God’s Presence: To See or Not to See
A little longer, and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me...
—John
14:19a
—Revelation.
1:10, 12, 16
—1 Corinthians 15:4, 5, 6, 8
The natural man comprehends God in
the same way as a blind and deaf man would view a brilliant sunrise or listen
to beautiful music. He would be oblivious to the wonders around him no matter
how brilliant the sight or how loud the sound.
The revelation of God works on the same principle. The
person who has a heart after God will see or hear Him through the smallest sign
while the one who has rejected God in his heart will see nothing or will
explain it away, no matter how powerful the Presence or how obvious the
miracle. Jesus said that no sign would be given to an evil and adulterous
generation (Matt. 12:39). He hides Himself from the proud but reveals Himself
to the humble and to those who seek (1 Pet. 5:5).
It is amazing how those who reject God can close their eyes
to His manifested presence.
The Pharisees knew firsthand that Jesus had raised Lazarus
from the dead. They witnessed with their own eyes the awesome effects of this
miracle on the people around Bethany and Jerusalem. They responded by plotting
to kill Lazarus and silence his testimony (John 12:10).
The people of Israel trembled before the presence of God on
Mt. Sinai, yet at the foot of this very mountain, they made a golden calf and
fell into idolatry (Ex. 32:1-6).
Jesus rebuked certain cities where most of His mighty works
had been done because they had refused to repent even in the face of such
powerful evidence (Matt. 11:21-24).
Jesus told of the man in hell who begged “Father Abraham” to
send someone back from paradise to warn his brothers not to come to “this place
of torment.” His argument was, “If one goes to them from the dead they will
repent.” The divine response was, “If they will not hear Moses and the Prophets
(their Bible) neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead”
(Luke 16:27-31).
The lesson is clear. The heart of man determines how he will
respond to God’s presence and initiatives. If he is inclined toward God, he
will see the evidence and embrace the Lord. Otherwise, he will remain blind.
God’s presence has implications for us
People often resist the presence of
God because of the significance of its implications for them personally. The
presence of God automatically shines a spotlight on our own natures. The more
clearly we see God, the more clearly we know ourselves. This is one reason for
our tendency to keep God at a safe distance away. When He shows up, we are
forced to face certain realities in our lives. The manifested presence of God
automatically creates a consciousness of our responsibility to respond to Him.
If He shows Himself and we see Him, we have then lost our excuse for not
seeking, serving, and obeying. At the same time, the more silent and distant
God seems, the more we feel we can ignore Him in good conscience. But when He
shows up, we are forced by His very presence to say “yes” or “no” to Him.
Nominal Christians and people who are spiritually unresponsive are threatened
by the manifested presence of God because it disturbs their complacency. And
complacency is another form of saying “no” to God. To know Him greatly means to
follow Him deeply. If He “stays away”, then I can be lukewarm and live my life
without being bothered. But if He shows up, I am then forced to deal with where
I am in my relationship with Him.
Stephen was stoned because God showed up. The power of God
was on Stephen so strongly that his words could not be resisted by the council
before whom he stood. When stubborn and rebellious hearts encounter the
irresistible words of God at this level, they cannot remain neutral, and they
cannot hide underneath a cloak of pretense and complacency. Unable to resist
Stephen’s words, they either had to receive his words or kill him. They chose
the latter. They actually stopped their ears and shouted loudly as they ran at
him and stoned him to death (Acts 7:54, 57, 58a).
We should take note that the ones who resist God the loudest
may be the very ones whose hearts are being pierced by the word God is
speaking.
What is the attitude of churches toward the presence of God?
In many cases, the attitude of
churches can be described as follows. They want the Lord to be present, but
they want Him to behave. They want Him close enough to keep watch but not close
enough to be seen. They want God to be generally and mystically around but not
specifically and pointedly obvious. They want Him to move in a general sense,
quietly and unnoticed over an audience of passive spectators waiting to receive
a warm feeling as they focus on what is happening up front on the platform.
Pastors want God to be present in the church but are often
afraid of the risk involved in letting God show up in His people. They want God
to work, but they don’t want Him to use people. They are afraid of what might
happen if the Holy Spirit is free to work through people in a supernatural way.
Therefore, the agenda and programs tend to quench the working of the Holy
Spirit. It is “safer” to prohibit than to learn from experience and actually
lead.
We stand and pray for God to move among us, and we appeal to
people to take initiative and be spiritually aggressive; at the same time, we
create an atmosphere that prevents both. We quench the Spirit, and we do not
allow people to express themselves genuinely. We want God to act but within our
preset parameters. We want people to act but only in our precast organizational
slots that exist to serve the institution. In other words, we ask God to show
up and ask people to function; but, in reality, we are afraid of both.
We should hunger for His presence
Since I was a teenager, I have never
been able to understand why people who know and love God would not be
passionately hungry and desirous to see Him and His works. Why would we be
afraid of the miraculous visitations of His presence in our gatherings or out
in the streets as we tell people about Jesus Christ who was crucified for our
sins and is now alive and working among us by the power of the Holy Spirit? Why
would we not be willing to take the risks involved in learning to be vessels through
whom He can reveal Himself to a world that so desperately needs Him?
—Isaiah 64:1a, 2b
—Acts 4:31, 33
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