Experiencing The Presence Of Christ

April 15, 2012

Morning Worship

Text: Exodus 33:17-19

Subject: The Revelation of Jesus

Title: Experiencing the Presence of Christ

What is the extent of your revelation of Christ? How well do you know Him? I’m not asking how much you know about Him or about how well you know the scriptures. That is important in your understanding of who He is, but what I am asking is, “What is the depth of your relationship with Him?”

The story is told that after Helen Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, had given her the names of physical objects in sign language, Miss Sullivan attempted to explain God and tapped out the symbols for the name "God." Much to Miss Sullivan's surprise, Helen spelled back, "Thank you for telling me God's name, Teacher, for he has touched me many times before." Helen Keller knew something of God's signature from nature, but it was wordless.

The truth is that God has spent the entirety of human history wanting to reveal Himself to us. The question is will we let Him and if so to what extent? In John 13:1, It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.#

I want to show you today through the scriptures how Jesus desires to reveal Himself to you so that you can live your life knowing that He is with you at all times.

Exodus 33:17-19, 17 And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

19 And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence.

I believe this is God’s word…

I believe it is for me…

I accept it as mine…

And I appropriate it to my life today…

Three things we want to see today:

1. God knows you by name and will reveal Himself to those who seek Him…

2. God will reveal His glory to you through His word…

3. God will reveal Himself through visual applications…

I. GOD WILL REVEAL HIMSELF TO THOSE WHO SEEK HIM… Turn over to John 20. I spoke from this passage last week during our communion service, but I want to go a little further with it today. 15 “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). I have often wondered why Mary didn’t know Jesus when she first saw Him, but later did recognize Him. We know that Jesus had a resurrection body at this point, but is that what kept Mary from recognizing Him? Consider this – What Jesus was Mary looking for? She was looking for a beaten, crucified and dead Jesus. She had a picture in her mind of what she was going to see when she found Him. The important thing is that she was looking for Him and even though she did not recognize Him at first, when He spoke her name her eyes were opened. Lamentations 3:25, The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him… Look at what the Lord spoke to the young prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1. 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” Here is the problem in the world as well as with many in the “church”. Even though God knows us and has called us to be His people, the Jesus they are looking for is not the Jesus of the bible. Oh, yeah, He is the Jesus who died for our sins. He is the same Jesus who rose from the dead. But for many that is where the similarities end. The Jesus they seek doesn’t heal today. The Jesus they are looking for does not provide for every need. The Jesus they think they know isn’t the same yesterday, today and forever. So if they are not seeking an encounter with the Jesus of the bible, what kind of Jesus will they find? It won’t be a personal Jesus who tells them that He will baptize them with the Holy Spirit. It won’t be a Jesus who will never leave them nor forsake them. It won’t be a Jesus who tells them to, 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” But if you sincerely seek the Jesus of scripture, the Word of God who has come in the flesh, He will reveal Himself to you. Jeremiah 33:3, ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Jeremiah 31:3, The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. Jesus is calling your name today. He wants to reveal Himself to you.