Presence of God: cloud or tent? by Basson Nel
This is our third meeting this year, and so we have already started on a journey together.
I want to briefly bring those who have only been able to join us this morning onto the same page – the good news is, that there is no major directional change just because we’ve had to replace our old calendars with new ones.
Thus the journey is not new – we are continuing on the path which God has called us onto, but there will be new experiences, challenges, adventures and victories in Him!
On the first of January, we looked at personal discipleship – basically stewarding ourselves well into the year ahead.
We wanted to make it clear that this sermon was not intended to become 10 steps to personal fulfillment, nor a set of spiritual new years’ resolutions, so we followed it up with a one point sermon – being found in the presence of God!
*We do believe that this is absolutely critical for our journey ahead – to be found in the presence of God and to move with Him!
I believe that this is key to fulfilling our purpose and calling in God, firstly being positioned in Him, having our identity in Him and therefore finding our call and purpose in Him.
*We do believe that it is only action that flows out of obedience to the stirring of the Spirit of God, that actually brings about lasting fruit.
The very well known portion of scripture in John 15 comes to mind, but before we read it; I think it is important to realize that these words of Jesus carry much weight.
Obviously every single word of Jesus is weighty – yet I believe that these words are spoken in bold print, especially when we remind ourselves of the timing thereof.
We should always read scripture in context and in this case, the chronological timing is of utmost importance.
Jesus is speaking during the last supper together with His disciples; He has already washed their feet and Judas has already left the gathering to go and betray Jesus; now in this setting, of Jesus surrounded by 11 of His disciples only, no crowds around, no-one begging to be healed or fed, and just an hour or so before Jesus will be arrested, He speaks – this portion forms part of His final, parting instructions to them:
“Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples.” (vs 4-8)
As world systems crumble around us, we realize yet again that we cannot superimpose our own ways and wisdom on the spiritual world, expecting lasting fruitfulness.
As we stand at the beginning of a year, we are sometimes painfully aware of the futility of quick-fixes – the 30 day diet, the 10 steps to happiness, the better marriage in just 3 weeks, and the new you before lunch time!
*All around us, we are becoming aware of a new hunger within believers – men and women who long for more than a weekly or even daily experience in the Spirit.
At risk of sounding pragmatic: we want something real and something that lasts!
The wonderful news is that Jesus said: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.” (Jn.15:16a)
And from this portion of scripture it is clear that the key is to remain in Him – for the branches to remain in the vine.
Now we have all heard this before – especially since I have said it before!
*However, the fact that one has heard a truth before, does not diminish that truth!
Especially, when we know that in the past we have all been guilty of coming into the presence of God for a moment, or even for regular moments (every morning perhaps), or for a period, or even for a season, only to get on with our lives, our schedules and our responsibilities in our own strength again.
My point is not that we want to merely enjoy the presence of the Spirit of God, while forsaking that which we are called to, by perpetually basking in the glow of His presence.
My point is that it is in the presence of God, we find Him (fairly obviously), and we find out who we are in Him (identity/position) and what we are called to by Him (calling/purpose), and how to go about it changed, empowered and led by His grace (obedient action) and develop the character to enjoy sustained fruitfulness while giving the glory to Him (fruit/prosperity)!
The presence of God is therefore not simply something to be sought before we take off and face the day, nor is it only for full time ministers who have the time to sit and meditate on God while the world continues on its merry way.
Thus, it is not a perfume which is applied early morning, fading as the day continues, nor is it for spiritual gurus stuck in a lotus position all day long!
Let’s illustrate what I mean by briefly looking at two scriptures from Exodus:
Ex.13:21-22 reads as follows: “By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.”
There is a sense of them being covered and surrounded by the presence of God all the time, not just while they were in prayer, or singing songs of worship, but also while they were simply “getting on with everyday life”, even while sleeping.
In fact, the presence of God pretty much determined the nature of and the course of “everyday life” – when the cloud/presence moved, they moved, when it hovered/ rested/stayed, so did they!
However Ex.33:7-9 reads as follows: “Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses.”
This is a very different picture – because of the sin of the people, God no longer dwelled among them, but would meet with them outside the camp, at a special place of meeting.
It is a picture of them “getting on with life” on their own, and from time to time as they felt the need to, they could pop into the tent of meeting to come into the presence of God!
Sometimes our spiritual lives resemble something of this “tent of meeting picture” – where we come into the presence of God on a Sunday and then set off again into “life out there”.
I realize that theologically, we as believers carry something of the presence of God within us, and so theoretically, we are in His presence all the time; but I also know that a lot of decisions and choices made by believers daily, are not inspired by the Holy Spirit!
*This is what I want us to focus on – developing that intimacy and closeness of relationship with God constantly, open spiritual eyes and ears, to not only be aware of a tent of meeting out there, but to be led by the cloud; continuously!
I want to develop such a close walk with the Spirit, that His continued presence also determines my thoughts and actions – His presence must lead to my obedience.
It is only in such a place of obedient action where we find fruitfulness – lasting fruit!
This in itself represents a journey – it is not something that we will cover in a morning.
*There is such a danger that this can be seen as step one – coming into the presence of God, step two being “obedience” and step three “living a fruitful life”!
I want to live a fruitful, meaningful, impactful life, and I am sure you do as well.
But if we, even subconsciously, see the Presence of God as a first step to an end goal, we are missing it – we are heading for a “tent of meeting experience” yet again – “let’s get into God’s presence and then move on to the next step en route to fruitfulness and prosperity”.
I never want us to move on, I never want us to leave first base in order to get to second base – I want us to live and move and have our being under the cloud; so that when God leads us on from first to second base, we will still be under the cloud when we get there!
We remain in the vine, by remaining under the cloud!
I want to illustrate something of what I mean by briefly looking at king David:
While warrior David is a favourite of most young boys; king David is remembered more for his heart after God, than for his military exploits.
It was his worshipful heart that set him apart in the eyes of God, while still in obscurity, long before the fame of any military campaign, or before being crowned king, for that matter.
To understand the uniqueness of David, we need to contextualize, and remember that in his day, fear of God and worship of God, basically entailed animal sacrifice.
The entire system of worship of God in Israel, was based on the sacrificial blood of rams and bulls constantly flowing to make atonement for the sins of the individuals, and of the nation as a whole.
For example, listen to Jer.10:10: “But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God, the eternal King. When He is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure His wrath. (NIV)
10 But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.” (RSV)
This was the picture of the God of the Old Covenant – a God who was constantly aware of the sin of mankind and had to be appeased by constant sacrifice, lest His anger and wrath boiled over – so man approached God cautiously, sacrifice in hand.
Yet amidst this sacrificial system, which at best provided a temporary stay of execution, or suspended sentence, since your sin immediately started to pile up again, David realized that a sacrifice of praise from the heart, a sacrifice of deep calling to deep, would be much more acceptable to God.
His revelation led him beyond the letter of the law, to a true understanding of the actual heart of God – a relational God of love, of intimacy and of fellowship.
David had a heart that yearned for the presence of God and he worshiped his God by pouring out songs of praise and delight to Him while nobody was looking!
*David was found to be a man after God’s heart, not because of what he did when surrounded by thousands on the battle fields, but because of who he was when surrounded by nobody at all!
It was not how he led an army of multitudes that distinguished him, but how he led the army of one, that made him a man after God’s own heart!
When nobody was looking, David poured out his heart before his God in prayer and worship while tending sheep – the sacrifice of a surrendered heart!
Our true nature and agenda is most often revealed when no-one is around – when we pursue God and His presence motivated by nothing other than wanting to know Him!
While David was alone with God, strengthened by the presence of God – he learned an incredible lesson – to depend on God.
When there is nobody to turn to or to run to, you have to turn to God in faith and to act with courage!
*When the lion and the bear came to kill his father’s sheep – David learned some lessons: that being in the presence of God does not mean that the world pushes pause and does not throw stuff at you; that being in the presence of God does not mean that you can ignore the realities of life and just keep plucking away at your harp; and that when it is only you and God, you can only depend on God for your victory!
These were huge lessons and it didn’t go unnoticed – he knew that God was with him and that acting in obedience to the stirring of the Spirit of God within him, would guarantee his success.
(Have you perhaps gone through times of testing and character forming, without being able to identify, and thus learn the lesson? Even failure can be turned into success, if we learn from it!)
In chapter 16 of 1 Samuel, David is called in from the fields to a huge meal at home, where the prophet of God awaits him, to anoint him as king over Israel – a young man, a boy in fact, anointed to reign over God’s nation.
His youth is confirmed in the next chapter, when he is brought before the current king, Saul, to whom he declares that he would go out to fight against Goliath, because Goliath had defied the army and the God of Israel!
Saul answered:”You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.”
It is now that David draws from his faith and his testimony of being alone with God:
“But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.” (1 Sam.17:34-37)
I think we’ll all agree that this was the ideal opportunity for a “tent of meeting” moment – “Let me just quickly pop over to the tent of meeting to hear what God has to say, before I commit to this one!”
But David comes from a place of living in God’s presence, under the cloud, so to speak, of searching for the heart of God by pouring out worship and praise in an unprecedented way, of searching out and knowing the heart of God and of experiencing the favour of God, when acting in courageous obedience to Him!
We know the rest of the story: David kills Goliath, he becomes an instant hero of the entire Israeli army, he becomes a favourite with the king, Saul, he becomes best friends with the prince, Jonathan, and to top it all off – he marries the princess, Michal!
Now that’s a happy ending if we’ve ever heard one, but does this represent fruit that will last?
Perhaps not, but this in itself does not represent the full story of David, this is but one episode in a series.
The true significance of David’s life is only evident when we review his entire legacy.
It would have been great if he had only written the psalms, or established an unprecedented form of worship in Israel, or designed the temple, or brought Israel into its golden age, uniting Israel and Judah, but he had found such favour with God, that he was chosen as the forerunner of the Messiah!
Throughout history and eternity, Jesus would come from the line of David, be called the son of David, and the One who sits on David’s throne!
All of this, while we know that there are some of the episodes of David’s life, which carry a higher age restriction, less violence, but more nudity!
This should inspire us even more; to realize that if a man who was a sinner and who lived hundreds of years before the blood of Jesus was shed for that sin, could live in such an incredible place of fellowship and favour with God, then how much more can we?
How much more should we who are believers and are covered by the blood of Jesus, which not only makes atonement for our sins, but takes it away, be able to come into the presence of God and live from such a place of fellowship and favour?
The same John who recorded the vine and the fruit for us, then wrote the following in Revelation: “And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain, and with Your blood You purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” (5:9-10)
This is the call from within the cloud.
We are the generation to live in this revelation – that the blood of Jesus was not shed only to save us from our sin and to open a way to be reconciled to our God and Father, but to restore us to a relationship of intimacy with our God in which we partner with Him to bring His rule and reign into our daily realities.
A generation who lives with this motto perpetually in their hearts and on their lips:
“As it is in heaven so let it be on the earth.”
Let us be the generation who does not only come to a tent of meeting, not even on a regular basis, but rather, who constantly lives under the cloud of His presence.
