Matthew 6:3-4 But when you do alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does: 4That your alms may be in secret: and your Father which sees in secret himself shall reward you openly.
Matthew 6:6: But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you hast shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.
Matthew 6:17-18 But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; 18: That you appear not unto men to fast, but unto your Father which is in secret: and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly.
Psalms:16:11: Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Our reward for being in God’s presence is fulness of joy. You cannot be happier than when you are in the presence of the Lord.
Acts 3:19: Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
1. When in the presence of the Lord we see how big God is.
Isaiah:6:1-4 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.2: Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.3: And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.4: And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Just the train of God’s robe fills the temple. This shows how big God is.
Uzziah was king for 50 years, and the king of Assyria was on Israel’s border when he died. Uzziah was a very intelligent person and had made many inventions of war. So he had kept the king of Assyria at bay. But now Israel was afraid of invasion.
2Chronicles:26:14-15 And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones.15: And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.
When he was an older man, he became proud. He went into the temple and did sacrifices only the priest was supposed to do. Immediately he was stricken with leprosy. He spent the rest of his life isolated and was never able to enter the temple again.
Isaiah gets the revelation that the little king has died, but the big King is on the throne.
Psalm 114:7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
Nahum 1:5 The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it.
2. We see how small we are in his presence.
Isaiah:6:5: Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
The Lord of hosts is the commander of the armies of heaven. Isaiah sees how big and holy God is, he then sees how small and sinful he is. There is no way you cannot see your need of God when you see how holy he is.
Re:4:8-11: 8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. 9: And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, 10: The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that lives for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,11: You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for you have created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created.
God is so holy that heaven does not take a break from saying, Holy, Holy, Holy. This is the only attribute of God that is repeated three times. God is love is only mentioned once, God is faithful is only mentioned once. This shows that God is so holy that one holy is not enough.
God is so holy everything he touches becomes holy.
a. His name is holy, Lu:1:49: For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
b. his nation is holy, Exodus 19:4–6 You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
c. his temple is holy, Psalms:5:7: But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
d. his Spirit is holy, 1Th:4:8: He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
e. his covenant is holy, Lu:1:72: To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
f. his city is holy, Isa:52:1: Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
g. his ground is holy, Ex:3:5: And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
h. his oil is holy, Exodus 30:25 And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.
I. his word (scripture) is holy, 2Tm:3:15: And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
j.his promises are holy, Psalm 105:42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.
k.his angels are holy, Luke 9:26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.
l. his prophets are holy, 2 peter 3:2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
m. his people are holy, Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
n. and even his kisses are holy. 1 Thess 5:26 Greet one another with a holy kiss.
Psalms:22:3: But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Holy means morally pure and completely set apart from sin. Here it says God is holy, and he inhabits our praise. The reason he can inhabit our praise, even though he is set apart from sin, is that through the blood of Jesus we are set free from sin.
3. In God’s presence we see how good he is.
Isaiah 6:6-7 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
When we have been in the presence of God, he touches us, and we leave knowing we have been in his presence. We know that we do not have to walk in guilt any more or condemnation.
Your iniquity is taken away as far as the east from the west is. The word purged is translated atonement most of the time in the Old Testament. Atonement is the state of being at one with. Contentment is the state of being content with.
Heb:10:19-20 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
We can be one with God through the blood as we are in his presence. The blood of Jesus covers that sin.
Heb:10:22: Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Jude 24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Psalm 140:13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.
Here’s an acronym that will help guide you in prayer: P.R.A.Y. The letters stand for Praise, Repent, Access and Yield, which captures the essence of prayer — to seek an audience with the King of the universe, the Holy One, who in the mystery of His character loves us and responds to our prayers.
Praise: We’re to enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise . Sit quietly and thank God for who He is and what He has done.
Psalm 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
M’t:6:9: After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Repent: A spiritual cleansing is needed in order to come nearer to the throne of God.
Psalm 66:18: If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”
M’t:6:10: Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Access: We’re not telling God anything new — “All my longings lie open before you, O Lord: my sighing is not hidden from you” (Psalm 38:9). Even so, He gives us access to talk to Him about our needs.
M’t:6:11: Give us this day our daily bread.
M’t:6:12: And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
M’t:6:13: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
Yield: The fact that we have brought our prayer list before God indicates our trust that He will, in His time and in His way, show us the way we should go.
Psalm 143:8 Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.
Matthew 6:13 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen
Goode Christian: learning how to be a good Christian in today's world. 