The Presence of God, Part 2

Now it's time to get to the meat of what I want to say about the presence of God. As I said in my earlier post, a cursory reading of the Psalms reveals that the writers longed for God's presence. Some other Psalms to consider include Psalm 42:1,2: "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My sould thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?" I like the way the New International Version renders Psalm 14:5, "...God is present in the company of the righteous." Probably the best Psalm in this regard is one that the Apostle Peter quoted on the Day of Pentecost referring to Christ's resurrection. Psalm 16:11 says in the New King James Version: ...In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." That may be the most powerful Scripture on the presence of God there is.

Another interesting place where God manifests His presence is in the exercise of Biblical Church discipline, which is outlined in Matthew 18:15-20. Specifically verse 20 says: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them."

Now in the context, I believe that Jesus is saying that when the leadership of the Church makes the difficult decision to disfellowship or excommunicate someone because of willful, continual, unrepentant sin, He is saying that He Himself will stand beside them in agreement with that decision putting the stamp of Heaven on it. This is a place where Christ's presence I believe acts as a reassurance to the leadership particularly that they have done the right thing, but also as a warning to us who might consider resisting the discipline process if we are found in sin.

However, I think there is another Scripture that tells us of God's presence in a place where we're not accustomed to seeing it. In 1 Corinthians 10, the Apostle Paul is exhorting the Corinthian Christians to flee from idolatry and in doing so gives us a profound insight into the Lord's Supper. He writes: "Therefore my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? ...the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons." (1 Corinthians 10:14-16;20 NKJV).

Paul tells us that when we partake of the cup, we are communing with Christ's blood! Similarly, taking the bread means to commune with the body of Christ! It is plain that in order to commune with someone, they have to be manifestly present. Also, it is clear in verses 20 and 21 that Paul is contrasting the Lord's Supper, which is an act of worship to God, with idol worship which results in fellowship with demons, which implies that demons are manifestly present during idol worship. But if demons are present in idol worship, then clearly God (or rather in this case, Christ who is God the Son) is present with us during the Lord's Supper.

So then, let us enter God's presence joyfully, during times of corporate and individual singing, during our meeting times with other believers, but particularly when we come to the Lord's table to commune with Him in His presence.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Christian