C. Ryle (1816-1900) had written a series of messages with the title, “Home Truths.” They contain valuable lessons that I want to share with the Hopefuls. I am going to rewrite his messages for our benefits today, which means that the basic concepts and lessons are coming from the mind of this godly man of God. 

I. The first lesson is about the presence of God. What do we mean by the real presence of God?  What is it?  Exodus 33:15, “And he [Moses] said unto him [the LORD], If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.”  The word, “presence,” is a very pertinent word to all Christians today.  What is that presence Moses is asking the Lord for?  The presence of God, or the presence of the Lord Jesus / Christ … where is that presence?  What is the nature of that presence?  This question is more than about theological controversy, but it lies at the very roots of saving Christian religion. 

First, we need to consider the general doctrine of God’s presence in the world.  It is clear in the Bible that God is everywhere – His omnipresence.  There is no place where God is not, whether in heaven or in hell.  In air, land, or sea, there is no place where God is not present.  He is in our bedrooms, church, or high mountains.  God is near us – seeing, hearing, observing, and knowing everything.  The biblical authors testify it univocally. 

Job says, “For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. ²² There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves” (34:21-22). 

Proverbs 15:3, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” 

Jeremiah says, “Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (32:19). 

The most well-known passage of the presence of God is probably Psalm 139, “Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. ³ Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. ⁴ For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. ⁵ Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. ⁷ Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? ⁸ If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. ⁹ If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; ¹⁰ Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. ¹¹ If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. ¹² Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee” (vv2-12).  

The descriptive words of the presence of God in the Bible truly confound and overwhelm us.  We read them and are deeply impressed, but the truth behind these amazing words is often beyond our comprehension.  Probably it is the feeling that David experienced almost 3000 years ago.  Psalm 139:6 says, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.”  We must not blame this noble doctrine for our lack of understanding, but rather we should lament over the weakness of our poor minds and intellects.  In the world around us, there are scores of things that we do not fully understand but still believe, and no sensible person refuses to believe.  One such example is of gravity.  We can describe what gravity is; explaining is probably beyond our capability.  Yes, we are able to describe it, but explaining it is a totally different matter and level.  Isn’t it true that though we do not feel any motion, the earth is rotating?  When people refuse to believe what they cannot understand, they become atheists, but, in reality, there are many things we believe, though we do not fully comprehend them. 

If someone says that he believes in God because he fully comprehends Him, or that he does not believe in God because he cannot comprehend Him, either way, he has wrong concepts of God and man, faith and religion.  The biblical God is a Spirit, without body or parts.  We, like all other material creatures, can only be in one place at a time.  Then, how can we fully understand, and thus take the idea of an Immaterial Being, who existed before creation, who formed this world by His word out of nothing, and who can be everywhere, and see everything at one and the same time?  Can we, mortal and created creatures, thoroughly comprehend any single attribute of God?  If our answer is always negative to these questions, where is the common sense or wisdom of refusing to believe the doctrine of God being present everywhere, merely because our minds cannot take it in?  Job 11:7-8 offers us a word of wisdom, “Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? ⁸ It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?” 

Think of the high and honourable God with whom we have to do while we live and before whose bar we must stand when we die.  Consider carefully the notions of His power, His wisdom, His eternity, His holiness, His perfect knowledge, His “presence” everywhere.  The sins of unbelief committed by mankind arise from wrong views of their Maker and Judge.  Psalm 50:21 says, “These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.”  Psalm 94:7-9, “Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. ⁸ Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise? ⁹ He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?”  Job in his critical moment said, “When I consider, I am afraid of Him” (23:15). 

A sneering unbeliever asked a poor Christian, “What is your God like?  Is He great or is He small?”  The Christian wisely answered him, “My God is a great and a small God at the same time: so great that the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, and yet so small that He can dwell in the heart of a poor sinner like me.”  Another scoffer of God asked a child, “Where is your God about whom you have been reading from the Bible?  Show Him to me, and I will give you an orange.”  This little child of God answered, “Show me where He is not.  My God is everywhere.”  Isn’t it true that “God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty”? (1 Corinthians 1:27).  The Bible also says, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise” (Matthew 21:16).   

Lovingly,

Your Pastor

More Lively Hope

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