that I wrote
was called Think Again. And the material that
inspired me to write it was a paper that I wrote
while I was in college called How to Find Happiness.
Right. And so then I branched off of there to
write that book. And the bottom line is in the
world today, happiness is meeting enough of your
desires that you don't feel them overwhelming
you. Right. So don't feel like like overly thirsty,
overly hungry, desperate for money, whatever.
So you're meeting enough of your desires. You
don't feel pain or experience negative feelings
because of it. And then also being able to get
at least some fulfillment of what you imagined,
what you dream, etc. Now, you know, that's a
really empty description of happiness, right?
Because you don't know most of the time what's
good for you. So I know right now I know two
couples where both the man and the woman both
said, I'll never be married. They were happy
being single and they thought, I'll never be
married. One of the couples, they were older,
so they found each other in their mid to early
30s or something like that. And they were saying,
both parties separately saying, I'll never be
married. And that was their first marriage in
their 30s. So they had reason to believe they
might never be married. And then the other couple
was younger and he was a rabble rouser and she
was a traveler. She wanted to see the world.
And they both said, I'll never be married. I
just thought of a third one. And they both said,
he said, there's no woman out there for me. And
she said, I don't want anything to do with marriage
or family or kids, nothing. That's a life that
I don't want to have anything to do with. So
that's three I can think of just right now in
this moment. But the truth is, you don't know
what's really good for you, right? Scripture
will kind of inform us, but we really don't.
So to start to be happy that you're getting what
you think is good for you, is a very dangerous
road to go down because then your happiness is
based on circumstances and then someday you won't
be getting what you wanted that day. We had it
come up in our house the other day. We talk a
lot about inner joy and we had some schedule
changes that we had to break some promises to
Ariana and she started to kind of get mopey.
She was getting upset because she didn't get
to do the things that she wanted to do. I explained
it to her and I said, well, let me ask you a
question. Who's in charge in this situation?
You? Or God. Because I just explained to you.
God did this. It's not us. We didn't break our
words. Not because we're bad people breaking
promises or whatever. But this is why this has
to be this way. So if God did that. And you get
upset now. Then you have to realize that you're
getting upset at God. Who changed the story.
Because he changed the story. The way he changed
the story. Which basically means you're saying
he can't be God. So joy is not happiness. Joy
is not found in circumstances. is found in communion
or relationship with god the greatest delight
of heaven is not streets of gold or gates of
gems or the fact that you're going to get to
see people there you might see a dog like your
dog that you have when you as a kid uh might
not be the exact dog you can debate that doctrine
if you want but not today but anyway you get
to heaven and see people or that Not because
there's a line there that's going to thank you
because of your grand service while you're on
earth. Not because the angels sing better than
any music we got down here. None of those things
are why. It's because we have the unhindered
presence of God. That is what will bring us the
great joy. So then the application point then
is the closer we walk with God, the greater our
joy becomes. Now, on the surface, it sounds like
you don't really have any control over that,
right? So do I really have any control about
how close I walk with God? Because he's God.
I can't make God do anything. I can't force him.
I can't draw him close by my own actions, right?
But that isn't entirely true, is it? God has
promised that for those who call upon the name
of Jesus, that he will make them Christians.
Making them Christians, the Holy Spirit comes
and lives in you, so now you have his presence
daily. The Bible says if you embrace the flesh,
you less experience the presence of the Spirit.
If you embrace the Spirit, you less experience
the presence of the flesh. So embrace the things
of the Spirit. God's presence grows. The Bible
gives us spiritual disciplines. The spiritual
disciplines are all about trying in our effort,
which obviously is in Christ, to draw close to
the Lord. That's what they're all about. If you
were not saved, you could not draw close to him
no matter what. It would destroy you. Right.
But because you are saved, if you are saved,
you can draw close to him by spiritual disciplines.
So there are things that you can do. The closer
we walk with God, the greater our joy becomes.
So to me, this has been my experience of the
days when I'm really getting hit. And it happens
sometimes. My family or some bad things are happening
that I really don't like. And I start to not
feel joy. I start to ask myself, what is the
most important thing? What am I going through
right now? Or the presence of God? Interestingly
enough, side note, by the way, while Jesus was
alive, he said to the disciples, they said, don't
you need to eat? And he said, well, I have food
that you know not of. And he was talking about
doing the will of the Father. And so, think about
this. When you're in a spot where your situation's
not good and your joy starts to wane, do God's
work. Practice the spiritual disciplines. And
when you do that, you'll draw closer to the Lord.
Your joy meter will start to go back up. Not
because you're doing something to have joy, but
because you're drawing close to the Lord. Five.
God's face watches over the righteous. The reference,
the application point was, the closer we walk
with God, the greater our joy becomes. Five is
God's face watches over the righteous. The reference
is 1 Peter 3 .12. And it says, and I kind of
quoted this a minute ago when I was talking,
For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,
but the face of the Lord is against those who
do evil. So if I could say it simply, God is
picking sides. People say, well, the judge shouldn't
pick sides. And a judge that isn't perfect wouldn't
pick sides because he knows he could be wrong.
But God is not that kind of judge. He's perfect.
And so he's picking sides. Peter is actually
quoting Psalm 34. God's face represents his active
opposition to evil. So just as much as God faces
his presence to us, his fellowship and his blessings,
it's also his opposition to evil. God is never
morally neutral. So if anybody tells you, I don't
think God really cares, they're wrong. Period.
God cares about everything, right? And you say,
well, how can he care about everything? Well,
because he's infinite, right? He has no limit
in his cares, right? You say, but what if it's
just like the color of my shirt? God knows that
the right color shirt might entreat somebody
to talk to you, say something to you, and you
might be able to share Christ with them. Or you
might be able to hold the door for somebody that
you might not otherwise be able to hold the door
for, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Nothing
is beyond his concern. His holiness, God's holiness,
requires God to oppose wickedness. By requires,
I mean if he didn't do it, he wouldn't be God.
Therefore, he doesn't. It's not like he's trapped,
shackled, something like that. By definition,
God opposes wickedness. Be very careful then
about your wickedness. Remember we talked about
willfully choosing. That's unrepentant sin. That's
willfully choosing to go on in a sin. The Bible
calls that wickedness. And we can't have that
anymore because we are saved. So now we have
the bestowed righteousness of Christ. So see
the contradiction? I'm righteous walking in Christ,
but my actions are wicked. That's a contradiction.
Right? So what has to give? Well, your righteousness
in Christ cannot give. Because he paid the price
on the cross. So then the wickedness has to give.
It has to stop at some point. We have to say,
look, I'm doing something I shouldn't do. I repent
and be convicted and turn back to the Lord. Okay?
So his holiness requires him to oppose wickedness.
It's comforting to us because he will fight the
wickedness, which means sometimes we have to
fight it. It attacks us or whatever. But for
the rebellious, this is a solemn warning. And
so if you are a Christian and also kind of rebellious
or getting away with something, this should be
a very solemn warning. God will stand against
you. Ephesians 2 says we were once objects of
wrath. It does not mean that God hates you. It
does not mean that you'll be unsaved, but he
will oppose your course. He will remove his presence
and his blessings, not his presence for salvation
purposes, but his closeness. There'll be a barrier
between you and him, as we've been talking about.
And then it says to the application is choose
to live under God's smile rather than under God's
discipline. And because you know Christ, that
is a choice that you can make. Let's say if you're
making that choice on a daily basis and then
next Thursday you discover, oh, crud, I did something
I should not have done. You're not suddenly going
to be cast out of the kingdom of God. Just repent,
turn to the Lord, confess your sins, and allow
him to cleanse you and move on. Short memory,
but do have a memory. Make the difference. So
choose to live under God's smile rather than
under God's discipline. Okay, number six. Moses
longed to see God's glory. It's interesting when
you think about it. Sure. Choose to live under
God's smile. rather than God's discipline. Moses
longed to see God's glory. Exodus 33, 20 -23.
He said, You cannot see my face, for no man can
see me and live. Now elsewhere in Exodus 24,
a little known passage that a lot of people like
kind of overlook, it says that Moses and Aaron
and many of the believers who were faithful to
God amongst the Israelites were in God's presence.
They were with God. They saw God. And so putting
those two things together, you have to realize
that that means there is a difference from being
with God and from seeing his face. But also know
that Moses did speak with God face to face. And
then later when he came out, he had a glow by
his face that made everybody else uncomfortable.
Right. So there it was not just that he could
have been destroyed, but that the people around
him were suffering because of his having been
right up close with God. And at one point in
time, God says, I'll speak to my servant Moses
face to face, but everybody else I'll speak to
in dreams and visions and things like that. Moses
desired the fullest revelation of God possible,
yet God's infinite holiness exceeded what sinful
humanity could endure at that point in time.
God mercifully revealed his glory while protecting
Moses. In other words, he could be there with
God. He could be in God's presence, experience
God firsthand, but God protected him from the
part of God that would have destroyed him. And
God does that for us. I've not written this in
a book, but I've thought about it a lot of times.
I think one of the greatest aspects of grace
of God is that people who are wicked, people
who are in sin, are ignorant, they can lie to
themselves and say that God does not exist. Because
if they did not do that, if they could not lie
and convince themselves that God does not exist,
then they would be broken every single day. Maybe
even destroyed every single day. Right. But they
can deceive themselves and believe that God is
not waiting for them to turn. That God is not
lingering with them. Right. Acts 17 says he's
never far away in the first place. That God is
not convicting them of sin. They can deceive
themselves about that. And then that is a form
of protection to them. They put it on like a
coat. So they talk to a Christian who could share
the gospel. They could get saved. And they say,
I don't believe in God at all. God's not real.
I got all kinds of arguments. You have to talk.
You have to convince me, whatever. And they do
that. to protect themselves from experiencing
God. And God is so close. So this passage reminds
us of God's transcendence and his grace. So he's
far above all, beyond all, untouchable, and yet
he's close by his grace. One day... As we mentioned
earlier, redeemed believers will experience what
Moses could only anticipate in that moment. And
that brings us to the application. The application
is, the more we know God, the more we desire
to know God. So once you've, it should be, once
you've experienced Jesus Christ's salvation,
once the Holy Spirit has come inside you, right,
and you're walking, then each day there should
be a little, at least a minimum of a little inkling
where you want to know more. You want to not
and it's not no, it's not Gnosticism. It's not
knowledge like I'm going to know more of what
it says in the book. It's know him like intimately,
have a personal relationship with him. So, for
example, you might say, I wonder what God will
want me to do tomorrow. I wonder what God wants
me to say right now. And it's more important
to you what God wants you to say than it is what
you want to say. And so you constantly have that
little nagging. I need to know him more. I want
to spend more time with him. And that's what
leads us to read our Bible. It's what leads us
to pray. It's what leads us to practice all the
spiritual disciplines because we always want
to draw close with him. If you don't have that,
kind of ask yourself, why don't you have that?
And if you do have that and you're not practicing
certain spiritual disciplines that God has given
us to do that, then it's like if you wanted to
get 50 miles away and you got up in the morning
and started walking instead of taking a car,
a plane, a bus, getting a ride from a friend.
God has given you the tools to draw close to
him. He's told you how to do it. And if you're
not doing it, then that's dumb. That's not the
right way to get it done. Application on point
six was the more we know God, the more we desire
to know him. Last point, seven. We can do Bible
trivia if we want, and then we'll be on. We shall
one day see his face. Revelation 22 .4, they
will, this is very clear, they will see his face
and his name will be on their foreheads. This
is one of the greatest promises in all of scripture.
They will see his face. The Bible begins with
humanity walking with God. Adam and Eve walked
in the coolness of the Garden of Eden and then
sin entered in and there was a break. Adam and
Eve hid in the bushes, covered themselves up.
Most Bibles describe it with the word shame.
But the bottom line is there was a sin break.
Did God still come to the garden that day? He
did. He still came into their presence. But there
was a break between them and him. And that's
what sin does, as we've been talking about in
this lesson. The beauty of it is the Bible ends
with redeemed humanity once again beholding God's
face forever. He's going to bring us back together.
I've heard a lot of people, when they get saved,
probably six, maybe ten people, when they're
about to pray to be saved, when they're making
a decision to be saved, will say, I've been away
from God for too long. Now, they've not made
a decision for Christ before. They've not been
saved before. But there is this inherent feeling
in a human who is not saved that they are missing
what humanity once had. And so they'll say, I
did it myself. I've been away from God too long.
And so we feel like we somehow we moved away
from God and that's not where we want to be.
And so this is the promise of Scripture. No barriers.
No separation. No shame. Perfect fellowship restored
forever. That's the promise of scripture. And
again, I said, I think the main thing that Jesus
died for was the presence of God with people.
That people and God could be in the same place
at the same time, essentially. And then it would
be like that forever. Okay, then the application
point is our greatest hope. It's not escaping
earth. That's not our greatest hope. I'm tired
of this rat race, overcoming disease. I don't
have to fight anymore. Rather, it is enjoying
God's presence eternally. That is the goal. Yes,
you will experience trouble while on the earth.
But Jesus said, fear not, for I have overcome
the world. Then we get to the theological summary.
The face of God teaches these things. His presence.
He desires fellowship with his people. His favor.
He blesses those who walk with him. His holiness.
He opposes sin. His grace. He invites sinners
into fellowship. His glory. His holiness exceeds
human comprehension. It's beyond what we can
really know. His glory. His promise. One day
believers will behold him face to face. That's
his promise. And his eternal fellowship. He will
dwell with his redeemed forever. Practical applications.
Bottom right -hand side, right? Yep. No. Okay.
In the bottom box, pick one you like. Seek God
himself rather than merely his blessings. That
can be a choice that you make. You can seek God.
Rather than what God can give you. Or guard your
fellowship through daily repentance. So willingly,
or I should say willfully, daily turn back to
God. Usually right after I have somebody get
saved, one of the first things I'll tell them
is each day get up and do whatever God tells
you to do. And yes, you need to be more proficient
in knowing what that is each day. that's a great
way to go. Get out of bed in the morning with
your first breath and your feet hit the floor
and say, okay, what am I going to do for God
today? What does God want me to do? Third one,
live in a way that reflects his favor. So if
you realize that you're getting it from him,
what does the New Testament say? If you have
received everything that you have, why do you
behave as if you did not receive it? So we should
behave as if we have received it. Two more. Find
joy in his presence above earthly pleasures.
So you're going to have to turn the TV off and
do something about drawing close to God. You're
going to have to think about him, pray to him,
think about ways you can serve while you're driving,
while you're in the grocery store. while you're
fixing things, etc. There's joy in God's presence,
and we should have that above earthly pleasures.
And the last one, look forward with hope to seeing
him face to face. Here's an illustration for
you. During the American Civil War, a young soldier
was found sitting outside the White House. He
was crying, weeping, because he had repeatedly
been denied an audience with President Abraham
Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln, I mentioned this in
a sermon a few weeks ago, he had an open -door
policy that ordinary people could come and speak
to him, but he was repeatedly denied an audience
with the president. The account of this story
is well -known historically. A young boy walked
up to him, learned his story, and quietly took
him by the hand. The child led the soldier past
the guards and directly into the president's
office. Weeping, he couldn't see the president.
This boy comes up, takes his hand and leads him
into the president's office. The guards allowed
them through because the boy was the president's
son, Tad Lincoln. Whether every detail of this
story is historical or like people made stuff
up about it or whatever, it illustrates a profound
biblical truth. On our own, sinful humanity cannot.
stand before the holy face of God. That's not
possible. But through Jesus Christ, the son of
God, believers have been granted access into
the father's presence. We no longer approach
as condemned rebels, but as adopted sons and
daughters welcomed into fellowship through God's
grace. Now you will be able to come into his
presence and see his face for eternity. God's
face is a solemn reminder to those who do not
know God about his perfect holiness. Sin separates
humanity from fellowship. But for us, the face
of God is the source of blessing, joy, peace,
hope. His face shines upon his children with
grace. He invites us to seek him daily, to walk
closely with him, and to enjoy fellowship for
which we were created. One day, faith will become
sight. You don't have to read your Bible anymore.
You don't have to pray. You'll actually be there.
And the longing that the Bible describes will
finally be fulfilled. They will see his face.
Until that day, let's continue to seek his presence,
rejoice in his favor, and live in anticipation
of the eternal fellowship that awaits everybody
who belongs to Jesus. To which I would say, let's
invite everybody to belong to Jesus. Because
we don't want them to not be there when that
time comes. Okay, so we're going to do Bible
trivia. And then we only have about five minutes,
so... Gotta go fast. I gotta get it open, so
give me a second. It's not working. Oh. I had
to move the weather out of the way, don't you
know? Okay, if you're playing, stand up! He just
draws you right in, doesn't he? Okay, I'm going
to flip a coin. If it's heads, I'm starting.
Sean, are you standing? Or are you laying? If
I skip you, you'll be out. Okay, so we're starting
over here with Vanessa. Alright, here we go.
That's a hard one. Who built the ark? Noah built
the ark. Alright. Adam, what is the first book
of the Bible? Genesis. Caleb. Who was swallowed
by a great fish? Tom. Who was swallowed by a
great fish? John. Correct. Huh? Joshua. Who led
the Israelites out of Egypt? Moses. Correct.
Chris. It's the first somewhat challenging one.
Okay. What did God create on the very first day?
On the first day. Careful. Do you want to guess
or do you want to stick Mike with it? That would
be worth it. Okay. Mike, what did God create
on the very first day? It is a little tricky.
Light is correct. Very good, sir. That is correct.
All right, Natalie. Who was the first man? And
for a follow -up question, Kashawn, who was the
first woman? All right. We made it all the way
across the room except for the light was kind
of tricky. That was tricky. Okay. Vanessa, how
many days did God take to create the world? To
create the world? Yes, to create. It is worded
very specifically. Oh, six. Six days is correct.
Adam, what is the last book of the Bible? Caleb,
who was Jesus' mother? Mary. Okay. Joshua, where
was Jesus born? Just the town will do. Yep. Yes.
As in like that. Is that the answer? Yes, that's
correct. Yeah. Okay, Mike. What did David use
to defeat Goliath? I'll give you a sling and
stone. Okay. It's not a sling shot, but. You
can look it up later to see the difference. Actually,
we have a kid's Bible home that says he used
a slingshot. I was like, I don't like this kid's
Bible. Okay. Natalie, who betrayed Jesus? First
and last name. No help. Two tickets for Natalie,
two tickets for Vashon. Vanessa, who betrayed
Jesus? First and last? Yep. That's correct. Adam,
what sea did Moses part? The Red Sea is correct.
Caleb, what was the name of Abraham's wife? Not
sure? Yeah, well, you know, this is the way the
luck falls sometimes. Joshua, what was the name
of Abraham's wife? Sarah is correct. And you
noticed that it was not Abram, but Abraham. That's
pretty impressive. Okay, Mike, you ready? What
was the name of Isaac's wife? That's a hard one.
That could be a room sweeper. No, it does not.
It does start with an R. Rebecca is correct.
Did you give him the answer? He sometimes rises.
I never know. No help from the peanut gallery.
All right, Vanessa. Who interpreted dreams in
Egypt for Pharaoh? Joseph is correct. Adam, what
are the Ten Commandments written on? Stone tablets
is correct. Josh? Who is the strongest man in
the Bible? Yes. Samson is correct. That was so
easy. All right. Mike? What was the name of Ruth's
mother -in -law? This is the second hard one
in a row for you. It's like this random list
of trivia has it out for you. Naomi is correct.
Very good, sir. Vanessa, which prophet confronted
King Ahab and Queen Jezebel? Ahab and Jezebel.
Okay, so I think that was four tickets, I think,
right? Is that our fourth time, Drew? Okay, yep.
All right, Adam? Which prophet confronted Ahab
and Jezebel? Sit for four tickets, stand for
five. That's a lot of tickets. Okay. Joshua.
Which prophet confronted King Ahab and Queen
Jezebel? Sure. Yes. Elijah is correct. Okay.
Mike, here we go. How many disciples did Jesus
have? No. How many disciples did he call? Twelve
is correct. Same. I mean, they're using the word
interchangeably, I'm pretty sure. Josh, who denied
Jesus three times? Mike, what is the shortest
verse in the Bible, just the words, you don't
have to give me the reference. Jesus wept is
correct. Josh? Who was thrown into the lion's
den? Daniel is correct. Yeah, exactly. Mike,
what city's walls fell after Joshua's army marched
around them? There are like six tickets, so don't
guess. I wouldn't at this point. Jericho is correct.
Josh what was Matthew's profession before following
Jesus? That is correct