Video Transcript: Do You Have His Presence? (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

Video Transcript: Do You Have His Presence? (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

What these people suddenly came to realize was that because of this, because of God's view of Himself. God was withholding his presence from them, and was telling them to go up to the land of Canaan without Him, sending an angel, but He wasn't going to come. The God who enter the land as it were in Egypt, the God who's power did felt as if they were traveling in the direction of the Red Sea. The God was there amongst them with Piarases and Bilsephan, he found one on each side of the house, fell behind at the Red Sea in front of the God, who'd come down and divided the sea, this mighty presence, this holy glorious God is no longer going to be with him. 

That was the thing you know, that filled them with dismay. That was the thing that alarmed and cause these people to mourn when the people heard these evil tidings, and that was the evil tidings. I will not go up in the midst of the for they are of stiff neck people list I consumed the in the way, what troubles them was not necessarily being consumed, but that God said. I'm not coming with you. You got to go up alone. I am sending an angel, but I'm not coming. This is a tremendous thing. This is the heart of the whole matter. Men and women when they truly awaken, begin to realize that there is nothing which is so serious as to be without the presence of God. Do you get its full force. God was sending them to the promised land, God was saying, crap, I promised you the land of Canaan, I'm gonna to give it to you. You should go to the land flowing with milk and honey, I will send my angel before you, to destroy these enemies. These Amorites, these Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 

Go on, go up to your Promised Land. I brought you up to the captivity of Egypt, I'm sending you on go ahead leave Moses, and will send an angel with you. The people said no. If you're not coming with us, we don't want to go. Now, that's the essence of spiritual understanding. And that's the thing, my dear friends that even though you've got to come to, you see here were the people who suddenly awakened, came to this tremendous, profound realization that to be given every given every other blessing is of no value, if God doesn't do it with you. What is the value of Canaan? what's the value of milk and honey? What's the value of having possessions if you are not with us? They saw that the realization of the presence of God, having his fellowship and company was infinitely more important than everything else. Need I applying this to the Church today? You're gonna have successes over your enemies, you know? Without this great realization of God in the midst. Oh, yes. There are angels who can do that for us. Destroy certain of our enemies. Take us to the land within Canaan, we've got the milk and honey. Yes, everything seems to be alright. There's an appalling verse in Psalm 106. 

Where we are talking to the children of Israel, God granted them the requests, but sending leanness into there soul, you can have enough for prosperity and affluence. The church may be may seem to be doing remarkably well. But finances, good figures, successes, conversions, enemies defeated, everything going well. And the newspapers reported the Christian newspapers reported, we've been given what seems to be marvelous, but the appalling question I ask is, this is God in the midst? Is he really amongst us? Are we aware as we should be of his glorious presence? That's the thing that got these people. And what they said in effect was cannons no use to us, milk and honey, have no values. We're not interested in these enemies. We want you, oh says the psalmist it is for the eye to cry out, has the heart temptest after the water brooks sort of painted my soul after thee O God. He's not after blessings. He's after God. The living God. Yes, says Paul. Oh, I've been a successful evangelist. I've done so much. But I'm not satisfied that I might know him.

And the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. No, no no they said, we can't go on without you the presence Of God is essential. They came to that realization. And there I say, their realization was, that no outward prosperity and no type of success can compensate for the absence of God. Watch shall it profit a man though he gains the whole world, and lose his own soul. Christian people, I'm not asking you this morning, whether you're living a good life, not asking whether you're happy. I'm not asking you whether you read your Bible and whether you pray. I'm not asking whether you're active in church work or in some other form of Christian activity. What I'm asking you is this; Do you know God? Is He with you? Is He in your life? Is he in the camp? Or you're traveling on with God as it were someone in the distance, given strength and power by his angel and by his leader and so on? But the question is, what are you in your personal relationship and your personal dealings.