Anthropomorphic Descriptors for God: The Face of God

We are going to talk about the face of God. We

only have two left, by the way, and then an overview.

So in less than a month, we will be done with

this series. And very soon, we're changing our

structure a little bit up in the room anyway.

So I'm excited about that. So let's pray together,

and then we'll... Let us seek the face of God

in prayer, shall we? Father in heaven, first

of all, we want to praise you. There would be

no words, there is no list, no poetry, no song.

that gets the job done. You are an amazing God,

and we praise you for all that you are that we

don't even know. We surrender to you in praise.

At the same time, Lord, we confess to you that

you have worked plans, even in our midst, right

in front of our faces, steering us in the right

direction that we did not understand, and at

times we can now see we even worked against you.

Forgive us for that. Thank you for sending your

son Jesus to pay that price. Set us on the right

course. Thank you for letting us be here in this

place. And even for this material that we've

been going through. Looking at the anthropomorphic

words for God. Each one speaks to us. And it's

kind of like studying the whole Bible in little

bits. And we're grateful. I ask you to watch

over us during this time. The kids as they play.

Have fun. Learn Bible verses. The youth as they

serve. The adults as they serve. Lord, we got

big things on the horizon. We got Back to School

Bash on Saturday. It's going to be a busy day.

We got a lot of promotion between now and then.

And I pray that there will be hundreds come.

I pray that there will be any number, dozens

saved. Lord, that your will be done. That people

would be saved here on the earth. As we look

forward to Surf Tour, that's looking incredible.

Looking like there's going to be some awesome

things happening in that couple of days. And

I pray that there will be people getting saved

all over Toledo. Perrysburg, Maumee, Bowling

Green, Florida, everywhere in this area that

people hear the gospel and get saved. We know

that a rising tide raises all boats is a very

real thing. The kingdom needs your lifting. And

we submit it to you to do what we cannot and

then use us to do whatever you would. And we

pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right.

So I prayed about. Back School Bash, don't forget

that's Saturday. Also, Surf Tour is just over

a month away. So that's going to be exciting.

So the face of God, again, occurs all throughout

Scripture. We've got a lot of that. Remember

that we're looking at these anthropomorphisms

of God because we realize God is spirit. Not

physical. So God does not literally have a face

like you or I have a face. Could he if he wants

to? Sure. Has he at times? Probably. But these

phrases where it says the face of the Lord teach

us important things about God. To seek God's

face, then, is to seek him personally. So, for

example, I talk to you on the phone or if I write

you a letter or send you a text. we know inherently

that that is not as personal as being together.

So we can talk over the phone about cooking chili

together, but until we cook chili together, that

presence, that experience of being together is

missed. So to seek God's face is to seek him

personally, to be with him in his presence, to

know him personally. To have God's face shine

upon someone is to receive his favor. And the

scripture talks about that. To have God hide

his face is to experience the withdrawal of God's

fellowship and blessings. When God pulls back

his face or when our sin creates a barrier between

us and him, it's like he's behind a curtain.

Right. And you cannot have that personal experience

with him. So the face of God communicates at

least four great truths. And these go in that

first box. First box. Number one, God desires

fellowship. with his people and i would even

go say you can take out the his if you want and

just put with people because even those people

that god does not have fellowship with in any

way shape or form yet god desires fellowship

hence the call to evangelism right so god desires

fellowship with his people or with people god

blesses those who walk with him so Time and time

again, we see in Scripture that those who choose

to be on God's side, doing what it is that God

would have them to do, going God's way like that,

that God blesses. In fact, I guarantee everyone

around the room right now, we could tell stories

about how God has blessed us when we were doing

the things that God wanted us to do. And sometimes

those stories are truly amazing. Now, it also

happens, side note, that people then want to

do those things only to get blessed, and it does

not work that way. You cannot follow God specifically

for the blessings. It's the other way around.

God blesses those who walk with him, not those

who walk alongside him to manipulate him to give

them blessings. God disciplines by withdrawing

his favor. So a lot of times people like the

Bible says he chastises those whom he loves.

So what does that mean when it says that God

punishes people? Because it doesn't sound very

gracious or merciful or kind. And we already

have talked about how God blesses those who walk

with him. And so if you choose not to walk with

God, not to go the way that God would have you

go, then by natural extension, those blessings

are withdrawn. So the world is kind of like that.

I know a man right now who's going through some

significant trials. He came to our church. He

said, I'm going to live with the Lord. I'm going

to put God first, and God's going to be first

in everything. And then he allowed some things

to interfere with that. And so now he's going

through some of the greatest trials he's had

in recent years. And you say, well, God would

not do that. Well, yes, he would. As a parent

would. So let's say any parent in the room would

be the same way. Let's say we're supposed to

go today at 7 o 'clock. To the movies, and everybody's

going to get a large popcorn, and everybody's

going to get a treat. We're going to go to dinner

right before. We're going to see the movie that

everybody's been wanting to see. And two hours

before we're supposed to leave to go to the movies,

our child is acting up bad. Or our teenager is

back -talking an assassin as being a jerk, right?

Now, do we go to the movie or not? And the answer

is probably not, right? Because you cannot reward

that kind of behavior. Well, God is the same

way. God naturally blesses those who walk with

him. God naturally withdraws that favor or those

blessings for those children who choose another

course who need to be disciplined. And then the

fourth one is God will one day dwell visibly

with his redeemed people. And you could put forever.

So God will one day be with us visibly. And the

Bible talks about heaven forever and how folks.

So you realize that. Revelation talks about the

angels that surround God and sing, holy, holy,

holy, and they are doing that right now, up until

the moment at which Christ is about to come back

to the earth, right? So what humans physically

approach the throne of God right now? The answer

is none, because there are angels surrounding

the throne that are singing, holy, holy, holy.

That's the image of heaven right now. It's not

that people don't go to heaven, they do, but

they do not come physically up to the throne

of God right now, because if they did, they would

experience wrath, right? Those angels are protecting

all creation, and even humans who have been redeemed

would suffer that wrath. And so we have this

understanding that God will one day, he's going

to live with us invisibly, and we will be with

him forever. But it's not like that now. Even

when somebody dies and goes to heaven, it's not

like they can just crawl up on God's lap, right?

Because Jesus has not yet returned and completed

the final step of putting everything under God's

feet and the redemption. Okay, so when a frightened

child is separated from his parents in the store,

he's not looking for their hands or for their

voice, right? He's looking for their face. One

time I was at Kmart when I was a kid. Most of

us remember Kmart, I think. It was right over

here on Navarre. And we were in the store. And

we were in the line. We were checking out. And

next thing we know, we're walking out. And I

walked out the door of Kmart onto the sidewalk,

headed for the car. And I knew where our car

was. I was headed for the car. And as far as

I knew, as far as I was thinking, I was walking

with my mom and dad. They were with me. They

were checked out. And they walked out. And I

thought they were with me. And then I got to

the curb and went to step down off the curb.

And I looked to see. It was not my mom and dad.

It was a guy wearing a jacket, kind of like my

dad's jacket, and pants the same color as my

dad's pants, but it was not my dad. And it was

not my mom. In fact, it wasn't even a woman.

It was a man, right? And I'm going like, oh,

crud. I'm no longer with my parents. And so immediately

I thought, well, this happened for one reason,

which was I didn't look at their faces. I didn't

look at who they were. And then secondly, when

I started to look around, guess what I looked

for? I looked for their faces. And I realized

you cannot identify somebody by their legs. You

can't identify them by their jacket. You have

to identify them by their faces. And so I was

scrambling to find my parents' faces to get back

where I needed to be. The face of God represents

his presence, his safety, his relationship, and

his love. And all throughout scripture, believers

long for something that's much more than like

earthly security, like a better job, better paycheck,

health, whatever. There's something bigger than

that. And it has to do with the presence of God.

And that's what we're going to talk about then

today. as we look at God's face. All right. So

the first point there, God's face shines with

blessing. So the reference is Numbers 6, 24 to

26. Okay. Numbers 6, 24 to 26. And this is most

of it. Anyway, the Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious

to you. The Lord lift up his confidence on you

and give you peace. And so this is obviously

the promised land people, the Israelites come

out of Egypt, theoretically going to go into

the promised land. So the priestly blessing that

the priests would pronounce this blessing over

the people in general, in general, it's one of

the best known passages in the Old Testament.

So you can memorize this blessing. And then you

can pronounce it as a prayer over top of your

spouse, over top of your boyfriend, your girlfriend,

your child, whatever. And you're praying scripture.

And praying scripture is always a good thing.

Lots and lots, probably millions of Christians

have memorized and prayed this scripture over

the years. God's shining face here symbolizes

his approval, his favor, his grace, and peace.

Just as sunshine brings warmth and life to the

earth, God's smiling face brings spiritual blessings.

to his people. Notice the progression. First,

he blesses. He keeps. He shines. He gives grace.

He grants peace. Everything flows from God's

gracious presence. So if you have God, you have

all that. I know a woman, she just told me a

story less than two months ago. She was on the

table at the hospital and they told her she probably

was not going to survive. And she started freaking

out. They had to do a procedure. She was code

blue or whatever. Her heart was not beating or

beating correctly. And they told her she probably

wasn't going to make it. They were talking over

time. I don't think they told her, but they were

talking about it, stuff over top of her. She

felt like she probably wasn't going to make it.

And she said she had such an amazing peace because

she knew if she died in that moment, she was

going straight to heaven. And then they saved

her life. And now she's serving Jesus. Hopefully

every day, but I know a lot. And so that presence

brings that blessing. It keeps you, shines, gives

grace, gives peace. The application then is the

greatest blessing God gives us is not his gifts

or anything else that you can hold in your hand,

but his presence. I've preached it a couple of

times, and I believe it's absolutely true. I

believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross primarily,

number one, above and beyond everything else,

in order that God's presence could be with God's

people. And that is what happens in the form

of the Holy Spirit, right? So Jesus said, I go

to heaven. You should want me to go there because

I'll pray to the Father and he'll send you another

comforter. And they talked about the Holy Spirit.

Before the New Testament, the Spirit did not

live in people. God's Holy Spirit did not live

in people. It would settle on people. He would

settle on people. He would affect people. He

would affect their minds, cleanse their minds,

that kind of thing. But now, from Pentecost on,

God's presence, His Holy Spirit lives in us.

That is what Jesus really died for. That was

the joy that was set before Him. Okay, then that

brings us to number two. We are called then to

seek God's face. Psalm 27 .8 is the reference.

Psalm 27 .8. When you said, seek my face, my

heart said to you, your face, O Lord, I shall

seek. So God is saying, seek my face. And the

psalmist writes, when I heard that, my heart

said, I will seek the face of God. OK, but David

didn't seek God's blessings. Obviously, he wanted

God's blessings. Right. Everybody wants God's

blessings. But that's not what he was after.

He sought God himself. Remember that David was

called during part of his life, at least a man

after God's own heart. And so what does God want?

He wants us to seek him, his presence, not. His

power, not what you can do because he makes you

able, not what he can give you, not the healing

that he can give. All of those are good things.

There's nothing wrong with them. But what we

kind of already learned is that God wants to

give them and will give them if we get the first

thing first, which is to seek his presence. Seeking

God's face means pursuing intimacy. OK, so that

same word that we had from Sunday, for those

of you who were on Sunday, there was a word that

talked about. They wanted to know the man and

it was a know him in intimacy. He's talking about

sex. That same word is what we're talking about.

To be intimate with God is to try to hide nothing

from God. To expose everything that you are and

be willing humbly to take whatever God has for

you. It's intimacy. And then worship him because

that is the natural outpouring of knowing who

he is. Obedience. So you should obey God. Whatever

God says, that's what we should do. And we have

a lot of that already. We don't have to ask him.

He's already told us because it's in the Bible.

And then fellowship, right? And that's fellowship

with God. But don't miss that a key way to fellowship

with God is actually to fellowship with God's

people. Remember that when you mistreat a human

being, you're actually mistreating somebody who

is made in the image of God. Even though their

image might be flawed, they were still made in

the image of God. And so... One of the greatest

things about fellowship with other believers

is that we're fellowshipping with someone who

is made in the image of God, whose image is being

renewed. So they're becoming more and more like

God. It is possible to desire God's provision

without desiring his presence. That's very common.

Even people will say, I want to feel like God

is with me. I want to know what God is doing.

I want to see God save people. Hear all those

phrases? It's all, I want, I want, I want. And

there is a man, or being, not a man, a being

who is the I want being and is not a Christian.

That's Satan. Satan is the I want being, right?

And he taught Adam and Eve how to be I want beings.

And then they propagated that in every generation

spiritually after that. David refused that mistake.

He would not allow himself to want the provision

of God. He was chased out of his kingship. Before

he was ever made king and put on the throne,

Saul hunted him for years with armies to kill

him. And during that time, he was not praying,

God kill Saul. Which, in my heart, I think maybe

I would have been praying something like that.

Because I don't want to be hunted to the ends

of the earth. His family was at risk all the

time, right? And so you might be thinking, God,

take care of this man. You know he's a bad man.

Get him off the throne. And David didn't do that.

He always sought the presence of the Lord. So

then the application then is God desires to be

more than your provider. FYI, everything that

you have, God provided. And so that's done. That's

already done. We do pray, Lord, give us this

day our daily bread. But some people want the

bread for tomorrow and the bread for retirement,

too. And that's not necessarily godly. Or they

want to take their bread from somebody else.

And that's not godly. So God desires to be more

than your provider. He desires to be your closest

relationship. And that word is chosen very specifically.

Your closest relationship. God is more close

than your wife. God is more close than your kids.

God is more close than your parents, right? So

God is your closest relationship. And the truth

is, you will never be able to have the intended

relationship with any other human being that

you want to have unless God is closest. God is

the conduit, right? So if you want to love somebody,

God is love. If you take God out, you will not

love them. You will do something to them or for

them or by them or about them. because you will

like what you see, you will like what you feel,

whatever, but if you take God out, there's not

any love in it. That's why people have asked

me, I think some of the teenagers in our youth

group asked me just not that long ago, you know,

if you don't know God, can you really love somebody?

And the answer is probably no, not in the biblical

sense. Okay? All right. Then we're, okay, so

we're moving on to number three. First of all,

let me illustrate. A young man might initially

pursue a relationship because he likes what someone

gives him. So Jaden might hang out with Hannah

because Hannah is pretty. Because Hannah is friendly.

Because Hannah encourages him. Because Hannah

makes him feel good when she is around. Those

kinds of things. But that is not what a healthy

marriage is built on. So a healthy marriage is

built on... delighting in the person not merely

the benefits of the person that you're connected

to right so if you're uh hanging out with uh

your best friend let's say it's not a female

at all it's your best friend and he's strong

maybe he's got warrior skills you know you know

he's and you run into some gang members on the

street or something then you might say well i

feel safe because i'm with this guy he's pretty

tough i think he'll take care of it right And

so you might like to hang around with somebody

like that, especially if you're going into a

dangerous area. Well, God is like that. He has

all those benefits. He's big. He's strong. He's

also beautiful. He's powerful in every way. He's

merciful, gracious, kind, all kinds of good things.

But you can't seek him for the good things. You

have to want him by virtue of who you are and

who he is. So mature believers then seek God

for who he is. not what he provides. So if you're

a young believer, you might be still thinking,

I want to be saved. And a lot of people do that.

They pray to God to be saved and they want to

be saved on the day that they're going to be

saved because they want to be saved. They don't

want to go to hell. They're afraid of hell, right?

There's been a lot of foxhole conversions. I'm

going to die today. The bombs are coming down.

Oh, Lord, if you save me, I'll live for you for

the rest of my life. And they seek God because

they want to be saved. But if you stop there,

you'll be nothing but... seeking him for what

he can provide. But if you realize then once

you meet God, he's so much bigger than what he

can provide. He's so much more important. It's

so much more important to have that relationship

with him directly rather than to look at what

he can provide. Also, if, by the way, you're

after God for what he can provide, then when

you're diagnosed with stage four cancer and given

six months to live, your relationship with God

is going to suck. It's going to be really bad.

He loses a job, doesn't have any money, bills

are coming in, can't keep the electric on in

your house, and all of a sudden your relationship

with God is going to be non -existent. Because

apparently God is not providing. But if you seek

him for who he is, look at Job. Job literally

lost everything, but he was in a relationship

with God for who God was. And he said, well,

you know, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh

away. Who am I to take what he gives and then

to be upset when he takes away? And so he must

have his reasons, basically, is what he was saying.

And so that's where we need to be. If you're

seeking God for who he is, not what he gives,

then when things aren't quite going right, you

won't automatically be accusing God. All right.

Number three, God sometimes hides his face. Isaiah

59 to another classic Old Testament verse. But

your iniquities have made a separation between

you and your God and your sins have hidden his

face from you. So there's this idea of a curtain

or a barrier that comes up between us and God,

or a rift, if you will. This is like one of Scripture's

dangerous, sobering, scary, whatever you call

it, warnings. God's people had assumed that he

was ignoring them when this verse was written.

They said, well, God's ignoring us. But actually,

Isaiah explained that persistent sin, had broken

their relationship with God. So God was telling

them, don't do stuff. They were doing it anyway.

And then that created a rift between them and

God. And they started thinking, oh, God has abandoned

us. And that was maybe reflected on God's character,

that kind of thing. But actually, it was they

were continuing in sin. So if you're continuing

in sin, God will always seem far apart, far away.

You know, that's the way it works, because you're

like throwing up a barrier, a curtain between

you and him. So God had not ceased to exist.

He had not stopped loving his covenant people.

But his favor and his fellowship had been hindered

by unrepentant sin. Because they would not turn

from their sin and turn back to God. They were

looking elsewhere. They were seeking elsewhere.

So what we're talking about is relational distance.

We're not talking about a loss of who God is

or his sovereignty. So God is still sovereign.

He's still in charge of your life. And if you're

saved, you're still saved. But you can be saved

and God can be distant. And the fellowship, even

though you're like, well, but wait a minute.

He said, I'll be with you even under the end

of the age. And that would be true. You would

still be saved. He'll take you all the way through.

Right. But if you're sinning against him and

unrepentant, then you have a relational. So I'll

give you an example. My wife and I had an argument.

This is some years ago now. And I got mad. And

I went in the kitchen, and I was banging the

pots and pans. I'd wash the dishes and throw

the pans in the cupboard, making a noise. I wanted

her to know that I was angry. After I got done

throwing all the pots and pans in the cupboard,

a little harder than I should have and whatever,

I went back in the living room, and she wasn't

in the living room anymore. She'd gone to the

bathroom. And I sat down in the living room.

When she came back in the living room, we were

in the same room. that there was a distance between

us, even though we were only five, six feet apart,

right? It was clear that she was upset with me.

I was upset with her. I was upset with her for

being upset with me. She was upset with me for

being upset with her. We were both upset about

what we had argued about. So we sat in the same

room five, six feet apart until one of us would

break that silence and get it started. And that's

what it's like when God's face is hidden by unrepentant

sin. You can watch TV with God now. You can have

dinner with God. God will be with you while you're

working. He's still there, right? You're dragging

him through the mud and doing the things you

shouldn't be doing, but you're the presence of

God, the face of God, that fellowship and blessings

is separated from you. It feels distant. So sin

does not, the application then is sin does not

remove God's omnipresence. So sin does not chase

God away. When I was a young believer, I had

a seasoned, kind of mature, thought he was mature

Christian tell me, that God cannot see people

when they sin, that God will not look on sin.

And there is a verse that supports that general

idea that God will not look on sin. But that's

not what it means. That's not what Scripture

says. God sees all the sin. His eyes look through

all the earth looking for people who will be

obedient to him. And as we've heard when we talk

about the ear and the eye, we know that God is

searching out people that he can be a blessing

to. So he's still omnipresent. He's everywhere,

everywhere that he wants to be. But it hinders

our enjoyment of the fellowship with God. So

you will lose all the good spiritual, emotional,

mental aspects of being a Christian by having

unrepentant sin. So let me stop. We're going

to do a stunt in a second. I want to talk about

unrepentant sin just for a second. I understand

what it means. So does unrepentant sin mean you

sin? Let's say you told a lie. And then a week

later, you told a lie. And then a month later,

you told a lie. Is that the definition of unrepentant

sin? It is not. All three of those lies are iniquity,

and they will start to build a barrier between

you and God, right? But repentance has to do

with your heart condition. What did you want

to do? So before the first time you lied, maybe

you didn't realize it was an ignorance. And then

you went, oh, crud, I lied. God, I'm sorry. I

don't want to do that. And a week later, you

did it again. Now it's not ignorance now because

now you know what you did, right? And immediately

you go, oh, God, I'm sorry. And you try to make

it right, try to do what you can and move on.

A month later, you do it again, right? But it's

about heart condition. It becomes unrepentant

sin when one of two things happens. When you're

willfully doing something that you know is wrong,

and usually it's a Bible verse, right? Like the

Bible's telling you don't do this or do this,

and you know the Bible verse, but you're just

not applying the Bible verse. You're doing whatever

you want to do in that moment, even though the

Bible says you can't do it. Or the Bible says

you should do something different, right? But

if it's not the Bible, however, you became aware

of the correct course of action, and you willfully

choose the wrong course of action despite knowing.

That is not right. That's unrepentant sin. And

it remains unrepentant sin until you repent,

right? And you say, hey, whoa, wait a minute.

I screwed this up. I shouldn't have done that.

That was wrong. I went off course there. I see

that, right? It might be a day, might be weeks,

could be years. I know people that have slayed

away under a certain unrepentant sin for years,

right? So the other way that you get it done,

the first one is when you don't follow something

that you know to do. The other way of unrepentant

sin is when you find out after the fact that

something is wrong, and instead of turning to

God to deal with it, you keep kind of dealing

with it yourself, right? So maybe to use the

lying example, this wouldn't probably be true,

but maybe you say, well, everybody in the world

lies. I don't think God wants us to not lie.

And you just kind of live your life with an occasional

little lie here and there and there and there,

right? And then... God convicts you and you start

questioning what's wrong. Something's wrong.

I don't feel right. My relationship with God

doesn't feel right. I don't know what I'm supposed

to do. And then God points you to the lying,

but you're like, oh, well, I'll fix that. I'll

take care of that. So you intend to stop lying.

So you just start trying to enact plans. So here's

what I'll do. I won't tell anybody that I'm going

to do anything in advance because that might

break my promise. Or I won't talk to that person

anymore because I really want to have a good

relationship with them and I'm afraid I'll be

lured into lying. You start all these action

plans of how you're going to keep from lying.

And you miss step one, which was to turn to God

for forgiveness, to confess your sins, and to

receive the help that God can provide. And so

that's what people do. Either A, they start and

they repeat. And they know what they're not supposed

to be doing already before they ever really get

moving on it, sometimes right after getting saved

or whatever. Or B, they come convicted of sin

later, and then they don't get the help from

God. They just keep trying to fix it themselves.

And I've known people that did that. So I knew

a man, for example, who had gotten into almost

an affair. He was flirting with a woman. pursuant

to probably having an affair with her, and he

was married. And so then he was convicted about

it, and he said, well, okay, well, I'm not going

to have anything to do with her, with that woman

anymore. So now he basically hated her. He was

very mean toward her. He didn't want nothing

to do with her, wouldn't help her, nothing. But

he worked with her. So they were constantly seeing

each other, and he was treating her very rudely.

Well, if that's evident, then he didn't handle

that in a biblical way. He didn't repent, turn

to God, get it fixed. All he really needed to

do was make sure that they were never alone together,

make sure that he wasn't flirting with her anymore,

make sure that maybe he was open and transparent

with her that that was wrong and that he should

not have done it, was not going to do it anymore,

talk to his wife about it, make sure she was

on the right page, and amend the situation, give

it over to God and move on. And it would have

been fine. But instead, he went to a humanistic

way of doing it, which I'm going to... shun that

person, treat them disrespectfully, that kind

of thing. And that's what we tend to do if we

don't repent and turn to God. By the way, the

Bible says, John wrote that if you confess your

sins, that God will forgive you your sins. He's

faithful and just to forgive you your sins and

to cleanse you of all unrighteousness. So when

you go to him and say, God, please help me, then

he washes that away. It may only stay gone until

you delve back into it, right? You might do it

again. If you do, then you got to repent, go

back to him again. That kind of thing. Again,

we're not talking about losing our salvation.

We're talking about that closeness with God that

we can have. Okay, so we're going to do a stop

for those who would like to do a stop. I took

the liberty of getting out three cards. I will

still randomize them, but I got to play the game

today. Okay, so this is pairs, two -person teams

participating. Who wants to play? Who plays my

game? You need a partner. And if we're odd, I'll

be a partner with somebody. Come on. He already

asked you now. Okay, you need this. Good catch.

All right, we need a partner for Mike, or I'll

do it. I got back -to -back with your partner.

Okay, so this is what you have to do. You have

to toss the ball up over your head, and you cannot

move away from each other. And then your partner

has to catch the ball and toss the ball back

to you. You have 60 seconds to complete that

task. If you complete the task, you get three

tickets. If you fail to complete the task, you

get one. Let me start the timer. A little higher

so people can see. Probably would be a good call,

I think. On your mark, get set, go. Okay, you

can go get it. Try again. You have 60 seconds.

Try again. That was a good reflex if you caught

it. Try again. Oh, there's one. And? Oh, you

almost had it. 25 seconds. Oh, she dropped it

that time. All right, got three right there.

13 seconds. Yeah, communication is key, I guess.

How much do we have to catch? No! Thank you.

Stop. Stop. Stop. Okay. I'll try to remember

to cut that out of the podcast. I don't think

anyone will hear my phone alarm. All is well.

Okay, number four. We're over halfway. God's

face brings joy. So we already have, right, the

face represents the presence of the Lord, and

his presence will bring the blessings. We already

got that. And so in Scripture, we see that God's

face brings joy. Psalm 1611 is the reference.

Psalm 1611. In your presence is fullness of joy.

In your right hand, there are pleasures forever.

So even though in this verse, the word face is

not explicitly used, God's presence is the central

theme throughout Scripture. And it's a lot of

other places they use the word face. So joy is

not ultimately found in circumstances. So my

first Christian devotional book that I wrote

was called Think Again. And the material that

inspired me to write it was a paper that I wrote

while I was in college called How to Find Happiness.

Right. And so then I branched off of there to

write that book. And the bottom line is in the

world today, happiness is meeting enough of your

desires that you don't feel them overwhelming

you. Right. So don't feel like like overly thirsty,

overly hungry, desperate for money, whatever.

So you're meeting enough of your desires. You

don't feel pain or experience negative feelings

because of it. And then also being able to get

at least some fulfillment of what you imagined,

what you dream, etc. Now, you know, that's a

really empty description of happiness, right?

Because you don't know most of the time what's

good for you. So I know right now I know two

couples where both the man and the woman both

said, I'll never be married. They were happy

being single and they thought, I'll never be

married. One of the couples, they were older,

so they found each other in their mid to early

30s or something like that. And they were saying,

both parties separately saying, I'll never be

married. And that was their first marriage in

their 30s. So they had reason to believe they

might never be married. And then the other couple

was younger and he was a rabble rouser and she

was a traveler. She wanted to see the world.

And they both said, I'll never be married. I

just thought of a third one. And they both said,

he said, there's no woman out there for me. And

she said, I don't want anything to do with marriage

or family or kids, nothing. That's a life that

I don't want to have anything to do with. So

that's three I can think of just right now in

this moment. But the truth is, you don't know

what's really good for you, right? Scripture

will kind of inform us, but we really don't.

So to start to be happy that you're getting what

you think is good for you, is a very dangerous

road to go down because then your happiness is

based on circumstances and then someday you won't

be getting what you wanted that day. We had it

come up in our house the other day. We talk a

lot about inner joy and we had some schedule

changes that we had to break some promises to

Ariana and she started to kind of get mopey.

She was getting upset because she didn't get

to do the things that she wanted to do. I explained

it to her and I said, well, let me ask you a

question. Who's in charge in this situation?

You? Or God. Because I just explained to you.

God did this. It's not us. We didn't break our

words. Not because we're bad people breaking

promises or whatever. But this is why this has

to be this way. So if God did that. And you get

upset now. Then you have to realize that you're

getting upset at God. Who changed the story.

Because he changed the story. The way he changed

the story. Which basically means you're saying

he can't be God. So joy is not happiness. Joy

is not found in circumstances. is found in communion

or relationship with god the greatest delight

of heaven is not streets of gold or gates of

gems or the fact that you're going to get to

see people there you might see a dog like your

dog that you have when you as a kid uh might

not be the exact dog you can debate that doctrine

if you want but not today but anyway you get

to heaven and see people or that Not because

there's a line there that's going to thank you

because of your grand service while you're on

earth. Not because the angels sing better than

any music we got down here. None of those things

are why. It's because we have the unhindered

presence of God. That is what will bring us the

great joy. So then the application point then

is the closer we walk with God, the greater our

joy becomes. Now, on the surface, it sounds like

you don't really have any control over that,

right? So do I really have any control about

how close I walk with God? Because he's God.

I can't make God do anything. I can't force him.

I can't draw him close by my own actions, right?

But that isn't entirely true, is it? God has

promised that for those who call upon the name

of Jesus, that he will make them Christians.

Making them Christians, the Holy Spirit comes

and lives in you, so now you have his presence

daily. The Bible says if you embrace the flesh,

you less experience the presence of the Spirit.

If you embrace the Spirit, you less experience

the presence of the flesh. So embrace the things

of the Spirit. God's presence grows. The Bible

gives us spiritual disciplines. The spiritual

disciplines are all about trying in our effort,

which obviously is in Christ, to draw close to

the Lord. That's what they're all about. If you

were not saved, you could not draw close to him

no matter what. It would destroy you. Right.

But because you are saved, if you are saved,

you can draw close to him by spiritual disciplines.

So there are things that you can do. The closer

we walk with God, the greater our joy becomes.

So to me, this has been my experience of the

days when I'm really getting hit. And it happens

sometimes. My family or some bad things are happening

that I really don't like. And I start to not

feel joy. I start to ask myself, what is the

most important thing? What am I going through

right now? Or the presence of God? Interestingly

enough, side note, by the way, while Jesus was

alive, he said to the disciples, they said, don't

you need to eat? And he said, well, I have food

that you know not of. And he was talking about

doing the will of the Father. And so, think about

this. When you're in a spot where your situation's

not good and your joy starts to wane, do God's

work. Practice the spiritual disciplines. And

when you do that, you'll draw closer to the Lord.

Your joy meter will start to go back up. Not

because you're doing something to have joy, but

because you're drawing close to the Lord. Five.

God's face watches over the righteous. The reference,

the application point was, the closer we walk

with God, the greater our joy becomes. Five is

God's face watches over the righteous. The reference

is 1 Peter 3 .12. And it says, and I kind of

quoted this a minute ago when I was talking,

For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,

but the face of the Lord is against those who

do evil. So if I could say it simply, God is

picking sides. People say, well, the judge shouldn't

pick sides. And a judge that isn't perfect wouldn't

pick sides because he knows he could be wrong.

But God is not that kind of judge. He's perfect.

And so he's picking sides. Peter is actually

quoting Psalm 34. God's face represents his active

opposition to evil. So just as much as God faces

his presence to us, his fellowship and his blessings,

it's also his opposition to evil. God is never

morally neutral. So if anybody tells you, I don't

think God really cares, they're wrong. Period.

God cares about everything, right? And you say,

well, how can he care about everything? Well,

because he's infinite, right? He has no limit

in his cares, right? You say, but what if it's

just like the color of my shirt? God knows that

the right color shirt might entreat somebody

to talk to you, say something to you, and you

might be able to share Christ with them. Or you

might be able to hold the door for somebody that

you might not otherwise be able to hold the door

for, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Nothing

is beyond his concern. His holiness, God's holiness,

requires God to oppose wickedness. By requires,

I mean if he didn't do it, he wouldn't be God.

Therefore, he doesn't. It's not like he's trapped,

shackled, something like that. By definition,

God opposes wickedness. Be very careful then

about your wickedness. Remember we talked about

willfully choosing. That's unrepentant sin. That's

willfully choosing to go on in a sin. The Bible

calls that wickedness. And we can't have that

anymore because we are saved. So now we have

the bestowed righteousness of Christ. So see

the contradiction? I'm righteous walking in Christ,

but my actions are wicked. That's a contradiction.

Right? So what has to give? Well, your righteousness

in Christ cannot give. Because he paid the price

on the cross. So then the wickedness has to give.

It has to stop at some point. We have to say,

look, I'm doing something I shouldn't do. I repent

and be convicted and turn back to the Lord. Okay?

So his holiness requires him to oppose wickedness.

It's comforting to us because he will fight the

wickedness, which means sometimes we have to

fight it. It attacks us or whatever. But for

the rebellious, this is a solemn warning. And

so if you are a Christian and also kind of rebellious

or getting away with something, this should be

a very solemn warning. God will stand against

you. Ephesians 2 says we were once objects of

wrath. It does not mean that God hates you. It

does not mean that you'll be unsaved, but he

will oppose your course. He will remove his presence

and his blessings, not his presence for salvation

purposes, but his closeness. There'll be a barrier

between you and him, as we've been talking about.

And then it says to the application is choose

to live under God's smile rather than under God's

discipline. And because you know Christ, that

is a choice that you can make. Let's say if you're

making that choice on a daily basis and then

next Thursday you discover, oh, crud, I did something

I should not have done. You're not suddenly going

to be cast out of the kingdom of God. Just repent,

turn to the Lord, confess your sins, and allow

him to cleanse you and move on. Short memory,

but do have a memory. Make the difference. So

choose to live under God's smile rather than

under God's discipline. Okay, number six. Moses

longed to see God's glory. It's interesting when

you think about it. Sure. Choose to live under

God's smile. rather than God's discipline. Moses

longed to see God's glory. Exodus 33, 20 -23.

He said, You cannot see my face, for no man can

see me and live. Now elsewhere in Exodus 24,

a little known passage that a lot of people like

kind of overlook, it says that Moses and Aaron

and many of the believers who were faithful to

God amongst the Israelites were in God's presence.

They were with God. They saw God. And so putting

those two things together, you have to realize

that that means there is a difference from being

with God and from seeing his face. But also know

that Moses did speak with God face to face. And

then later when he came out, he had a glow by

his face that made everybody else uncomfortable.

Right. So there it was not just that he could

have been destroyed, but that the people around

him were suffering because of his having been

right up close with God. And at one point in

time, God says, I'll speak to my servant Moses

face to face, but everybody else I'll speak to

in dreams and visions and things like that. Moses

desired the fullest revelation of God possible,

yet God's infinite holiness exceeded what sinful

humanity could endure at that point in time.

God mercifully revealed his glory while protecting

Moses. In other words, he could be there with

God. He could be in God's presence, experience

God firsthand, but God protected him from the

part of God that would have destroyed him. And

God does that for us. I've not written this in

a book, but I've thought about it a lot of times.

I think one of the greatest aspects of grace

of God is that people who are wicked, people

who are in sin, are ignorant, they can lie to

themselves and say that God does not exist. Because

if they did not do that, if they could not lie

and convince themselves that God does not exist,

then they would be broken every single day. Maybe

even destroyed every single day. Right. But they

can deceive themselves and believe that God is

not waiting for them to turn. That God is not

lingering with them. Right. Acts 17 says he's

never far away in the first place. That God is

not convicting them of sin. They can deceive

themselves about that. And then that is a form

of protection to them. They put it on like a

coat. So they talk to a Christian who could share

the gospel. They could get saved. And they say,

I don't believe in God at all. God's not real.

I got all kinds of arguments. You have to talk.

You have to convince me, whatever. And they do

that. to protect themselves from experiencing

God. And God is so close. So this passage reminds

us of God's transcendence and his grace. So he's

far above all, beyond all, untouchable, and yet

he's close by his grace. One day... As we mentioned

earlier, redeemed believers will experience what

Moses could only anticipate in that moment. And

that brings us to the application. The application

is, the more we know God, the more we desire

to know God. So once you've, it should be, once

you've experienced Jesus Christ's salvation,

once the Holy Spirit has come inside you, right,

and you're walking, then each day there should

be a little, at least a minimum of a little inkling

where you want to know more. You want to not

and it's not no, it's not Gnosticism. It's not

knowledge like I'm going to know more of what

it says in the book. It's know him like intimately,

have a personal relationship with him. So, for

example, you might say, I wonder what God will

want me to do tomorrow. I wonder what God wants

me to say right now. And it's more important

to you what God wants you to say than it is what

you want to say. And so you constantly have that

little nagging. I need to know him more. I want

to spend more time with him. And that's what

leads us to read our Bible. It's what leads us

to pray. It's what leads us to practice all the

spiritual disciplines because we always want

to draw close with him. If you don't have that,

kind of ask yourself, why don't you have that?

And if you do have that and you're not practicing

certain spiritual disciplines that God has given

us to do that, then it's like if you wanted to

get 50 miles away and you got up in the morning

and started walking instead of taking a car,

a plane, a bus, getting a ride from a friend.

God has given you the tools to draw close to

him. He's told you how to do it. And if you're

not doing it, then that's dumb. That's not the

right way to get it done. Application on point

six was the more we know God, the more we desire

to know him. Last point, seven. We can do Bible

trivia if we want, and then we'll be on. We shall

one day see his face. Revelation 22 .4, they

will, this is very clear, they will see his face

and his name will be on their foreheads. This

is one of the greatest promises in all of scripture.

They will see his face. The Bible begins with

humanity walking with God. Adam and Eve walked

in the coolness of the Garden of Eden and then

sin entered in and there was a break. Adam and

Eve hid in the bushes, covered themselves up.

Most Bibles describe it with the word shame.

But the bottom line is there was a sin break.

Did God still come to the garden that day? He

did. He still came into their presence. But there

was a break between them and him. And that's

what sin does, as we've been talking about in

this lesson. The beauty of it is the Bible ends

with redeemed humanity once again beholding God's

face forever. He's going to bring us back together.

I've heard a lot of people, when they get saved,

probably six, maybe ten people, when they're

about to pray to be saved, when they're making

a decision to be saved, will say, I've been away

from God for too long. Now, they've not made

a decision for Christ before. They've not been

saved before. But there is this inherent feeling

in a human who is not saved that they are missing

what humanity once had. And so they'll say, I

did it myself. I've been away from God too long.

And so we feel like we somehow we moved away

from God and that's not where we want to be.

And so this is the promise of Scripture. No barriers.

No separation. No shame. Perfect fellowship restored

forever. That's the promise of scripture. And

again, I said, I think the main thing that Jesus

died for was the presence of God with people.

That people and God could be in the same place

at the same time, essentially. And then it would

be like that forever. Okay, then the application

point is our greatest hope. It's not escaping

earth. That's not our greatest hope. I'm tired

of this rat race, overcoming disease. I don't

have to fight anymore. Rather, it is enjoying

God's presence eternally. That is the goal. Yes,

you will experience trouble while on the earth.

But Jesus said, fear not, for I have overcome

the world. Then we get to the theological summary.

The face of God teaches these things. His presence.

He desires fellowship with his people. His favor.

He blesses those who walk with him. His holiness.

He opposes sin. His grace. He invites sinners

into fellowship. His glory. His holiness exceeds

human comprehension. It's beyond what we can

really know. His glory. His promise. One day

believers will behold him face to face. That's

his promise. And his eternal fellowship. He will

dwell with his redeemed forever. Practical applications.

Bottom right -hand side, right? Yep. No. Okay.

In the bottom box, pick one you like. Seek God

himself rather than merely his blessings. That

can be a choice that you make. You can seek God.

Rather than what God can give you. Or guard your

fellowship through daily repentance. So willingly,

or I should say willfully, daily turn back to

God. Usually right after I have somebody get

saved, one of the first things I'll tell them

is each day get up and do whatever God tells

you to do. And yes, you need to be more proficient

in knowing what that is each day. that's a great

way to go. Get out of bed in the morning with

your first breath and your feet hit the floor

and say, okay, what am I going to do for God

today? What does God want me to do? Third one,

live in a way that reflects his favor. So if

you realize that you're getting it from him,

what does the New Testament say? If you have

received everything that you have, why do you

behave as if you did not receive it? So we should

behave as if we have received it. Two more. Find

joy in his presence above earthly pleasures.

So you're going to have to turn the TV off and

do something about drawing close to God. You're

going to have to think about him, pray to him,

think about ways you can serve while you're driving,

while you're in the grocery store. while you're

fixing things, etc. There's joy in God's presence,

and we should have that above earthly pleasures.

And the last one, look forward with hope to seeing

him face to face. Here's an illustration for

you. During the American Civil War, a young soldier

was found sitting outside the White House. He

was crying, weeping, because he had repeatedly

been denied an audience with President Abraham

Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln, I mentioned this in

a sermon a few weeks ago, he had an open -door

policy that ordinary people could come and speak

to him, but he was repeatedly denied an audience

with the president. The account of this story

is well -known historically. A young boy walked

up to him, learned his story, and quietly took

him by the hand. The child led the soldier past

the guards and directly into the president's

office. Weeping, he couldn't see the president.

This boy comes up, takes his hand and leads him

into the president's office. The guards allowed

them through because the boy was the president's

son, Tad Lincoln. Whether every detail of this

story is historical or like people made stuff

up about it or whatever, it illustrates a profound

biblical truth. On our own, sinful humanity cannot.

stand before the holy face of God. That's not

possible. But through Jesus Christ, the son of

God, believers have been granted access into

the father's presence. We no longer approach

as condemned rebels, but as adopted sons and

daughters welcomed into fellowship through God's

grace. Now you will be able to come into his

presence and see his face for eternity. God's

face is a solemn reminder to those who do not

know God about his perfect holiness. Sin separates

humanity from fellowship. But for us, the face

of God is the source of blessing, joy, peace,

hope. His face shines upon his children with

grace. He invites us to seek him daily, to walk

closely with him, and to enjoy fellowship for

which we were created. One day, faith will become

sight. You don't have to read your Bible anymore.

You don't have to pray. You'll actually be there.

And the longing that the Bible describes will

finally be fulfilled. They will see his face.

Until that day, let's continue to seek his presence,

rejoice in his favor, and live in anticipation

of the eternal fellowship that awaits everybody

who belongs to Jesus. To which I would say, let's

invite everybody to belong to Jesus. Because

we don't want them to not be there when that

time comes. Okay, so we're going to do Bible

trivia. And then we only have about five minutes,

so... Gotta go fast. I gotta get it open, so

give me a second. It's not working. Oh. I had

to move the weather out of the way, don't you

know? Okay, if you're playing, stand up! He just

draws you right in, doesn't he? Okay, I'm going

to flip a coin. If it's heads, I'm starting.

Sean, are you standing? Or are you laying? If

I skip you, you'll be out. Okay, so we're starting

over here with Vanessa. Alright, here we go.

That's a hard one. Who built the ark? Noah built

the ark. Alright. Adam, what is the first book

of the Bible? Genesis. Caleb. Who was swallowed

by a great fish? Tom. Who was swallowed by a

great fish? John. Correct. Huh? Joshua. Who led

the Israelites out of Egypt? Moses. Correct.

Chris. It's the first somewhat challenging one.

Okay. What did God create on the very first day?

On the first day. Careful. Do you want to guess

or do you want to stick Mike with it? That would

be worth it. Okay. Mike, what did God create

on the very first day? It is a little tricky.

Light is correct. Very good, sir. That is correct.

All right, Natalie. Who was the first man? And

for a follow -up question, Kashawn, who was the

first woman? All right. We made it all the way

across the room except for the light was kind

of tricky. That was tricky. Okay. Vanessa, how

many days did God take to create the world? To

create the world? Yes, to create. It is worded

very specifically. Oh, six. Six days is correct.

Adam, what is the last book of the Bible? Caleb,

who was Jesus' mother? Mary. Okay. Joshua, where

was Jesus born? Just the town will do. Yep. Yes.

As in like that. Is that the answer? Yes, that's

correct. Yeah. Okay, Mike. What did David use

to defeat Goliath? I'll give you a sling and

stone. Okay. It's not a sling shot, but. You

can look it up later to see the difference. Actually,

we have a kid's Bible home that says he used

a slingshot. I was like, I don't like this kid's

Bible. Okay. Natalie, who betrayed Jesus? First

and last name. No help. Two tickets for Natalie,

two tickets for Vashon. Vanessa, who betrayed

Jesus? First and last? Yep. That's correct. Adam,

what sea did Moses part? The Red Sea is correct.

Caleb, what was the name of Abraham's wife? Not

sure? Yeah, well, you know, this is the way the

luck falls sometimes. Joshua, what was the name

of Abraham's wife? Sarah is correct. And you

noticed that it was not Abram, but Abraham. That's

pretty impressive. Okay, Mike, you ready? What

was the name of Isaac's wife? That's a hard one.

That could be a room sweeper. No, it does not.

It does start with an R. Rebecca is correct.

Did you give him the answer? He sometimes rises.

I never know. No help from the peanut gallery.

All right, Vanessa. Who interpreted dreams in

Egypt for Pharaoh? Joseph is correct. Adam, what

are the Ten Commandments written on? Stone tablets

is correct. Josh? Who is the strongest man in

the Bible? Yes. Samson is correct. That was so

easy. All right. Mike? What was the name of Ruth's

mother -in -law? This is the second hard one

in a row for you. It's like this random list

of trivia has it out for you. Naomi is correct.

Very good, sir. Vanessa, which prophet confronted

King Ahab and Queen Jezebel? Ahab and Jezebel.

Okay, so I think that was four tickets, I think,

right? Is that our fourth time, Drew? Okay, yep.

All right, Adam? Which prophet confronted Ahab

and Jezebel? Sit for four tickets, stand for

five. That's a lot of tickets. Okay. Joshua.

Which prophet confronted King Ahab and Queen

Jezebel? Sure. Yes. Elijah is correct. Okay.

Mike, here we go. How many disciples did Jesus

have? No. How many disciples did he call? Twelve

is correct. Same. I mean, they're using the word

interchangeably, I'm pretty sure. Josh, who denied

Jesus three times? Mike, what is the shortest

verse in the Bible, just the words, you don't

have to give me the reference. Jesus wept is

correct. Josh? Who was thrown into the lion's

den? Daniel is correct. Yeah, exactly. Mike,

what city's walls fell after Joshua's army marched

around them? There are like six tickets, so don't

guess. I wouldn't at this point. Jericho is correct.

Josh what was Matthew's profession before following

Jesus? That is correct