Sermon Central
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God Is Always Near Series
Contributed by Dean Courtier on Aug 20, 2015 (message contributor)
Summary: If you have ever felt like you are alone in this world, if you ever struggle to sense God’s presence, my prayer is that you will be encouraged by God’s Word.
Supernatural Stream of God’s Presence
If i am honest, even as a Pentecostal Minister, who loves and serves Jesus with my whole heart, sometimes I can question whether or not God is near.
It’s usually struggles or chaos that seem to hide His presence in my life.
But just because i can’t clearly sense His presence in those times, it doesn’t mean the Lord isn’t present.
In fact, God is always much closer than we could ever imagine.
In Acts 17:28, the Apostle Paul declares to the Greek philosophers of the time and to us today that ‘in God we live and move and exist.’
God is closer than we could imagine.
For those of us who have accepted Jesus as Saviour, become the dwelling place for The Holy Spirit.
God dwells within us.
If you have ever felt like you are alone in this world,
if you ever struggle to sense God’s presence,
my prayer is that you will be encouraged by God’s Word this morning.
Deuteronomy 31:6 tells us: “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic. For the Lord your God will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
God is with you. He is always with you, for there is no place that we can go to escape His loving presence!
The Bible tells us there is no place we could go to escape His presence.
So, the title of my sermon this morning is
We cannot escape God’s presence and I want us to consider together four key points from Psalm 139.
1. God knows your thoughts and actions.
2. God is continually present in your life.
3. God knows your past, present & future
4. God will continue to lead & to guide.
Bible Scholars will tell you that of the 150 Psalms we have in the Bible, Psalm 139 is the one that is the best at describing God’s personal relationship with us.
The key theme of Psalm 139 is that God is not far off,
He is always near to each of us.
We cannot escape God’s presence.
In this Psalm, King David declares there is absolutely no place he could go to escape the presence of God.
If David goes to heaven, God is there.
If David descended into the earth, God is there.
David goes on to say that wherever he goes, the hand of the Lord will lead him and hold him.
What an amazing promise!
Wherever we go, God goes with us.
The universe does not contain the Lord.
The Lord contains the universe!
The first point from Psalm 139 is:
GOD KNOWS YOUR THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS.
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
These verses describe an attribute of God theologians call Omniscience.
Omniscience simply means all knowing.
God knows everything.
Hebrews 4:13 says “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
Let me remind you, there is no question God cannot answer, there is no problem that can confuses God. God is never surprised. He’s never shocked.
He never says, “I didn’t expect that to happen”
These verses tell us the truth that God does know everything about us, we can not hide our heart, our motivation or our motives from Him.
When people say “God knows my heart” it is usually an excuse for not doing something. I wonder how many people believe their own words.
God knows everything and He sees deep into our hearts.
God is familiar with all our ways.
He knows where we are, He knows what we are doing, He knows why we choose to do what we do.
He knows all our habits, both the good habits and the bad.
He knows our areas of strength and our areas of weakness better than we know them ourselves.
He knows when we want to be in church worshipping Him, and He knows when and why we choose to allow other things a priority over Him in our lives.
He knows when we are willingly and joyfully serving Him and others, and He also knows when we just can’t be bothered to do anything at all.
God knows everything He sees deep into our hearts and He knows our thoughts.
God knows what I am going to say before I say it!
He doesn’t just know it after I say it, He knows it before I say it.
