God’s Presence in the Wilderness

The following is a lightly edited transcript provided by a transcription service. Please check the video before quoting.

David Platt at TGC23

If you have a Bible, and I hope you or somebody around you do that you can look on with, let me invite you to open with me to Exodus chapter 25, Exodus 25. We’re actually going to begin there and then end in Exodus 40.

While you’re turning, I would just say I’m totally undeserving of this honor of preaching at this conference yet in God’s providence, I’m really thankful for specifically being assigned this topic, God’s presence in the wilderness.

Without going into details, even since I’ve been here this week, there have been things in my life and the lives of people really close to me that have reminded me how hard and full of hurt this wilderness of a fallen world can be. And I’ve needed the reminder in my own heart that Almighty God is with me in the wilderness and I trust I’m not alone in needing that reminder.

The Wilderness of the World

I look out across this room, I can only imagine all the trials that you were walking through and the wilderness of this world. And I hope to remind you and these final moments we have together before we scatter, that Almighty God is with you.

So I got a lot of ground to cover. So I’m going to dive into this contention I want to make from the end of the Book of Exodus. So here it is. I’m going to put it on the screen. One of our greatest needs today, if not our greatest need, is extraordinary prayer for the fullness of God’s presence among his people.

I want to contend from this text that one of our greatest needs today, if not our greatest need, is an extraordinary prayer for the fullness of God’s presence among his people and our lives, our families, our churches, and in the broader church together.

Repenting From Sin

So traveled with me on a Sunday a few months ago in our church family and metro Washington DC after extended prayer and fasting leading up to that Sunday, we decided to shorten the sermon just a little bit so we could have some extra time to respond to God’s word in prayer. And when I say prayer, I’m referring to all that prayer involves.

We use the acrostic, and our church family to praise God for repenting of sin, asking for things in our lives and others’ lives, and why yielding our lives to God. And we said, let’s do all the above. Let God’s word lead you to praise him in this time through any biblical posture of praise, sitting, standing, kneeling, lifting your hands, lying prostrate before God, singing, shouting, being silent. Let God’s word lead you to confess your sins to him and to each other.

Let God’s Word Lead You

Let God’s word lead you to ask for God’s help in your life and intercede for God’s help in others’ lives and let God’s word lead you to surrender your life and your family and our church family to him in a fresh way in response to his words.

So I finished the sermon and we prayed, and our 11 o’clock service on Sunday usually ends around 12:30, but not that day. We were still going strong around four o’clock that afternoon, which I know is not unusual for other church traditions and particularly many of our brothers and sisters around the world.

But it was something I’d never experienced before in my life on a Sunday. In the church I’ve been a part of, people were worshiping and confessing sin and interceding for each other, praying for healing and help from God. There were multiple times when I started to close things out, but this or that would happen, we would keep going until about four o’clock when I sensed it was time, and we concluded we left.

Spending Time With The Lord

I went home exhausted. I actually had an opportunity to sleep in a little extra the next morning, but I woke up really early. The only way I could describe it as a holy nudge is to get out of bed. So I did and spent time with the Lord and at the end of that time, the thought came to my mind, I wonder if we should call our people to gather again tonight just to pray.

So I called a couple of our pastors, I said, what do you guys think? As we talked and prayed about it, we thought, why not? We’ll invite people to come. If 10 people show up, we’ll pray with 10 people and that will be awesome. If more than 10 people show up, that will also be awesome, awesome, or awesome. Let’s do this. So we just sent out an email, Hey, we’re going to gather together tonight at seven 30 to pray.

We Pray Together

A lot more people than 10 showed up that night and we had no plan beyond that. Let’s start with this song and then the word of God and the spirit of God led us. It got to about 10 30 and I was looking around, I’m thinking most of these people I think have to work tomorrow.

And so I said, I think we need to draw this to a close, but I think we also need to gather again tomorrow night. And so we did the next night and the next night and the next night spending hours upon hours together as a church in a prayer, in prayer, in a way no one had planned, and God answered.

We saw people coming to Christ, people we’d pray for on one night who would come to Christ on another night we saw people confessing sin. I remember one night early on we were just spending time confessing sin.

People Pray for All Things

One brother stood in front of everybody else and began to confess an addiction he had in his life. We gathered around and prayed for him. And then I just said, who else in this room needs to confess addiction?

People stood up all across the room and we gathered around all kinds of people praying over those who were struggling with addiction, people confessing adultery, multiple people, one spouse turning to another in these gatherings, confessing adultery to them, confessing all kinds of infatuation with money, infatuation with work, idolatry of possessions, infatuation with our image, our reputation, confession of prejudice and bitterness and anger and unforgiveness, people confessing struggles.

I remember one night a girl was sharing just part of her testimony, involving a time in her life when she struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts. And as she shared that just almost in passing, I stopped her. I said, I just want to pause before you go on.

Pray for Those Who Struggle

I want us to have some time to pray for people who are struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts. And I know this would be a bold thing to do in this room, but if you struggle with depression or suicidal thoughts, I want to ask you to stand and we’re going to gather around, we’re going to pray for you.

And people stood all across that room. We gathered around and prayed for them. We saw people come who had shared they were planning that day to take their lives. Somebody invited them to come to this gathering tonight and they found renewed hope.

And Jesus God literally saved people’s lives through these gatherings. Our teenagers and young adults were speaking what I would just describe as spirit-prompted speech over their peers, our whole church family in ways that left me stunned. We witnessed all sorts of people prayerfully saying, I believe God may be leading me to go to the unreached again.

Praying in the Presence of God

All of this in a way nobody had planned. We just gave space for people to pray in the presence of God. One night, it was Wednesday night we were praying for marriages and a brother was sharing about how the night before he had led someone to Jesus whose marriage was struggling.

And as he was sharing, the thought came to my mind, seemingly out of nowhere, I think I need to give an invitation for people to trust in Jesus for salvation. It was like nine 30 at night. And so the next thought that came to my mind is, surely everybody here is a Christian.

It’s nine:30 at night out of a prayer gathering. But then the next thought was, where does it say that in the word? Everyone who comes to prayer gatherings at nine 30 shall be saved. It’s not in there. So I said, okay, I think so I just stood and I had this sense.

Trust in Jesus

I think I need to invite people to come down to the front if they want to trust in Jesus. So I shared the gospel. Of course, we’ve been praying through the gospel the whole night, made the gospel explicit, and invited people to trust in Jesus if they would be willing to trust in Jesus. If you want to, I want to invite you to come down here to the front.

And we waited for a moment and then this young adult, he is in his twenties, stepped out, he ran down and his grandmother on the other side of the room came down to meet him. And then this person came and this person came and this person came.

Now step back a little bit. The next night, a girl, a young one of her young adult named Victoria from Bolivia, Victoria was sharing her story, but as part of her story, she said a couple of nights ago we were praying, so this is going to be confusing a little bit.

Come to Faith in Christ

A couple nights before we’d been praying for parents who didn’t know Christ because we had just seen a 92-year-old woman come to faith in Christ. It was like, how many of you have parents who are just resistant to the gospel for years?

Let’s press in and pray for them. Well, Victoria had stood and we prayed for her mom as well as many other people. Well, she invited her mom to come to these prayer gatherings. I didn’t know this.

On that Wednesday night as this guy is talking about marriages and this person who he had just led to Christ, Victoria sees her mom walk in at nine 30 and Victoria, when she sees her unsaved mom walk into this prayer gathering at nine 30, she starts praying, God, please lead David to give an invitation with the gospel and invite people to come down in front.

God’s Presence Among Us

So she’s praying that I’m now thinking that, and you’ll never guess who comes down to the front of Victoria’s mom. So anyway, all that to say, I could go on with story after story, but this is not about the church I pastor. This is about all of us together, brothers and sisters.

One of our greatest needs, if not our greatest need today is extraordinary prayer in our lives and our families and our churches and our conferences for the fullness of God’s presence among us for a fresh outpouring of God’s holy spirit upon us.

As soon as I say that, I know there are theological antennae going off in many minds like don’t we already have the fullness of the spirit in us and the Holy Spirit moves in different ways? It doesn’t always look like this or that, and my purpose is not to do a deep dive into the doctor of the Holy Spirit and yes, the myriad ways God works by his spirit in our lives in our church.

We Have a God We Can Not Fathom

But would you just look with me at Exodus 25 through 40 just humbly and honestly with open minds and open hearts? Look at Exodus 25. So right after the covenant was confirmed that lignans so gloriously walked us through last night, God gave instructions to his people for the construction of the tabernacle.

Why look at verse eight and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst exactly as I show you concerning the powder of the Tabernacle and all of its furniture? So you shall make it. You see it. God wanted to dwell in the midst of his people. I would argue that the greatest need among God’s people is the fullness of God’s presence in their midst.

They need God with them and thus begin instructions for the Tabernacle. They go through chapter 31 after which Moses comes down from the mountain to see what Andrew so gloriously walked us through as God’s people rebelled against him, and Moses stood in the gap as a mediator for them, which then leads.

God Gives Us Opportunity

So now turn with me to Exodus 33 to these words specifically from God to Moses. Look at Exodus 33 verse one. The Lord said to Moses, depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saying to your offspring, I will give it.

I send an angel before you. I’ll drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the parasites, the Hittites and the Jebusites go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up among you lest I consume you on the way for you are a stiff-necked people. Did you catch that? God just said I’m going to give you the land. I promise to you go and take it. But he drops the bomb. I will not go up among you.

God Will Not Dwell Among Us

The Hebrew here is the same as what we just read in Exodus 25, 8. The difference is there. God says I will dwell among you now. God’s saying I will not dwell among you. So Moses is now faced with the prospect of having the promises of God without the presence of God.

What would we do if we were in his shoes? Let us not be too quick to answer. Can I remind us brothers and sisters that this is precisely the brand of Christianity that has been sold to so many people in our culture today?

Multitudes of people who’ve prayed a prayer, made a decision, call themselves Christians but do not actually want God to be the Lord of their lives. People who want to live however they want on earth and then expect to go to heaven. It’s blasphemy. You won’t go to heaven if you don’t want God.

God’s Gifts

Contrary to popular evangelistic invitations, we don’t come to Christ ultimately to get gifts, forgiveness, heaven, and abundant life. No, you come to Christ to get God and all his gifts flow from him and his presence or so.

Now take this a step deeper for us as church leaders. Are we not all tempted in our day-to-day lives and ministries to do the work of God apart from the power of the presence of God? Evident in how little we pray. Let’s be honest with each other.

Brothers and sisters, we have created a whole host of means and methods for doing ministry today that we can carry on with little, if any help at all from the Holy Spirit. We don’t have to fast and pray for our ministries to flourish. We have marketing and social media for that. It is possible, dangerously possible for you and I to carry on the machinery and activity of the churches we lead.

Moses and God

It can even be smooth, even successful in our eyes, and never notice that we’re doing it all in our flesh. What if the greatest barrier to the spread of the gospel today is not the self-indulgent immorality of our culture, but the self-sufficient mentality in our churches? So what does Moses do when faced with the prospect of doing God’s work apart from God’s presence?

He goes in the tent of meeting verses seven through 11 and he prays, dumped down to verse 12. Moses said to the Lord, see you say to me, bring up this people, but you have not let me know whom you’ll send with me.

Yet you’ve said I know you by name and you’ve also found favor in my sight. Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.

Consider How Moses Prays

Consider too that this nation is your people. Do you see why Moses is praying like this? So if you’re taking notes, maybe write these down four reasons why we need extraordinary prayer for the fullness of God’s presence among his people.

One, because we have an assignment we cannot fulfill. See what’s happening here? Moses knows he is not able to do what God is calling him to do. He cannot lead God’s people into the promised land apart from the presence of God. It’s the obvious truth that Jonathan Edwards put this way.

Only God is able to do the work of God, which is why Edwards said it is the will of God that when he has something very great to accomplish for his church, it will be proceeded by the extraordinary prayers of his people. Brothers and sisters look at our culture at the redefinition, not just of precious institutions and marriage and family, but people’s very identities as image bearers of God.

The Tensions Over Race and Politics

Look at the tensions over race and politics, the polarization and demonization of people at every turn. Look at the onslaught of secular thought, infiltrating every facet of our lives and overtaking the next generation.

Not to mention the 3 billion people among the nations who’ve never even heard the gospel. Not to mention all the challenges we face in our personal lives and families and parenting amidst the wilderness of this world amidst depression and anxiety and drugs and addiction and suicide. Do we really think we can combat all of that with our ingenuity and our creativity, with our education and our expertise, with our work and our effort?

No, God delivers us from damning dependence on ourselves. We cannot preach, we cannot counsel, we cannot evangelize. We cannot shepherd our churches or our homes. We cannot reach the next generation and the nations in our own power. We need the power of God, which means we need to fall on our faces and pray during that one week in our church family, God did more to awaken hearts than we ever could have planned or programmed ourselves.

An Assignment We Can Not Fufill

Do we believe this? Do you believe you can accomplish more in the next month and the power of the Holy Spirit than you can in your own power over the entire duration of your life and ministry?

If so, then pray for this. We have been given an assignment we cannot fulfill from God in our lives, families, the church, and the world around us. We need the fullness of his presence, which leads to the second reason we need extraordinary prayer we have a privilege we cannot forsake. So I skipped over this.

Let’s back up for a minute in the text and make sure we realize where Moses is right now. Picture this scene starting in verse seven. Now, Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp far off from the camp and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who saw the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp.

God Speaks to Moses Face to Face

Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, each would stand at his tent door and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent and the Lord would speak with Moses.

When all the people saw the pillar of clouds standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship each other at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. Is that language not stunning?

Yahweh speaks with Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend, friends with the I am and just picture the scene as Moses starts his journey toward the tent and word gets around, everybody stands in front of their tent and watches in silent awe.

As this man goes into a tent, a cloud rests over that tent and everybody is standing and worshipful awe because there is a man who is meeting with God right now. This is one of those places we can’t leave in the Old Testament. As awesome as that scene is, isn’t it good that we’ve not gathered together to watch one person go into the, there goes John Piper.

Wow, John is meeting with God for all who are in Christ. You have access anytime, anywhere to the presence of Yahweh. You don’t even have to go anywhere. You are the tent.

A Privilege We Cannot Forsake

His presence dwells inside of you. You have communion with God anytime, anywhere with the Almighty Yahweh. So why would we not spend extraordinary time in prayer? We have an open invitation to meet with, to be with God. So let us belong with God when we are alone and when we’re together and when we come together, let’s realize who we’re meeting with.

Look at all the people throughout the Old Testament who met with God, who didn’t even have the privileges that we enjoy. What did they do in their meetings with God? Think about when later more permanent structure.

The temple is dedicated in Second Chronicle seven. Watch this. As soon as Solomon finished his prayer fire came down from heaven and consumed the burn, offering the sacrifices. The glory of the Lord filled the temple and the priest could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house.

His Love Endures Forever

When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down the glory of the Lord of the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground, with the pavement, and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord saying, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. That’s what you do in the presence of God.

You bow down with your face to the ground on the pavement and you worship and you give thanks when you’re in the presence of God. We know Isaiah 6, Isaiah falls on his face and worships and woe over his sin in the presence of God’s holiness. How about Ezra 10, 1, Ezra prayed and made a confession weeping and casting himself down before the house of God.

A very great assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him out of Israel for the people wept bitterly in the presence of God. People, what do they do? They pray. They make a confession, and they weep. They cast themselves down before God. Why are these pictures so rare in the gatherings of God’s people today? Why are we not spending so much time here? Why does this hardly ever happen when the people of God gather today?

God’s Presence is With His People

Have we forgotten who we’re meeting with? We have no less reason to be in awe than our forefather’s mothers in the Old Testament and the faith. We must give ourselves to extraordinary prayer because we have a privilege we cannot forsake and because we have a family we cannot forget.

So Moses pleads for God’s presence to go with his people and look at how God responds. In verse 14, God says, my presence will go with you and I will give you rest. And what’s interesting about this is that it’s singular, it’s directed at Moses personally.

God says, Moses, my presence will go with you into the promised land and I will give you rest there. This was Moses’ chance to leave the rebellious, obstinate people of God behind to experience the promises and presence of God in his own life. How tempting would that be?

We Must Not Resist the Word of God

Especially when we think about trials that we walk through in the church when people in the church are hurtful to us or to our families. When people in the church resist the word of God in their lives, here’s your chance to move on without them Moses, but Moses doesn’t take it. He stays in the tent first 15 and notices the emphasis on the people of God.

He said to him, if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here for how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people. Is it not in your going with us so that we are distinct I and your people from every other people on the face of the earth? Moses doesn’t just want God’s presence with him. He wants God’s presence with them, with him and the people he knows it’s not about what he wants in his own life.

The Glory God Deserves

He knows it’s about God receiving the glory he deserves, not from a person but from a people. So let us hear this word from God, especially for leaders in the church.

The people we lead need the presence of God, which means they need leaders who will not be content to seek God’s blessing in their lives and their families, but who will give themselves to extraordinary prayer for God’s blessing on the lives and families of those they lead to extraordinary prayer for the sometimes stubborn, rebellious, and obstinate church to help her become the beautiful bride God has called her to be.

Even when that comes at great cost to those who lead her. We have a family we cannot forget which leads to the last reason in Exus 33, that we need extraordinary prayer for the fullness of God’s presence among his people because we have a God we cannot fathom.

When We Pray, God Acts

It’s the best part of this chapter. God says in verse 17, the Lord said to Moses, this very thing you’ve spoken I will do for you have found favor in my sight and I know you by name. And that in and of itself is an awesome verse. Let’s not gloss over the fact that Moses just got what he had asked for the very thing that you have spoken I will do.

Moses’ prayer moved God’s hand. That is awesome. That’s the reason for extraordinary prayer. When we pray, God acts, and though this doesn’t mean we have any low view of the sovereignty of God, why? Because we believe that God sovereignly, ordains ends and means and God has ordained the prayers of his people to bring about the accomplishment of his purposes in the world.

So let’s pray like it matters. Like when we pray, God will act. We don’t have time to recount all the times and Exodus when God did, according to the word of Moses, brothers, and sisters, God will do according to our words. But here in verse 17, God has given Moses what he asks. And one would think, oh, it’s been a sufficiently good day in the tent.

We Need No More Proof of God’s Glory

Now is the time for Moses to make the exit. He’s received what he asked for, yet he tries and asks for one more thing. In verse 18, Moses said, please show me your glory. Are you serious?

You have seen God reveal himself in a burning bush, a sea split in half, not to mention all of these plagues and water from rocks bred from heaven where everybody else had to stay away from the mountain. You got to go up on the mountain after all the glory you’ve seen, you have the audacity to say, I want to see your glory.

God’s Glory Surrounds Us

Apparently the more you taste the glory of God, the more you want a feast on the glory of God. In Exodus 34, Moses gets a feast, a glimpse of the glory of God that is recorded for generations to recount Yahweh, Yahweh, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding and steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. We need extraordinary prayer because we want God.

That’s the ultimate reason. This is the one thing, Psalm 27, the one thing we want more than anything just to gaze upon the beauty of our God. I guess that’s the question, is that the one thing we want in the words of a w Tozer, I want deliberately to encourage this mining longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present lowest state.

The stiff and wooden quality of our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to his people.

He waits to be wanted too bad that with many of us, he waits so long, so very long in vain, may it not be so with us in our day and Tozer goes on to say we have but to want him badly enough and he will come and manifest himself to us. How badly do we want him? Brothers and sisters? Honestly, more than everything else in this world is put together.

God’s Glory Persists

So God reveals his glory to Moses in Exodus 34. And then what happens after that? The Tabernacle is constructed starting in Exodus 35, which then culminates in this closing picture.

So now to Exodus 40, the final verse of this book we’ve been studying these days, verse 34, then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle and Moses was not able to enter the tent meeting because the cloud settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle throughout all their journeys.

Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up.

The cloud of the Lord was on the Tabernacle by day, the fire was in it by night and the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys, yes, the presence of God and all of his glory dwelling among his people is where the Book of Exodus ends.

The Closing Chapters of Exodus

But these closing chapters of Exodus are part of a much bigger picture. Exodus 25 through 40 actually bookends the first two books of the Bible in a way that bookends the entire Bible. So make the connections for the sake of time.

This will be a sweeping overview. I’ll put it up here on the screen. Picture with me. The glory of God’s presence in creation. Picture the dwelling place of God in Eden and all of God’s fullness everywhere was holy. As Adam and Eve enjoyed God’s presence.

The same phrase that’s used to describe how God walked with Adam and Eve in Eden appears again in Leviticus to describe how God walked with his people through the Tabernacle and creation reflected God’s glory without exception, everything radiated the glory of God’s presence.

Of course, we know sin mar all of this and everything changed all the way to the formation of God’s people through God’s promises in Genesis and Exodus, but they were still missing his presence.

God’s Presence in the Wilderness

So we see the glory of God’s presence in the wilderness, where now the dwelling place of God is the Tabernacle. The Hebrew word for tabernacle means the dwelling place and the Holy Spirit inspires language to intentionally tie the tabernacle with Eden.

In Genesis One, seven times we read the words and God said seven creative acts after which God rested on the Sabbath. Then from Exodus 25 to 31, 7 times we read, the Lord said, Yahweh said, after which the Lord commands his people to keep their Sabbath.

God is saying to us, in the very structure of scripture, that I am forming a new creation, a new dwelling place among my people. Now obviously it’s different than Eden because man is separated from the holy of Holies where the fullness of God’s glory dwells in the Tabernacle. But even that, remember at the end of Genesis three, the glory of God’s presence is guarded in Eden by Cherri.

The Tabernacle

It’s no coincidence that in God’s instructions and exodus for the ark and the tabernacle, the glory of God’s presence is surrounded by what Cherri them. You could only enter the garden from the east. That’s the only direction from which you can enter the tabernacle.

The point is the Tabernacle is more than just a place of worship in the wilderness.

It’s a microcosm of creation as God designed it, a piece of heaven on earth, a visible symbol of the presence of God, which once dwelled perfectly among his people, and a visible promise that he will not leave his people alone, which leads to instructions to the priest and particularly the high priest, the one person who would ever see the innermost place in the tabernacle where Aaron would enter God’s presence to serve as mediator.

He would wear the name of the Lord on his forehead as he stepped with trepidation into the glory of God’s presence.

God’s Glory Through the Wilderness

Everybody else must look from outside, which was awesome enough as we just read at the end of Exodus 40, God’s Shekinah glory falling upon this dwelling place with resplendent beauty. From this point, Israel followed God’s glory through the wilderness.

And as they wondered, if they ever wondered if God was still with them, they would look over and see that indeed his presence had not left them. They were not alone. God was with them and God was leading them. Just imagine the wonder of watching a cloud over the Tabernacle by day and fire inside of it by night.

And when it rose, you rose. When it rested, you rested. What an amazing journey. But it was just a shadow. And brothers and sisters, we have the substance. So I know we’re about to jump over a lot of redemptive history, namely the temple. But as this conference, the gospel coalition concludes, I want to invite you to see with me how the glory of God’s presence in the wilderness points to the glory of God’s presence in the gospel.

The Dwelling Place of God is In Jesus

For when we turn the pages into the new covenant, John announces the most stunning news and all the world, the dwelling place of God is in Jesus. John 14, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. That word dwelt means tabernacle. John says we have seen his glory in a man. In a man.

I think about an Uber ride I was on with a Muslim man super early in the morning, wasn’t in the mood to, I wasn’t in the mood to talk. He was, and he asked me from the very beginning, what do you do? I said, I’m a pastor.

He said I don’t believe this. And he turns around and he starts telling me about a dream he had. So this Muslim man from a very unreached part of the world now living in metro DC, tells him about a dream he had. Now, Muslims don’t believe Jesus has God in the flesh. Jesus is just a man. Jesus didn’t die on the cross.

So that’s what he’s believed all his life. He says, I had a dream and there was this baby, and I locked our eyes with the baby. The baby looked at me and spoke to me in the most intelligible language and said, do not underestimate what God can do. And he said, do you know what this dream means?

God Loves Us All

I am like, well, my middle name is Joseph, so no, I said, I don’t usually interpret dreams, but I’ve got this one man. I know exactly what this means. And I began to tell him about how much God loves him, that God has come to us in the person of Jesus, and he is listening to this. Tears are streaming down his eyes.

He’s like, I’m sorry. I’m like, man, if you just keep your eyes on the road, no apology is necessary. And he starts asking questions like faith is rising in him. I’m starting to think this is like an Ethiopian chariot. We got to find a place to baptize this guy. But anyway, that’s the whole area of disagreement between us in this room. But anyway, so by the time we get to the airport, about an hour later, we get to the airport and I said, do you believe this?

Jesus is God in the Flesh

Do you believe that Jesus is God in the flesh who came to save you from your sin? He said, I believe this with tears, he puts his faith in Christ. This is the most glorious truth in the world. God has come to us in the flesh, the glory that resided above the ark and the holy of Holies, the glory that only the high priest had access to once a year was walking around the streets of Jerusalem for everybody to see.

Jesus embodied God’s presence. And John doesn’t stop there. We know it’s not just the tabernacle. Jesus is the temple. Jesus is the lamb. Jesus is not just the light on the golden lamb stem. He’s the light of the world and not just the bread on the table. He’s the bread of life. He’s not just the blood on a mercy seed offered annually for the people Jesus of Israel.

The Mercy of God

Jesus sheds his blood to purchase mercy for God, mercy from God for every nation, tribe, and tongue. And as he tabernacles on the earth, the disciples beheld God’s glory. But then he died devastating them. Then he rose, revolutionizing them. Then he left confusing them.

Where did we go? What do we do? And what do they do? What do they do? Acts One 14, devoted themselves to strategizing, creating programs, organizing conferences, and whiteboarding plans.

No, they devoted themselves to prayer. The plan was clear, make disciples of all the nations witness to the ends of the earth. They knew they could never do that without the fullness of God’s presence with them.

So they devoted themselves to prayer until Pentecost the 50th, the feast celebrating, the giving of the law in Exodus 19, which JD led us to see when God descended on Mount Sinai like fire and gave his law, which eventually led to rebellion against that law.

The Judgment of God

What we saw in Exodus 32, how many people died under the judgment of God? 3000. Now Acts Two. It’s not fire on a mountain where the people have to stay away. It’s tongues of fire resting on every one of God’s people.

And now instead of three people dying, 3000 people dying under the judgment of God, the gospel is proclaimed how many people just so happened to be saved by the grace of God? 3000. Drop the mic, the Church of Christ is born. See it now.

The glory of God’s presence is in the church. It’s a really good thing that Jesus left the earth because now it’s not the fullness of God’s presence on one person. It’s the fullness of God’s presence on all his people and brothers and sisters. This is where we come into the story. The dwelling place of God is us. One Corinthians three, 16, and 17, you yourselves are God’s temple and God’s spirit.

God’s Presence Lives in You

The glory of God’s presence lives in you. Your church is the dwelling place of God and you personally, one Corinthians 6, do you not know your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? Are you serious? The glory of Yahweh dwells in my body.

Oh, brothers and sisters, let us never be casual with sin. Let us be holy because Yahweh is holy. Brothers and sisters, we possess his presence, which means no matter what the wilderness of this world brings us, we are never, ever, ever alone.

And not just us, other brothers and sisters in Christ are temples of the living God. So let us have nothing to do with division slander or gossip in the church. Let us treat temples of the Holy Spirit with honor and humility and gentleness and patience and care bearing each other’s burdens as the body of Christ himself, through which follow this, through which the nations observe God’s glory.

God’s Presence Surrounds Us

Don’t miss this, oh, please don’t miss this because we’re missing this. In the church today, when the people of God in the Old Testament would transport the tabernacle, it was a picture to the surrounding nations, the glory of God’s presence among his people.

And now with our bodies as his dwelling place, we transport his glory wherever we go. The wonder of the gospel, God’s glory can now be seen in temples everywhere. God’s holy presence is not restricted to a building in one part of the world.

It’s not even embodied. Only in His son who’s no longer on earth. It is demonstrated. It has manifested in every corner of the earth where God’s people go. So let’s go to every corner of the earth, brothers and sisters. There are 3 billion people in the world at this moment with no access to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We Must Spread the Glory of God

No access. They don’t have a Christian, they don’t have a church near them with the glory of Christ dwelling among them. We cannot be content to turn a blind eye and deaf fear to 3 billion people who have not seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

And if we don’t go to them, then 3 billion people will continue to be born and live and die and go to an eternal hell separated from the glory of God’s presence forever and ever and ever, unless churches are filled with God’s spirit.

Get serious about getting God’s gospel to the ends of the earth. Let us spread the glory of God’s presence among all the nations until the end comes until we see the glory of God’s presence in the new creation. Where the dwelling place of God in heaven. Language and revelation. Exactly what we’ve seen in Genesis and Exodus.

God is Within All Men

Revelation 21, behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them. They will be as people. God Himself will be with them as their God. No temple in that place because the place is the temple. No need for a holy of holies.

The place is the Holy of Holies. No need for a lamp. Revelation 22, 5. For the Lord, our God is our light. You remember the high priest walking into the presence of God with the name of God on his forehead and the new creation. Revelation 22, verse four. His name will be on our foreheads and we will, once, we see his face we will delight in his presence. This pilgrim journey will be over.

God Will Restore

One day we will finally be home and there will be no more sin no more sorrow and no more suffering. There will be no more hard days and no more sleepless nights, no more heartaches, no more brokenness, no more loneliness, no more emptiness, no more discouragement, no more depression, no more cancer, no more disease, and no more death in the presence of God.

He will personally wipe every tear from our eyes and all the earth will be filled with God’s glory as all the nations sing of his grace. Brothers and sisters, if we long for his presence in that day, let us pursue his presence In this day, let’s give ourselves extraordinary prayer for the fullness of God’s presence among us.

Knowing that no matter what the wilderness of this world may bring our way, our God is with us and he will be with us all the way to the end. And enjoyment of his presence will never ever end.

Pray With Me

Will you pray with me? Oh God. My biggest concern and this message that I’ve just preached is that I’ve obviously preached far longer than I’m now praying. So I would just ask that you might use your word that we’ve just seen to lead us to extraordinary prayer in our lives, in our churches, for we long to experience the fullness of your presence among your people.

God, we need you, and God, we want you more than anything. Everything in this world is put together. We praise you. We praise you for the reality. We’re about to see that your spirit, the spirit of Jesus lives in us all. Glory be your name.

Amen.