Conversation 15

(Sermon preached by Mr. Goodman to a congregation including Mr. Wright and his neighbors.)

Brethren and kind friends:

The subject upon which I wish to speak to you this morning will doubtless appeal to you as wonderful. It is “God With Us.” My text is Matthew 1:23: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

Many of you here this morning are readers of history. You are well acquainted with the most wonderful happenings in all the ages of the world. History records the great things that have been wrought by the ingenuity of man. By his contrivances, we can talk with our friends in distant parts of the world; wireless messages can be sent for thousands of miles; voices of men can be heard long after they have been dead; the courses of stars and the distances they are from the earth are known, and the time when one shall cross the path of another can be reckoned centuries beforetime. Films have been invented that are more sensitive than the retina of the eye, so that distant stars that are invisible to the eye through the most powerful telescope have been pictured by the art of photography. The camera is made to analyze the movements of the swallow’s wing; by the spark of a Leyden jar, which is brighter than sunlight, a bullet discharged from a gun has been photographed, and the fast traveling bullet appears in the negative as if it were at rest. These, and hundreds of other things even more wonderful, you have read about.

In the little sketch of history I have read you this morning is recorded the most wonderful event that has ever happened in all the history of the world. It never occurred but once, it will never occur again. It lay wholly outside of the possibilities of man—a virgin with child. God came down to earth to be with mankind.

Who Is God?

See the small insect crawling in the dust at your feet. See the blade of grass, the leaf, the flower, the fields of grain, the forest, the flowing stream, the lofty mountain and the wide open plain. If you were to stand on the shore of the Pacific, you would see the waves leaping and dashing, and for thousands of miles, the water extends toward the setting sun. If you were to stand beneath the stars on a cloudless night, you would see the millions of the shining worlds and wonder at the vast distance between them. Then, think for a moment that God—the God that came down to be with men—is the maker and upholder of all—all things, from the tiniest insect to blazing suns—all is upheld by the hand of God.

His Promises to Man

Many years ago, God gave to man this promise: “And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again unto this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.”* (Genesis 28:15) The promise was not to Jacob only, because the Apostle encourages our hearts by telling us to “be content with such things as ye have; for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”* (Hebrews 13:5) Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”* (Matthew 28:20) Not only was He with the apostles to the end of their life, but He is with all His children and will continue to be with them so long as the world shalt stand.

But that Christ—God born of the virgin and manifest in the flesh—was for a long time not with us, yet after He came and before His ascension, He said, “I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.”* (John 14:18) God, until the time of Christ, was with man as a Creator, caring for His creatures; in Christ, He was with man not only as a Creator caring for His creatures but also as a Savior; since Christ, He is with man in the person of the Holy Spirit, as the Creator caring for His creature as a Savior, and as an indwelling abiding comforter. He says, “Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”* (2 Corinthians 6:16) Then again, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”* (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) Wonderful! My brethren, if God dwells in you, you are holy, and if you are not holy, God does not dwell in you. Christ shed His blood that the soul of man might be cleansed from all sin and that it might be a fit dwelling place for God. This work is wrought not by water nor by works, but by grace through faith. Christ dwells in the heart by faith (Ephesians 3:17).

The Excellency of God’s Presence

What can be of greater value to man in the journey of life than the presence of God with him? Life spent in the presence of God is a life of victory, a life of safety, a life of joy and peace. “In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”* (Psalm 16:11) “My presence shall go with thee,” said the Lord to Moses, “and I will give thee rest.”* (Exodus 33:14) The expressions in the ninety-first psalm, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High,”* (Psalm 91:1) and “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust,”* (Psalm 91:4) describe our privilege of living daily in His blessed presence. As the mother bird is ever present with her brood, her feathers sheltering them from the chilly wind and her wing protecting them, so God is ever present with His children, keeping them in safety.

Consciousness of His Presence

I will tell you the secret of a happy, joyful life. A friend might be present with us, but if we were not conscious of his presence we should not be greatly benefitted. He might give us protection unseen and unknown by us, but we could not be rejoiced. It is only when we are conscious of the presence of a friend that his presence gives us joy. And further, we are made conscious of the cheering presence of a friend by the same medium that we become conscious of the fragrant flower in the vases or the pleasing strains of music that we hear—by our physical senses; but we are made conscious of God’s presence with us by our spiritual senses. A feeling of loneliness may be creeping over the spirit of a husband as he sits alone in his room. His wife may enter all unobserved by him, but that does not dispel his loneliness. The moment, however, that she lays her gentle hand upon his shoulder, he is made conscious of her presence, and the lonely feeling leaves him. It is when we feel God touching our souls by His gentle Spirit that we are made conscious of His presence; joy flows like a river over our spirit. It is then that the soul is satisfied; it is then that it has peace and rest. O my friends, do you live each day in touch with God?

When we feel the touch of a friend’s hand, we are assured of his presence. When we feel the touch of God’s Spirit, we are assured of His presence, and, oh, what care we then for the pleasures of earth! When a soul is born again, it comes in touch with God. When we taste the delicious flavor of fruits; when we scent the rich fragrance of the flowers; when we hear melodious strains of music, we experience delight. When we are born of the Spirit, we get a sweet taste of the good things of God; we hear the voice of His Spirit whispering in our soul that we are God’s child; we scent fragrance from the fields of grace; we experience delight—such delight as nothing of this world can give.

My friends, we can and will if we walk in the light of God’s Word, have a blessed consciousness of God’s reality—of His presence with us. We may not at all times receive new evidences of God’s presence, but we shall often be made aware of His presence. We, as Christians, are to live a life of faith, and faith will always produce feelings of some sort; if we believe evil tidings, we have bad feelings; if we believe good tidings, we have good feelings. God may sometimes withdraw away from our sight; He may cease to speak to our souls; He may remove the touch of His hand from our spirit so that we cannot see, hear, or feel Him; but as we remember the promise, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,”* (Hebrews 13:15) we know that God is nevertheless present with us and we have rest, peace, and calm composure by faith in Him.

A husband may be sitting in his room conversing with his wife; he sees her; he hears her voice; he feels the touch of her hand. She says to him that she is going into another room to do some work but that she will not leave the house. Although he cannot see her, hear her, nor feel her, yet he believes her word to the effect that she will not leave the house. His faith makes him conscious of her presence, and he is contented. Should he begin to doubt her presence in the house, which he may do if, after a reasonable length of time, he does not receive some evidence of her presence, he will begin to feel restless. A Christian may not for a time see, hear, or feel God, yet by faith he knows that God is with him, and that faith gives him a consciousness of God’s presence. But who can blame anyone for beginning to doubt that God is present with him, if, after a reasonable length of time, he fails to see, hear, or feel any spiritual evidence of His presence? It may not be that we doubt God’s promises, but may be we have failed to obey some commandment. Beloved, in the very nature of things, we must often have some evidence of God’s presence—see, hear, or feel, spiritually—or we shall lose that precious consciousness of God’s reality, and the soul will begin to get restless.

Friend, does God dwell in your heart today? Do you feel Him there? Does His presence fill your soul with joy and satisfaction? If you do not have evidence of His presence, you have just reason to doubt that you are right with God. I exhort you to seek God until you know that He is in you.

Before I close, is there any announcement?

Mr. Wright—I wish to say that there will be a cottage prayer meeting at my house next Wednesday night and that everybody is cordially invited to be present.

Mr. Goodman—“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”* (Ephesians 3:20-21)