WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.080 Did you hear what Sodom Hussein and Little Miss 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:08.900 Muffet have in common? They both have curds in 00:00:08.900 --> 00:00:16.039 their way. You say, what has that got to do with 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:19.379 the message? Nothing. But you needed to smile. 00:00:19.579 --> 00:00:23.420 My goodness. You would think it was raining inside 00:00:23.420 --> 00:00:33.240 here this morning. There are some times when 00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:41.820 words just aren't enough The couple in my mind 00:00:41.820 --> 00:00:44.380 this morning had always wanted a boy they had 00:00:44.380 --> 00:00:48.880 two beautiful daughters But they'd always just 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:54.000 wanted one more and Prayed it might be a boy, 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:56.600 but they were in their early 40s and their daughters 00:00:56.600 --> 00:01:00.659 were teenagers by that time and so It was pretty 00:01:00.659 --> 00:01:06.609 unlikely And then one day, the missus had an 00:01:06.609 --> 00:01:10.290 announcement for the mister. And it was that 00:01:10.290 --> 00:01:12.750 surprise announcement that they were going to 00:01:12.750 --> 00:01:16.250 have a belated blessing. And another baby was 00:01:16.250 --> 00:01:21.290 on the way in their early 40s. Now some people 00:01:21.290 --> 00:01:23.810 would have found that quite alarming. And at 00:01:23.810 --> 00:01:26.069 first it was shocking to these two, but they 00:01:26.069 --> 00:01:28.269 decided that this might be the boy that they 00:01:28.269 --> 00:01:32.780 had always wanted and prayed for. And so they 00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:37.260 counted down the months and she got larger and 00:01:37.260 --> 00:01:45.500 larger. And we waited and finally came that day 00:01:45.500 --> 00:01:51.540 in April, 17 years ago. In fact, it was on my 00:01:51.540 --> 00:01:57.599 birthday that she went into labor. And sure enough, 00:01:58.219 --> 00:02:05.140 it was a boy. But as the boy was born, the umbilical 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:17.699 cord wrapped around his neck and he died. Their 00:02:17.699 --> 00:02:25.419 prayers, their dreams, their joys were all dashed. 00:02:25.719 --> 00:02:30.169 In an incident in the delivery room that probably 00:02:30.169 --> 00:02:37.629 shouldn't have happened. And I can remember like 00:02:37.629 --> 00:02:41.250 it was two weeks ago, standing with that couple, 00:02:44.150 --> 00:02:47.650 our arms around each other, in front of a little 00:02:47.650 --> 00:02:58.879 casket, and we wept. because sometimes words 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:08.900 just aren't enough. It reminds me of a bumper 00:03:08.900 --> 00:03:13.560 sticker that I saw one time. And on the bumper 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:19.419 sticker, it said, God is, and then the letters, 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:29.639 N -O -W -H -E -R -E. God is nowhere. But in the 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:33.680 second part of the bumper sticker, the letters 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:37.000 were slightly rearranged with a space in between 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:43.620 the W and the H so that it read, God is now here. 00:03:46.340 --> 00:03:51.659 As we stood beside that casket on that spring 00:03:51.659 --> 00:04:00.949 afternoon 17 years ago, God was there. And God 00:04:00.949 --> 00:04:06.729 is here this morning. The God we worship is here. 00:04:08.250 --> 00:04:13.250 Lo, I am with you always, said Jesus, even to 00:04:13.250 --> 00:04:17.290 the end of the age. Someone has said that Matthew 00:04:17.290 --> 00:04:20.629 28 20 is absolute proof that God does not go 00:04:20.629 --> 00:04:25.519 with those who fly. That those who get into airplanes 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:28.959 are on their own because Jesus said low I am 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:34.399 with you always However the word low simply as 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:36.980 a word meaning I have this announcement to give 00:04:36.980 --> 00:04:40.399 to you behold Here is something that you need 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:46.300 to grasp and get a hold of I am with you and 00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:54.430 he really says it I myself Me I am with you all 00:04:54.430 --> 00:05:00.649 the days forever." And he said those words just 00:05:00.649 --> 00:05:04.689 before he went back to heaven to be at the right 00:05:04.689 --> 00:05:09.490 hand of God the Father. There are times when 00:05:09.490 --> 00:05:14.250 you and I ask the question out of our feelings 00:05:14.250 --> 00:05:21.459 of the moment, where is God? Where is God? But 00:05:21.459 --> 00:05:25.839 inevitably, faith eventually responds by rearranging 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:32.360 the letters in our lives to say, God is now here. 00:05:34.860 --> 00:05:40.980 God is everywhere present. All of Him, always. 00:05:42.740 --> 00:05:45.699 God is present everywhere. Think about that. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:49.720 I can say this morning that I am in this room. 00:05:53.449 --> 00:05:58.209 But more precisely, I'm right here. I'm not back 00:05:58.209 --> 00:06:02.769 there. And you're in this room, but you are there 00:06:02.769 --> 00:06:09.089 in that chair, not up here. When we say God is 00:06:09.089 --> 00:06:12.269 everywhere present, it means that God is everywhere. 00:06:13.910 --> 00:06:18.329 All at the same instant. Constantly. Always. 00:06:19.790 --> 00:06:24.579 We cannot go where God is not. Look back at Psalm 00:06:24.579 --> 00:06:28.019 139 with me, which was read earlier in the service. 00:06:28.660 --> 00:06:36.079 And notice how David puts this. He asks the rhetorical 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:40.420 question, where can I go from thy spirit? Where 00:06:40.420 --> 00:06:45.360 can I flee from thy presence? He says, if I ascend 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:50.139 to heaven, if I go up as far as I can go, you're 00:06:50.139 --> 00:06:56.519 there. If I make my bed in Sheol, the realm of 00:06:56.519 --> 00:07:02.060 the dead, which is down in Hebrew thought, you're 00:07:02.060 --> 00:07:08.000 there. If I take the wings of the dawn. Boy, 00:07:08.019 --> 00:07:09.639 it's been a while since we've seen the wings 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:13.740 of the dawn around Minnesota, hasn't it? But 00:07:13.740 --> 00:07:16.519 what a beautiful day it is when that sun begins 00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:21.210 to get close to the horizon and those beautiful 00:07:21.210 --> 00:07:25.810 wings of the dawn proceeded on the horizon. David 00:07:25.810 --> 00:07:31.509 said, if I can go in that direction, east, he 00:07:31.509 --> 00:07:35.350 says, you're there. If I dwell in the remotest 00:07:35.350 --> 00:07:37.350 part of the sea, now remember where he's writing 00:07:37.350 --> 00:07:39.850 from, Palestine, and the sea he's talking about 00:07:39.850 --> 00:07:43.730 is the Mediterranean, and that's to the west. 00:07:45.029 --> 00:07:48.189 If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, he 00:07:48.189 --> 00:07:52.000 says, even there, thy hand will lead me, thy 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:56.240 right hand will lay hold of me." He says, I cannot 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:58.699 even go into the darkness and pull it around 00:07:58.699 --> 00:08:03.060 myself and hide because you are thereto and you 00:08:03.060 --> 00:08:09.259 see me. Dr. William Evans was a great Presbyterian 00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:11.819 preacher. For a while he taught at Moody Bible 00:08:11.819 --> 00:08:15.259 Institute and then was a dean at the Bible Institute 00:08:15.259 --> 00:08:18.980 of Los Angeles. Later in his life, he was a leader 00:08:18.980 --> 00:08:21.839 of Bible conferences all across the United States. 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:23.959 Some of you who are older might remember him. 00:08:24.420 --> 00:08:28.160 He died in 1950, when he was 80 years of age. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:31.639 But he left behind some writings, including one 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:34.879 called The Great Doctrines of the Bible. In there, 00:08:35.100 --> 00:08:40.940 Dr. Evans says this, God is everywhere, his circumference 00:08:40.940 --> 00:08:50.399 nowhere. What is a circumference? Well, that's 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:55.440 the edge of the circle. It's the boundary. It's 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:58.940 the limit of the circle. He says God's circumference 00:08:58.940 --> 00:09:04.600 is nowhere. You think about that for a moment. 00:09:04.759 --> 00:09:08.980 You draw a circle as big as you want to. God 00:09:08.980 --> 00:09:12.960 is in that circle. So you draw it even bigger 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.409 than that. Let's suppose you could even draw 00:09:15.409 --> 00:09:22.370 it around the whole universe. You take a magic 00:09:22.370 --> 00:09:24.309 marker, you might need two of them, and just 00:09:24.309 --> 00:09:28.730 begin marking out the whole universe until you've 00:09:28.730 --> 00:09:32.250 got a circumference around it. You still haven't 00:09:32.250 --> 00:09:36.610 captured God. Because God is not only in His 00:09:36.610 --> 00:09:39.070 universe that He has created, but He is beyond 00:09:39.070 --> 00:09:45.000 it. So he says, God is everywhere, his circumference 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:51.340 is nowhere. But he says, this presence is a spiritual, 00:09:51.419 --> 00:09:55.279 not a material presence, yet it is a real presence. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:01.820 We speak of God as being both eminent, I -M -M 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:06.659 -A -N -E -N -T, and transcendent. When we say 00:10:06.659 --> 00:10:09.179 that God is eminent, what that means is that 00:10:09.179 --> 00:10:11.919 God is present everywhere throughout His creation. 00:10:14.139 --> 00:10:18.659 That's not pantheism, which is the heart and 00:10:18.659 --> 00:10:25.700 soul of Hinduism and of New Age philosophy. It 00:10:25.700 --> 00:10:30.200 is not that. For that denies the personality 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:33.889 of God. And it claims that God is everything 00:10:33.889 --> 00:10:36.549 and everything is God. That is not what the Bible 00:10:36.549 --> 00:10:40.690 teaches. But the Bible does teach that the Creator 00:10:40.690 --> 00:10:45.830 God is present throughout His creation. He is 00:10:45.830 --> 00:10:49.070 eminent. But also He is transcendent, which means 00:10:49.070 --> 00:10:53.230 that He is distinct from His creation. He is 00:10:53.230 --> 00:10:55.490 not the creation itself, though He is present 00:10:55.490 --> 00:11:01.830 throughout it. He is distinct from it. God is 00:11:01.830 --> 00:11:06.070 present everywhere, and yet God is not present 00:11:06.070 --> 00:11:12.169 everywhere in exactly the same sense. For example, 00:11:13.169 --> 00:11:23.429 God does not indwell Satan. God does not indwell 00:11:23.429 --> 00:11:31.360 lost people who are not His children. Furthermore, 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:35.440 the Bible indicates that there is a particular 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:39.539 dwelling place of God, so that it can be said 00:11:39.539 --> 00:11:45.679 that he is enthroned in the heavens, or as Solomon 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:49.840 prayed in 1 Kings 8, calling heaven God's dwelling 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:55.120 place. And so God is everywhere present, but 00:11:55.120 --> 00:12:00.950 not always in exactly the same sense. For God 00:12:00.950 --> 00:12:04.090 dwells in heaven in a particular sense, a special 00:12:04.090 --> 00:12:09.429 sense. God is present everywhere, and all of 00:12:09.429 --> 00:12:15.070 him is. As triune God, as Father, Son, and Holy 00:12:15.070 --> 00:12:18.909 Spirit, he is present everywhere. We need to 00:12:18.909 --> 00:12:22.929 dismiss any notion from our minds that the Father 00:12:22.929 --> 00:12:27.649 and the Son are in heaven, and the Holy Spirit 00:12:27.899 --> 00:12:35.179 is God on the earth. I say dismiss that idea 00:12:35.179 --> 00:12:39.759 from our minds because God cannot be thus divided 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:43.820 as though each person of the Trinity were independent 00:12:43.820 --> 00:12:46.639 of the others in some kind of a separate existence. 00:12:49.059 --> 00:12:52.080 Where God the Father is, God the Son and God 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:59.039 the Spirit also must be. Louis Barry Shaffer, 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:02.059 in his theology, writes, The Trinity is composed 00:13:02.059 --> 00:13:06.019 of three united persons without separate existence, 00:13:06.820 --> 00:13:11.639 so completely united as to form one God. The 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:14.120 divine nature subsists in three distinctions, 00:13:14.299 --> 00:13:20.860 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And as triune God, 00:13:21.379 --> 00:13:25.659 he is everywhere. As triune God, he is resident 00:13:25.659 --> 00:13:31.340 in every true child of His. We'll just turn to 00:13:31.340 --> 00:13:33.659 one text to see that. It's some words of Jesus 00:13:33.659 --> 00:13:38.519 in John the 14th chapter. You recall this as 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:44.960 the discourse that Jesus gave around the occasion 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:50.200 of the Last Supper. In John 14 and verse 16, 00:13:51.179 --> 00:13:57.149 he says, I will ask the Father, And he will give 00:13:57.149 --> 00:14:03.690 you another helper, another comforter, a paraclete, 00:14:03.970 --> 00:14:07.049 one who will be called alongside of you to help 00:14:07.049 --> 00:14:11.250 you. And when he says another, he doesn't mean 00:14:11.250 --> 00:14:13.750 someone who's distinct and different from me, 00:14:13.990 --> 00:14:17.309 actually he says another who is just like me. 00:14:17.929 --> 00:14:22.990 That's what he says. That he may be with you 00:14:22.990 --> 00:14:28.210 forever. Who is that? That's right, it says in 00:14:28.210 --> 00:14:33.690 verse 17. The Spirit. But then look down to verse 00:14:33.690 --> 00:14:36.370 23 in this same chapter. Jesus goes on to say, 00:14:36.490 --> 00:14:40.309 if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. And 00:14:40.309 --> 00:14:46.529 my Father will love him and we, who's we? The 00:14:46.529 --> 00:14:51.330 Father and Jesus. He says, we will come to him 00:14:51.330 --> 00:14:56.440 and make our abode with him. So, you put those 00:14:56.440 --> 00:14:58.879 verses together and you see that the Holy Spirit 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:05.000 comes to indwell us, to be our helper, our paraclete, 00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:10.840 but also the Father and the Son indwell us. We 00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:16.220 are the home of God in a special sense. God is 00:15:16.220 --> 00:15:20.120 everywhere present in the world. But just as 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:23.139 the heavens are the dwelling place of God, so 00:15:23.139 --> 00:15:29.470 is your body. if you're a child of his. Think 00:15:29.470 --> 00:15:36.210 about that. And not only are we individually 00:15:36.210 --> 00:15:39.549 the abode of God, but the New Testament teaches 00:15:39.549 --> 00:15:43.090 that when we gather together like this into a 00:15:43.090 --> 00:15:47.190 congregation of the Lord's people, He dwells 00:15:47.190 --> 00:15:53.049 in us corporately together. When we come together, 00:15:53.389 --> 00:15:57.850 God The Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit 00:15:57.850 --> 00:16:05.470 reside in us as a local church. We need to underscore 00:16:05.470 --> 00:16:08.929 in our hearts the importance of the local assembly 00:16:08.929 --> 00:16:16.610 of believers in the mind of God. On this earth 00:16:16.610 --> 00:16:19.830 there is nothing more precious to Him than the 00:16:19.830 --> 00:16:25.820 local churches. The assemblies of believers all 00:16:25.820 --> 00:16:29.700 over the world that come together as individual 00:16:29.700 --> 00:16:35.340 believers but to unite as a single body in which 00:16:35.340 --> 00:16:40.139 God dwells. I'm not going to take the time to 00:16:40.139 --> 00:16:44.240 look up the text, but you will recall in Revelation 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:49.559 chapter 1 that the Lord Jesus appears on the 00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:53.000 Isle of Patmos in a vision to the Apostle John. 00:16:54.120 --> 00:16:57.980 And as he appears, he is in the midst of seven 00:16:57.980 --> 00:17:03.200 golden what? Lampstands or candlesticks. And 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.420 those seven candlesticks represent what? The 00:17:07.420 --> 00:17:11.700 seven churches of Asia Minor. Notice not the 00:17:11.700 --> 00:17:14.980 church universal, but local churches. And the 00:17:14.980 --> 00:17:18.500 cities are named in chapters two and three. What 00:17:18.500 --> 00:17:20.940 is that indicating to us, this vision of Jesus, 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:24.529 that he is in the churches? And that's why he 00:17:24.529 --> 00:17:28.029 says as he does in those letters, I know you. 00:17:28.349 --> 00:17:31.490 I know what's happening in your midst because 00:17:31.490 --> 00:17:36.170 he's here. He knows exactly what the condition 00:17:36.170 --> 00:17:39.849 of Grace Church of Roosevelt is because he's 00:17:39.849 --> 00:17:45.369 here. He knows our candlestick, our witness, 00:17:45.690 --> 00:17:49.809 our testimony. But likewise, God the Father is 00:17:49.809 --> 00:17:52.190 said to dwell in us according to 2 Corinthians 00:17:52.190 --> 00:17:59.029 6 verses 16 and 17. I will dwell in them, God 00:17:59.029 --> 00:18:05.170 says. And we know from 1 Corinthians 3, 16 that 00:18:05.170 --> 00:18:09.789 the Holy Spirit dwells in us as a church. And 00:18:09.789 --> 00:18:13.109 so the triune God is everywhere present throughout 00:18:13.109 --> 00:18:19.619 His universe. but He is especially in a particular 00:18:19.619 --> 00:18:23.440 wonderful sense present and residing in your 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:39.500 body and in us as a corporate group. What does 00:18:39.500 --> 00:18:41.619 all of this mean to you and me when we think 00:18:41.619 --> 00:18:44.640 about the fact that the God we worship is here? 00:18:47.019 --> 00:18:50.079 how that ought to impact the very way that we 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:54.220 conduct ourselves in a service. How it ought 00:18:54.220 --> 00:18:57.599 to change the way that I come to worship, the 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:01.180 attitude of my heart, my participation in the 00:19:01.180 --> 00:19:06.920 service, if I recognize that God is here and 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:10.059 He's listening to the words that I sing and He 00:19:10.059 --> 00:19:15.339 sees the expression on my face. God is here. 00:19:20.250 --> 00:19:25.710 God's sure presence means his participation in 00:19:25.710 --> 00:19:29.390 every circumstance of life. There's nothing that 00:19:29.390 --> 00:19:33.390 happens by accident. Everything is by design 00:19:33.390 --> 00:19:42.150 and signed by providence. James Russell Lowell 00:19:42.150 --> 00:19:45.390 wrote of this idea when he penned these words 00:19:45.390 --> 00:19:48.789 that we sometimes hear quoted. Truth forever 00:19:48.789 --> 00:19:53.009 on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne. 00:19:54.650 --> 00:19:57.309 It does seem that way in the world, doesn't it? 00:19:58.170 --> 00:20:04.390 Truth is on the cross and wrong is on the throne. 00:20:07.390 --> 00:20:14.150 But he goes on to say, and yet that scaffold 00:20:14.150 --> 00:20:20.940 sways the future. And behind the dim unknown 00:20:20.940 --> 00:20:27.240 standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch 00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:35.099 above His own. I love those words. In the shadow 00:20:35.099 --> 00:20:40.259 of our lives, even when it seems like wrong is 00:20:40.259 --> 00:20:42.880 reigning as the king of our circumstances at 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:46.779 the moment, and Jesus is still on the cross, 00:20:47.309 --> 00:20:50.630 and all that is right is crucified with Him. 00:20:51.450 --> 00:20:54.269 Even in those moments, in the shadows behind 00:20:54.269 --> 00:21:01.210 it all, is God. Keeping watch upon His own, He's 00:21:01.210 --> 00:21:08.789 there. In all of the circumstances of life, a 00:21:08.789 --> 00:21:11.089 number in our church have recently lost their 00:21:11.089 --> 00:21:19.869 jobs. Some that I know of have come very close 00:21:19.869 --> 00:21:22.970 to losing the business that they've been involved 00:21:22.970 --> 00:21:27.390 in in years. That does something to shatter a 00:21:27.390 --> 00:21:34.769 person. To lose your job. It's bad enough when 00:21:34.769 --> 00:21:37.589 it's because of finances and corporate cutbacks 00:21:37.589 --> 00:21:41.529 or whatever. It's even worse when there's no 00:21:41.529 --> 00:21:51.220 real reason. Justifiable reason. When you have 00:21:51.220 --> 00:21:54.460 put everything you have and you are into a business 00:21:54.460 --> 00:21:58.920 to try to make it go, only to see it sputter 00:21:58.920 --> 00:22:03.119 and begin to spiral like an airplane plunging 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:09.400 to the ground. It's out of fuel. That does something 00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:16.059 to a person. Sometimes Men and women who go through 00:22:16.059 --> 00:22:20.700 experiences like this feel ashamed. What's wrong 00:22:20.700 --> 00:22:24.980 with them? Why didn't it go? Why wasn't I the 00:22:24.980 --> 00:22:28.799 one who was kept? I've worked hard for that company. 00:22:31.160 --> 00:22:33.059 And yet there is never a thing to be ashamed 00:22:33.059 --> 00:22:37.839 of in that kind of a situation. We need to understand 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:41.000 that in all the circumstances of our lives, God 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:48.589 is shepherding us onward. I've had at least one 00:22:48.589 --> 00:22:52.650 person say very honestly to me that he finds 00:22:52.650 --> 00:22:57.170 it hard to accept help from others because he's 00:22:57.170 --> 00:22:59.589 always been himself the one who's been able to 00:22:59.589 --> 00:23:02.430 help. He's been the one who's in control as it 00:23:02.430 --> 00:23:06.150 were and able to reach out and now he's in a 00:23:06.150 --> 00:23:10.630 position where he needs to receive from others 00:23:10.630 --> 00:23:16.720 and he finds a certain guilt in that. A difficulty, 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:23.960 it's humiliating. And yet even that is God's 00:23:23.960 --> 00:23:27.380 hand. There is no shame, there is no guilt in 00:23:27.380 --> 00:23:29.539 accepting help from others when we need it. That's 00:23:29.539 --> 00:23:33.519 what we're here for is to help others, all of 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:37.539 us. When someone reaches out to help us, we need 00:23:37.539 --> 00:23:40.539 to see that as the hand, as the angel of God, 00:23:42.200 --> 00:23:51.400 our shepherd. Anne Murphy was married to her 00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:54.759 husband Will in the early part of this century. 00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:57.940 And together they operated a very successful 00:23:57.940 --> 00:24:02.859 pottery business in Ohio. They used their wealth 00:24:02.859 --> 00:24:05.859 and their influence to serve the Lord in the 00:24:05.859 --> 00:24:10.720 church. Anne herself was a very talented singer 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:15.049 and a speaker. was active in ministry and used 00:24:15.049 --> 00:24:21.710 quite broadly in those days. But in 1929, I don't 00:24:21.710 --> 00:24:24.809 have to tell some of you what 1929 was all about. 00:24:26.029 --> 00:24:30.029 That was the year of the Great Depression. And 00:24:30.029 --> 00:24:32.930 the Murphys were among those who lost everything. 00:24:34.470 --> 00:24:41.950 Everything. Materially. And then, It was not 00:24:41.950 --> 00:24:48.430 long before Will died, and Anne was left alone. 00:24:50.670 --> 00:24:52.990 She went to live with some relatives in Burbank, 00:24:53.009 --> 00:24:58.029 California. Shortly before her death in 1942, 00:24:58.190 --> 00:25:02.430 she was visited by a friend who reported to others 00:25:02.430 --> 00:25:07.269 that she was in joy and in peace, trusting in 00:25:07.269 --> 00:25:09.509 the Lord. You say, why do you talk about her? 00:25:09.769 --> 00:25:12.730 Well, because she wrote a hymn that, from my 00:25:12.730 --> 00:25:14.670 childhood, has been one of my favorites. It's 00:25:14.670 --> 00:25:18.529 not in our hymnal. But we used to sing it often 00:25:18.529 --> 00:25:24.410 in our country church. The first verse that Anne 00:25:24.410 --> 00:25:28.269 Murphy wrote goes like this. There's a peace 00:25:28.269 --> 00:25:33.809 in my heart that the world never gave. A peace 00:25:33.809 --> 00:25:39.400 it cannot take away. Though the trials of life 00:25:39.400 --> 00:25:45.599 may surround like a cloud, I have a peace that 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:49.339 has come there to stay. Some of you know the 00:25:49.339 --> 00:25:57.740 chorus. Constantly abiding. Jesus is mine. Constantly 00:25:57.740 --> 00:26:05.859 abiding. Rapture divine. He never leaves me lonely. 00:26:06.690 --> 00:26:11.670 whispers, Oh, so kind, I will never leave thee. 00:26:13.890 --> 00:26:19.829 Jesus is mine." What great words. What great 00:26:19.829 --> 00:26:25.509 words. She wrote out of her own experience of 00:26:25.509 --> 00:26:30.690 the constantly abiding presence of Christ. And 00:26:30.690 --> 00:26:36.059 he is that in your life too. Not only does God's 00:26:36.059 --> 00:26:39.220 sure presence mean His participation in every 00:26:39.220 --> 00:26:43.660 circumstance, but it also means His preservation 00:26:43.660 --> 00:26:49.759 until we arrive home. For God, you see, dwells 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:55.339 in us, and His Spirit especially is called the 00:26:55.339 --> 00:27:01.619 seal of God that is upon us. He is called the 00:27:01.619 --> 00:27:09.670 guarantee of our redemption. I'm convinced personally 00:27:09.670 --> 00:27:17.410 that there is a visible seal that is upon the 00:27:17.410 --> 00:27:21.470 child of God that though we cannot see, the spirits 00:27:21.470 --> 00:27:27.589 in the heavenly realms are able to see it. So 00:27:27.589 --> 00:27:29.809 that immediately by looking at you or looking 00:27:29.809 --> 00:27:34.490 at me, they see some sort of a seal, an indication 00:27:34.490 --> 00:27:42.750 that we belong to God. The fact that He dwells 00:27:42.750 --> 00:27:45.930 in us, He resides in us, He said, I will never 00:27:45.930 --> 00:27:50.009 leave you or forsake you, means that we are preserved 00:27:50.009 --> 00:27:54.009 until that day that we will stand complete in 00:27:54.009 --> 00:28:01.130 His presence in heaven. His sure presence also 00:28:01.130 --> 00:28:05.750 means God's protection from our enemies. Paul 00:28:05.750 --> 00:28:09.029 knew about this, didn't he, in Corinth? Things 00:28:09.029 --> 00:28:12.769 rather turned sour there in Acts chapter 18. 00:28:14.190 --> 00:28:16.970 So much so that Paul himself, the great apostle, 00:28:17.809 --> 00:28:20.470 who by this time had already been stoned and 00:28:20.470 --> 00:28:23.609 probably who had died and resuscitated, brought 00:28:23.609 --> 00:28:27.339 back to life, He who had been beaten in Philippi 00:28:27.339 --> 00:28:29.980 and imprisoned, things were going so bad in Corinth 00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:36.279 that he was afraid. But Jesus appeared to him 00:28:36.279 --> 00:28:42.519 one night and said, Paul, don't be afraid. I 00:28:42.519 --> 00:28:48.019 have many people in this city. It is a great 00:28:48.019 --> 00:28:51.930 thing to know you don't have to be afraid. Not 00:28:51.930 --> 00:28:54.430 that we can be foolish and presumptuous upon 00:28:54.430 --> 00:28:56.869 God, but the fact is that when we are walking 00:28:56.869 --> 00:28:59.569 in the will of God, in obedience to His will 00:28:59.569 --> 00:29:02.289 as much as we know it, we are protected by God 00:29:02.289 --> 00:29:05.789 for His divine purposes in the world. And there 00:29:05.789 --> 00:29:12.769 is nothing and no one who can touch us. Nothing. 00:29:14.390 --> 00:29:19.829 His presence means His sure protection of our 00:29:19.829 --> 00:29:24.720 lives. A true story is told by a missionary wife 00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:29.000 by the name of Mrs. Dan Crawford of a nine -year 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:33.160 -old African girl who, because of her involvement 00:29:33.160 --> 00:29:36.779 in a Christian school kind of setting in their 00:29:36.779 --> 00:29:39.680 area, became a believer in Jesus. Her parents 00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:42.980 were deeply involved in their animism, their 00:29:42.980 --> 00:29:46.400 paganism, and they were opposed to her faith, 00:29:46.440 --> 00:29:49.059 and so they took her out of the school. But she 00:29:49.059 --> 00:29:51.140 would go back to the school and they would beat 00:29:51.140 --> 00:29:54.660 her. And she kept going back to the people who 00:29:54.660 --> 00:29:57.740 told her of Christ and who loved her. Just nine 00:29:57.740 --> 00:30:01.180 years of age now. And finally, the mother in 00:30:01.180 --> 00:30:04.759 desperation, trying to break this Jesus belief 00:30:04.759 --> 00:30:08.500 in the girl, took her out into the jungle one 00:30:08.500 --> 00:30:13.579 night and tied her to a tree, believing that 00:30:13.579 --> 00:30:18.019 the jungle animals would so frighten her during 00:30:18.019 --> 00:30:21.380 the night that she would turn away from this 00:30:21.380 --> 00:30:24.920 faith in Jesus and return to her pagan ideas. 00:30:28.920 --> 00:30:33.079 The next morning, a young man who was a Christian 00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:39.140 happened to come by that tree, that path, and 00:30:39.140 --> 00:30:43.920 found this little girl still tied there. And 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:48.880 he testified that There were lion tracks all 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:53.759 around that tree, up to five yards from it, 15 00:30:53.759 --> 00:31:01.859 feet, no closer. The little girl said that she 00:31:01.859 --> 00:31:07.140 had seen the lions during the night. But she 00:31:07.140 --> 00:31:10.519 had learned in her school the story of Daniel 00:31:10.519 --> 00:31:18.799 in the lion's den. And she prayed that God would 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:25.740 protect her. Who knows the power of faith in 00:31:25.740 --> 00:31:29.980 a nine -year -old little girl. And that night 00:31:29.980 --> 00:31:32.539 the lions were all around her but did not touch 00:31:32.539 --> 00:31:43.319 her. God is here. And His presence means that 00:31:43.319 --> 00:31:54.460 you and I are protected. from our enemies. God's 00:31:54.460 --> 00:31:56.619 presence also means that there should be purity 00:31:56.619 --> 00:32:04.180 in my lifestyle. Thou God seest me. It's interesting 00:32:04.180 --> 00:32:06.220 that when Paul wrote to the Philippians in the 00:32:06.220 --> 00:32:09.160 fourth chapter, he gets to the point finally 00:32:09.160 --> 00:32:13.500 of rebuking the two women in the church who were 00:32:13.500 --> 00:32:17.500 kind of at one another. And he commands them 00:32:17.500 --> 00:32:19.480 to live at peace with one another. Then he addresses 00:32:19.480 --> 00:32:22.880 the whole church and he says, now let your forbearance 00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:26.819 be known to all men. And then he says, the Lord 00:32:26.819 --> 00:32:33.160 is near. What was he saying? He's saying you 00:32:33.160 --> 00:32:37.480 as a church need to clean up your act because 00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:40.900 the Lord is near. The Lord is there watching. 00:32:42.059 --> 00:32:48.759 He sees. Boy, if I believe that, it's going to 00:32:48.759 --> 00:32:58.819 make a difference where I go and what I do. His 00:32:58.819 --> 00:33:01.660 sure presence means his power in our lives for 00:33:01.660 --> 00:33:04.880 the mission he's given us. And here I return 00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:08.539 to our text in Matthew 28 .20. For you know that 00:33:08.539 --> 00:33:11.740 that text where he said, lo, I am with you, comes 00:33:11.740 --> 00:33:17.349 right after he says, make disciples. As you're 00:33:17.349 --> 00:33:20.750 going, make disciples by baptizing them and teaching 00:33:20.750 --> 00:33:25.130 them all things. That's our job, wherever we 00:33:25.130 --> 00:33:29.289 are, to make disciples. To seek to win people 00:33:29.289 --> 00:33:32.509 to Christ and not only that, to then enable them 00:33:32.509 --> 00:33:34.890 to walk with Him, to teach them what they need 00:33:34.890 --> 00:33:37.329 to know that they might walk with Him and be 00:33:37.329 --> 00:33:40.069 a part of the body, the church, and the world. 00:33:40.789 --> 00:33:44.940 And lo, He says, I'm with you always. even to 00:33:44.940 --> 00:33:49.359 the end of the world. He said, all power is given 00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:55.859 to me. I am with you. When you and I feel like 00:33:55.859 --> 00:34:00.220 we just can't go on, when we feel afraid to witness, 00:34:01.420 --> 00:34:03.880 when we wonder how we're going to be able to 00:34:03.880 --> 00:34:06.039 follow through with the commitments that we've 00:34:06.039 --> 00:34:11.219 made, he says all power is mine. I am with you. 00:34:12.340 --> 00:34:17.940 We can trust him. Reverend Thomas Chalmers was 00:34:17.940 --> 00:34:20.619 a Scottish pastor and a university professor 00:34:20.619 --> 00:34:26.619 as well, even before his conversion at the age 00:34:26.619 --> 00:34:30.920 of 31. After he was converted, he continued on 00:34:30.920 --> 00:34:34.659 as a pastor and as a professor at the University 00:34:34.659 --> 00:34:36.820 of St. Andrews and the University of Edinburgh 00:34:36.820 --> 00:34:40.800 later. He was one of the most popular preachers 00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:45.159 of his era in the first part of the 1800s. He 00:34:45.159 --> 00:34:48.059 was a man who not only came to know Jesus Christ 00:34:48.059 --> 00:34:51.000 and had a great ability to preach, but he was 00:34:51.000 --> 00:34:53.320 a man who knew that his mission in the world 00:34:53.320 --> 00:34:58.920 was to reach people who were in need. He not 00:34:58.920 --> 00:35:01.860 only helped to organize the Free Church of Scotland, 00:35:02.760 --> 00:35:06.099 but he labored among poor people. And in the 00:35:06.099 --> 00:35:09.239 parishes where he ministered, he organized charitable 00:35:09.239 --> 00:35:12.780 work to reach those who were in need. He wrote 00:35:12.780 --> 00:35:17.980 these words. that are helpful to all of us. When 00:35:17.980 --> 00:35:22.840 I walk by the wayside, He is along with me. When 00:35:22.840 --> 00:35:25.579 I enter into company amid all my forgetfulness 00:35:25.579 --> 00:35:30.579 of Him, He never forgets me. In the silent watches 00:35:30.579 --> 00:35:33.559 of the night, when my eyelids are closed and 00:35:33.559 --> 00:35:38.019 my spirit has sunk into unconsciousness, the 00:35:38.019 --> 00:35:42.219 observant eye of Him who never slumbers is upon 00:35:42.219 --> 00:35:46.539 me. I cannot flee from his presence. Go where 00:35:46.539 --> 00:35:51.480 I will. He leads me and watches me and cares 00:35:51.480 --> 00:35:55.099 for me." Are you living in the light of that 00:35:55.099 --> 00:36:02.159 presence, his presence? The story is told of 00:36:02.159 --> 00:36:05.219 an ocean liner in World War II who left a British 00:36:05.219 --> 00:36:08.340 port headed for the United States. Of course 00:36:08.340 --> 00:36:11.320 it was very dangerous because of all the German 00:36:11.320 --> 00:36:15.440 submarines. And so they were given strict orders 00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:18.179 not to have any voice communication with other 00:36:18.179 --> 00:36:21.119 ships that might give away their position. If 00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:24.380 in an emergency they had to, they could use the 00:36:24.380 --> 00:36:30.619 wireless. Well this ocean liner got out into 00:36:30.619 --> 00:36:36.000 the Atlantic Ocean a ways and one day, sure enough, 00:36:36.039 --> 00:36:41.730 they saw on the horizon an enemy ship. And immediately 00:36:41.730 --> 00:36:44.909 the captain sent a wireless message that said, 00:36:45.190 --> 00:36:50.090 enemy cruiser sighted, what shall I do? And immediately 00:36:50.090 --> 00:36:55.710 a reply came back to him that said, keep straight 00:36:55.710 --> 00:37:01.070 on, I am standing by. He looked at the horizon 00:37:01.070 --> 00:37:08.340 and saw one ship. He did exactly what he was 00:37:08.340 --> 00:37:11.079 told. He stayed on course until finally he reached 00:37:11.079 --> 00:37:15.519 port. And just after that ship reached port, 00:37:15.639 --> 00:37:20.179 there was a British warship that also slipped 00:37:20.179 --> 00:37:24.760 in the same harbor. You see that ship had been 00:37:24.760 --> 00:37:30.739 trailing the other ship. Out of sight, but there. 00:37:31.800 --> 00:37:37.239 And the message was, keep on course. I am standing 00:37:37.239 --> 00:37:43.579 by. You may wonder today if you can keep on course. 00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:48.840 Hey, the message is keep on course. God says 00:37:48.840 --> 00:37:54.360 I'm standing by. The God we worship is here. 00:37:55.719 --> 00:37:58.119 Let that sink deep into your heart and determine 00:37:58.119 --> 00:38:01.079 as you go away from here today that you will 00:38:01.079 --> 00:38:04.659 not forget it. And that will impact the plans 00:38:04.659 --> 00:38:08.920 you make, the lifestyle you have, the people 00:38:08.920 --> 00:38:12.440 you see, what you do, that it will soak into 00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:18.619 every area of your life and fill you. He's here. 00:38:20.260 --> 00:38:25.199 Let's pray. Our heads are bowed, our eyes are 00:38:25.199 --> 00:38:28.619 closed as we come to the end of the service. 00:38:31.739 --> 00:38:34.659 truth that God is here, that He is with you, 00:38:34.739 --> 00:38:41.340 that He will always, always be with you. How 00:38:41.340 --> 00:38:46.260 does that strike you today? Let it calm your 00:38:46.260 --> 00:38:50.639 fears and bring peace. Let it stir you to holiness. 00:38:51.760 --> 00:38:55.539 Let it fill you with confidence and courage. 00:38:57.719 --> 00:39:01.820 Thank you, Father. For the great God that you 00:39:01.820 --> 00:39:06.679 are we desire to know you And what a wonderful 00:39:06.679 --> 00:39:11.059 truth this is to know that you are here and always 00:39:11.059 --> 00:39:13.579 with us Amen