WHERE IS GOD?

                                            

PSALM 42:1-3, 2 KINGS 2:11-15                                                  

Pastor Rick Jackson

The man commonly called Saint Patrick was not Irish, he had been captured and enslaved by the Irish as a teen and went back to Ireland as a missionary as a young man. He was not catholic. He was a Bible believing, Bible-preaching missionary.

Before I was humiliated I was like a stone that lies in deep mud, and He who is mighty came and in His compassion raised me up and exalted me very high and placed me on the top of the wall. – Patrick

Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me. - Patrick

The story is told of a little boy playing with blocks. His father was an unbeliever and when the boy went out for a moment the father made the blocks spell out, “God is nowhere” When the little boy came back in he read the blocks, then he made a space in one of the words changing it into two words. The father saw the change… where it had said, “God is nowhere” it had been changed to “God is now here”. It is a matter of perspective.

I. WHERE IS GOD FOR THE BELIEVER?

1. God is before us [Dt. 1:30-33] (like a scout)

2. God is above us [Dt. 4:39, Ps. 14:2, 102:19] (good vantage point)

-Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

-The LORD looked down from heaven

-For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;

3. God is beneath us [Dt. 33:27]

- The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms

4. God is around us [Ps. 34:7, 125:2]

- The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

-As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.

5. God is behind us [Is. 30:18-21, Rev. 1:10]

- And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

6. God is with us [Joshua 1:5, Mt. 28:20, Heb. 13:5]

- as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee

- I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

- for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

7. God is in us [1 Co 6:19, Co 1:27]

- Christ in you, the hope of glory:

II. WHERE IS GOD FOR THE UNBELIEVER?

1. He is everywhere [Ps. 139:7-13, Jer. 23:23-24] “OMNIPRESENT”

- Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

- Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

2. He is separate [Is. 59:2, Heb. 7:26]

- But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

- For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

3. He is near [Is. 55:6-11]

- Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

III. WHERE IS GOD IN YOUR LIFE?

1. Is He in you? [Rm. 8:9-11]

- But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

2. Is He in fellowship with you? [1 Jn. 1]

3. Is He outside the door? [Rev. 3:20]

- Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.