Danville Enlightener

VOL. VIII, No. 31

August 26, 2007

In The Presence of God

Peter had a most unusual reaction when he and some others caught some fish. I am sure you remember reading about the incident. The apostles had fished all night but they came up empty. Afterwards Jesus got in one of the boats and began teaching. When He finished He said to Peter: “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch,” (Lk 5:3).

Being the skilled fisherman he was, Peter reminded the Lord, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing . . .” (Vs 5). However, it seemed that Peter had second thoughts because in the same breath he concluded “nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”

Immediately these seasoned fishermen responded to the request of Jesus. “And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.”

This was an obvious miracle. Jesus demonstrated His dominion over the natural elements by performing this miracle. Those miracles Jesus did while on earth were not done simply to amaze the people; miracles were performed to testify that Jesus was “a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know,” (Acts 2:22). That He has been declared to be “both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).

John expressed it this way when he concluded his gospel. “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name,” (Jn 20:30-31). The miracle of the “catch” had its desired effect, especially upon Peter. “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Lk 5:8).

 

Peter was in awe of Jesus; he properly acknowledged the majesty of Christ by his confession. This, I believe, was the reaction of Cornelius when Peter brought to him the Words of Life. In explaining the appearance of an angel and the command to send for Peter Cornelius said: “So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God,” (Acts 10:33). He understood that he was in the presence of magnificence. This was not just another religious or civil gathering – it was a gathering in the presence of Almighty God.

The question is raised in Micah 6:6, “With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the High God?” It would do well for believers today to ask a similar question. Anytime we assemble in the name of Christ (collective worship assembles) we are in the majestic presence of Almighty God. Peter fell to his knees; Cornelius became humble and fearful; he and his household conducted themselves with adulation and respect.

If we do not develop this same sense of awe, then when we come before the Lord we will not do so with the reverence God richly deserves. Coming before the Lord is not the same as attending a picnic, ballgame or some other social function. The smaller our God the smaller our respect; the more casual our God the more casual we become in His presence. When God no longer is the Infinite, Almighty and Holy God we can easily “Text-Message” during worship. When we consider worship a trivial inconvenience, then we can play with nearby children during song service; we can stroll in and out as easily as if we are at a basketball game.

Many want a god that is on level with man; a god that we fit into our busy schedules, not a God who searches the hearts. For many God is not awesome, instead He is a buddy. He is not to be feared; instead He should be pleased that I have taken the time to “go to church.”

Even our Lord, when He came before the Heavenly Father did so with adoration and respect. In discussing His prayers in Gethsemane the Hebrew writer said of Jesus, “who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,” (Heb 5:7). The Master would never have approached God with anything less than a complete sense of reverence. And neither should we!

In  every  worship  assembly  we  are  in  the  presence  of  majesty.  When we begin to understand this we will respond something like the apostle Peter; we will fall upon our knees acknowledging our complete unworthiness. We will never again be casual whether in word, in deed or in attire.

-- jrb

"As I See It"

“I felt you were speaking directly to me,” said the teenage girl. Her mother had asked me to come by after services to talk with her daughter who was contemplating becoming a Christian. After I arrived, this teenager and I studied together on her front porch. She was very apprehensive about the condition of her soul. She knew she was lost and felt an enormous need to surrender to Christ and obey His will.

I fully expected her to ask to return to the church building in order to be baptized, but she did not. We talked about her belief that Jesus is the Son of God. This is something the Ethiopian confessed in Acts 8:37. She knew precisely what this meant; she understood the atoning blood of Christ was contacted in the waters of baptism (Rom 6:3-4). She was not reluctant to confess Christ nor was she resisting the Lord’s insistence upon baptism.

Soon it became clear as to what was holding her back. She was an all star basketball player. She had her ambitions set on receiving a collage scholarship to play basketball. To achieve this dream, she had to devote herself fully to the sport. She told me that her practices and often games were held that conflicted with worship or Bible study. Her parents permitted her to “choose” what she wanted to do and she would choose basketball consistently and she knew this was not right. She also knew that if she obeyed the gospel that she could no longer make these profane choices. What she was saying, in effect, was that she knew she was not ready to REPENT. She was not willing to put the Lord and His kingdom first (Matt 6:33; Col 1:1-3). “Do you want to be saved?” I asked her. “Oh, yes,” she said, “but I want to play basketball too.”

After I talked with her, I made a bee-line to her parents. Her mother’s dad was a gospel preacher in another city. Both parents were faithful Christians and active in the local church. I laid the situation on the line and told them they were making a tremendous mistake. They had permitted their daughter to choose basketball over the Lord when she was too inexperienced to be put in that position. I suggested they do some soul searching, praying and talking among themselves as to what their priorities were. I reminded them their daughter was standing at the door of salvation but was reluctant to enter because of what her parents had promoted.

The next evening before services we came to the building to witness this young lady’s baptism.   Her  parents   thanked  me   for  the   time  we   had  spent   together  and  this  new sister-in-Christ leaned close to me and whispered in my ear. She said: “It’s no contest, I choose Jesus.”

AS I SEE IT, there are many parents who need to stop pushing children in the wrong direction. Instead of choosing worldly things these parents should say with Joshua “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD,” (Josh 24:15).