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Transcript

Well, good afternoon everyone.

Well, there’s a rule in human communication. It’s called the fifty-five thirty-eight seven formula. And some of you’ve probably heard of it, you’ve all likely heard of it in principle but what it says is that fifty-five percent of the communication that we have with people is based on our body language, thirty-eight percent is based on our tone of voice or the way we say something, and seven percent is based on our words. So, we have a full ninety-three percent of communication has nothing to do with the words that we say.

A big part of nonverbal communication, everything outside of our words, a big part of that is our facial expressions. And the look or looks that we have on our faces say a lot. They can tell people how we feel, they can tell people our emotional state. You can tell when someone is curious, for instance, by the look they have on their face. They’ll have a quizzical look. Maybe you can tell if someone’s happy, they’re smiling. Someone is sad, maybe their face is not looking very upbeat. They’re crying. You can tell if someone’s angry.

All those things are possible through facial expressions. You could even tell if someone’s impatient. You know the old eye roll, like, oh. And the interesting thing about facial expressions is that they’re universal. They go across cultures. A sad face in India is the same as a sad face in Japan or in Australia, no matter what those cultures are. Now, COVID did a number on reading faces and facial expressions. They really took a hit. I remember, I’m sure you do too, I remember wearing a mask and you just could not tell what people were thinking.

You couldn’t tell if they were upset, if they were happy. Maybe they were impatient. You really couldn’t tell. They did some studies and they showed that people really lost a lot of contact or that intimacy when it came to faces when they were covered by a mask. There was one doctor, he put it, it talked about... what he said was when we cannot see the whole face, our universal processing is disrupted. And in English is when you can’t see someone’s face, the way we process and communicate with them is wholly impacted.

They found that people were quicker to get angry or at least they were perceived to be angry when you couldn’t see their faces. And I think more than anything, everyone’s most of their faces being covered during those two to three years really showed us the importance of it. My heart goes out to the millions and millions of women in certain cultures, mostly Muslim cultures that have to wear the niqab or the burka. And that’s different than just the standard head covering. That’s the one where you can only see that strip of their eyes. My heart goes out to those women. How do they communicate? How can you tell how they feel? It’s certainly not something that God intended.

For me, and I’m sure you’re the same, for me to get to know you, I want to see your face. I want to see your eyes. I want to see your nose. I want to see your smiles. I’m looking at all of your faces, you’re looking at my face. It’s more personal when you can see my face. It’s more personal when I can see all of your faces. We’re able to connect with each other. We’re able to understand each other. You’re able to understand me just because you can see my face.

And of course, when we see each other’s faces, we’re together. I know there’s technology, we can see things on video. But when we’re together, we can see each other’s faces. That’s a big, big component of that. Brethren, of course, each of us has a face. We all have a face. That’s a good thing. God also has a face. And just like we benefit from seeing each other’s faces, God also wants to see our face. We want to see His face.

Face to face communication with God has huge implications, especially on a day like today. So on this day of Pentecost, let’s see what face-to-face communication with God means for all of us. All right. Turn to Exodus chapter nineteen. Exodus chapter nineteen. We are going to read about Moses and God on Mount Sinai, verses we of course go to on Pentecost. Exodus nineteen. We’re just going to read for a little bit. We’ll start at the beginning of the chapter.

Exodus nineteen, “In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came day to the wilderness of Sinai.” So they had been traveling and they stopped, or they departed from Rephidim and were come to the desert of Sinai and had pitched in the wilderness and their Israel camped before the Mount.” So they just set up camp at Mount Sinai. “And Moses went up to God and the Lord called unto him out of the Mountain saying, ‘thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel.’”

So we’re seeing that God and Moses were meeting together. Verse four, “You have seen what I’ve done unto the Egyptians and how I bore you on Eagle’s wings and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people for all the earth is mine. And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord had commanded him.”

So the people saw Moses’ face as he was relaying everything that God had just said to him. Much like you’re seeing my face and I’m relaying these things to you, the people saw Moses’ face. Verse eight, “And all the people answered together and said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.’ And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.” So now we see God is seeing Moses’ face and Moses is relaying everything that the people just said to him. So we see Moses is functioning as a go-between in a lot of ways.

Verse nine, “And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Lo, I’m come to you in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe forever.’ And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord.” So, we see God didn’t just want the people to take Moses’ word for it. There was a little bit of back and forth, but God is saying here, He wanted the people to hear when He spoke to him.

Verse ten, “And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Go unto the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow and let them wash their clothes and be ready against the third day. For the third day, the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai.’” There is no doubt God is not speaking from heaven. God is there.

Verse twelve, “And you shall set bounds unto the people roundabout saying, ‘take heed to yourselves that you go not up to the Mount or touch the border of it. Whosoever touches the Mount shall surely be put to death. Then there shall not a hand touch it,” talking about the Mount, “But he shall surely be stoned or shot through whether it be beast or man, it shall not live. When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come to the Mount.’” God obviously wanted to communicate with the people, but he wanted there to be some separation. So, under threat of death, the people were only supposed to come so close.

Drop down to sixteen. “And it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the Mount and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud so that all the people that were there in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God.” Important phrase. “And they stood at the neither part of the Mount. And Mount Sinai was all together on a smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire.” Once again, God was there. “And the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace and the whole Mount quake greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice. And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai.”

There’s emphasis of God being there on the top of the Mount. “And the Lord called Moses up to the top of the Mount and Moses went up. And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Go down, charge the people lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze and many of them perish.’” Just in case they get curious, what’s going on up there? Who is Moses speaking with just in case they get curious. Let the priests also, which come near the Lord, sanctify themselves. Lest the Lord break forth upon them. Moses said unto the Lord, “The people cannot come to Mount Sinai for you told us, you charged us saying, set bounds about the Mount and sanctify it.” And the Lord said unto him away, “Get you down and you shall come up, you and Aaron with you, but let not the priests and people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest He break forth upon them.” So Moses went down unto the people and spoke to them. So, we see here, it is primarily Moses who is having this interaction, this direct interaction with God.

Let’s go to Exodus thirty-four. Exodus chapter thirty-four. Exodus is an amazing book. We study it during this time of year, but brethren, I encourage you to study it throughout the year. Exodus thirty-four. We’ll start at the beginning of the chapter. Actually, let’s start at verse two. Exodus thirty-four. “Breaking into the thought here. And be ready in the morning.” This is God talking to Moses. “And come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me in the top of the Mount.” Verse five. “And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord.”

Let’s go all the way down to verse twenty-seven. “And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Write you these words, for after the tenor of these words, I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.’ And he, Moses was with the Lord forty days and forty nights. Neither did eat bread nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables, the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.” Moses was with God well over a month, forty days, forty nights. Imagine being with God for forty days and forty nights. Apparently, they were so busy, Moses did not have a chance to eat or drink. Maybe he had no appetite because he was with God.

How did that impact Moses? What impact did that have on him? Verse twenty-nine. “And it came to pass when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the Mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.” Moses’ face was shining. How does a person’s face shine? That defies all laws of physics or is it like, are there like lumens or lights in his face? How can a person’s face shine, literally shine? Lest we think it’s a metaphor.

Verse thirty. “And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.” His face was actually shining, brethren. I would be afraid to come near him too. What happened to Moses’ face? Verse thirty-three. “And when Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.” He had to cover his face. Probably was too distracted. They couldn’t hear anything he was saying. They were staring at his face. He had to put a veil on his face.

“But when Moses went before the Lord to speak with Him, he took the veil off until he came out. And when he came out, he spoke to the children of Israel, which he was commanded. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. And Moses put the veil upon his face again until he went to speak with him.”

So we’re seeing this impact. We’re seeing now the impact of Moses in his face specifically and being in God’s presence. Let’s go back to Exodus twenty. It’s important to understand we saw the impact that it’s having on Moses. What about the people? What impact is this opportunity having on the people? Exodus twenty, verse eighteen. “And all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the Mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, “Speak you with us and we will hear. But let not God speak with us lest we die.” It was too much. It was too overwhelming for them. “And Moses said unto the people, fear not, for God has come to prove you and that His fear may be before your faces, that you sin not.”

That all was meant to be a motivation so the people wouldn’t sin. Because if I sin, I have to deal with that. I have to deal with Him. It was a way to prove them. “And the people stood afar off and Moses drew near into the thick darkness where God was. And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘You shall say to the children of Israel, you have seen that I have talked with you.’” This case is saying from heaven. So we see in a fascinating way that the God of the universe was willing to meet face-to-face with a human being. In this case, it was Moses. Exodus thirty-three. We’ll start at the beginning of Exodus thirty-three.

We’re going to see a change here. Exodus thirty-three, verse one. “And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Depart and go up hence, you and the people with which you have brought up out of the land of Egypt unto the land which I swore to you, and to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob saying unto your seed will I give it.’” So now we see the people are moving. They left Mount Sinai. You know, the place where Moses was meeting with God. They left Mount Sinai. What now? What now? Did it mean that Moses could no longer meet with God?

Verse seven. “And Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it without the camp afar off from the camp and called it the tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass that everyone which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation which was without the camp.” Verse nine. “And it came to pass as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle and the Lord talked with Moses.” Moses was still able to meet with God despite no longer being at Mount Sinai. Brethren, that is very important. The fact that Moses could meet with God in a different place than Mount Sinai is very important.

Verse eleven. “And the Lord spoke unto Moses face-to-face as a man speaks unto his friend.” That’s the first time we read there, explicitly read that God spoke with Moses face-to-face. Now, as we go through the account, Moses needed some assurances. God had told him that he would deliver the children of Israel. Moses needed some assurances. Okay, help me believe you. Verse fourteen. “And he,” this is God saying, “My presence shall go with you and I will give you rest.” And Moses said unto Him, “If your presence go not with me, carry us not hence.” So if you’re not going to be with us, God, we don’t want to go. Don’t send us.”

Verse seventeen. “And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘I will do this thing also that you have spoken. For you have found grace in my sight and I know you by name.’ And Moses said, ‘I beseech you, show me your glory.’” So, Moses is saying, “I want to see your glory. I believe you, God, but I want to see your glory.” And He, God said, “I will make my goodness pass before you and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. And I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”

And he said, “You cannot see my face, for there shall no man see me and live.” Well, God just said, “You can’t see my face.” I thought they were talking face-to-face. Didn’t we just read that? Look back at verse eleven. “The Lord speak unto Moses face-to-face.” Now God is saying, “You can’t see my face.” Let’s continue reading. “And the Lord said, ‘Behold, there is a place by me that you shall stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass while my glory passes by that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and will cover you with my hand while I pass by.’” We’ve all heard this and read this account. “And I will take my hand away and you shall see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen.”

God is saying, “You can’t see my face,” yet we just read God and Moses met face-to-face. What are we missing? Clearly, we have to be missing something. What is it? What is it? Well, brother, once we get into it, it is just fascinating to understand.

If we look back at verse eleven, it talks about God seeing or meeting with Moses face-to-face like friends would. We clearly read that. Well, the answer to the riddle, to the mystery of how they could be face-to-face, yet God says you cannot see my face is the meaning of the word face to face or the phrase. The word face, there is pânı̂ym. Sounds familiar? Pânı̂ym. We’ve heard it in the series. Pânı̂ym, in the face of. Pânı̂ym does mean face, but it also means presence.

When we read that God and Moses were face-to-face, pânı̂ym to pânı̂ym, they were present presence to presence. They were in each other’s presence. That’s how they were able to see face-to-face. Yet God says, “You cannot see my face.” If you go back through the account, I hid it and emphasize it here and there, but if you go back to the account, the account will jump out to you now, because God talks about being in the presence, in the presence of this and the presence, my presence, my presence, my presence. His presence on the mountain with Moses being there with Him, His presence in the tabernacle with Moses being there with Him. The two beings, God and Moses, met face-to-face. Go to Numbers fourteen. Numbers chapter fourteen. God keeps emphasizing His presence.

Numbers fourteen [verse fourteen]. “And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land, for they have heard that the Lord is among... that you Lord are among this people.” You are among the people, “…that the Lord is seen face-to-face and that the cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by daytime in the pillar of cloud, pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.” God’s presence was in that pillar, and He was there amongst the people. We just saw it described as Him meeting and being with the people face-to-face.

God wants to be present with His people. He’s always wanted to be present with His people. What father would not want to be present with his children? There’s a movement going around now. You’ve probably heard of it. There’s this movement going around where people are glorifying single-parent households. Probably you have been seeing and hearing about it, particularly mothers. They’re glorifying single-parent mothers or single-mother-led households. Brethren, that is wrong.

I’m speaking as one who grew up with a single mother. I’m not throwing stones. It was one of the most challenging things that a child could face. What kid wouldn’t want his dad to be there, his father to be there? You can flip it. There are single-parent households with fathers, and that’s no blame. I don’t blame my parents. Things happen, but to glorify it is wicked. That’s wrong. Things happen. That’s not my point, but to glorify it and make it as if it doesn’t really matter, that’s wrong. That’s wrong.

We need a physical father in our lives. We certainly need a spiritual father in our lives. God knows that he wants to be present with us. Just because God is invisible doesn’t mean he’s not there. Just because we can’t necessarily see Him doesn’t mean that He’s not present. God has always wanted to be with his people. Go to Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three.

Just read a couple of verses here. I just want to show God has always wanted to be present. Genesis chapter three. We’ll pick it up in verse eight. Genesis chapter three, verse eight. “And they, Adam and Eve, heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” God was present. God was there. “And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, where are you? Why aren’t you present? Where are you? I’m looking for you.” Adam said, “I heard your voice in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.” God has always wanted to be present with His people. He wants to be present with His people now. He wants to be present with His people in the future.

Turn to Ezekiel chapter twenty. Ezekiel chapter twenty. Verse thirty-three. Ezekiel chapter twenty, verse thirty-three. “As I live, said the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, with a stretched-out arm and with fury poured out will I rule over you.” Talking to Israel. “And I will bring you out from the people and I will gather you out of the countries wherein you were scattered.” We’re reading about captivity here. Israel’s captivity. “With a mighty hand, with a stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face-to-face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, says the Lord God.”

That word “plead” don’t you get a different mind picture? “Just like I pleaded with my people at Mount Sinai. I pleaded with them. I gave them my law on Pentecost. I pleaded with them to obey me. You just came out of captivity. I’m going to plead with you again.” It sends a different picture. God will be present. That’s what we’re reading. We’re reading here that God will be present with His people there in the wilderness, face-to-face.

I said that God has always wanted to be present with His people. Oftentimes, brethren, to fully appreciate something, you have to not have it. A way to fully appreciate being present with God is not being present with God, being separated from God. It helps us better appreciate when we are able to be in God’s presence. Turn to Isaiah fifty-nine. Isaiah fifty-nine. This is a memory verse, I have it marked in my Bible. I’ll read two verses, actually. Isaiah fifty-nine verse one, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither His ear heavy that it cannot hear.” Here’s the memory verse, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.” Face there is, guess what? Pânı̂ym.

So sin separates us from the presence of God. God does not desire to be in the presence of sin, so He separates Himself. Being separated from God, brethren, is a terrible thing. It doesn’t sound very pleasant, but it is a terrible thing. Let’s go to Mica chapter three. Let’s just read one example here. And as I read it, get the image. Get the image that God is painting. Mica chapter three. It is terrible, a terrible thing to be separated from the presence of God. Micah chapter three verse one, “And I said, ‘Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and you princes of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know judgment? I’m here to judge you.” It’s what God is saying.

“I’m here to judge you, who hate the good, and who love the evil. Who pluck off their skin off from them and their flesh from their bones. Who also eat the flesh of my people and flay their skin off from them, and break their bones and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as for the flesh within the caldron.” These are wicked individuals. “And the people that they’re abusing, they shall cry unto the Lord, and He will not hear them. He will even hide His face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves in their ill doings.” Punishment. Crying out to God. We read what they were experiencing, but crying out to God, and He doesn’t answer.

Deuteronomy chapter thirty-one. Deuteronomy thirty-one. Brethren, sometimes we don’t miss what we have until it’s gone. You’ve heard that before.

Deuteronomy thirty-one verse seventeen. Deuteronomy thirty-one, seventeen, “Then my anger, says God, shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them. I will hide my face from them, that they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say on that day, ‘Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ And I will surely hide my face in that day from all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.”

Brethren, we cannot let the “other gods” in our lives, the things that we put in the place that only should be occupied by God. We cannot allow those other gods to distract us from being in the presence of the true God. Because when we’re in trouble, and we’re calling out to God, those gods, little g, won’t be there to help us. They won’t be there to deliver us. The things in this world that are shiny and sparkly, and the things that we want, and we think that we want over the being in the presence of the true and living God, they won’t be able to help us when we’re in trouble.

We desperately need access to God as human beings. We desperately need access to the God of the universe. And brethren, we can have this access. We have the access. We have it. It comes through Jesus Christ and through God’s Spirit. John fourteen. John fourteen chapter six. John fourteen, six, “And Jesus said unto him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me.” Our access to God is through Jesus Christ. We just read about, there’s no exceptions. No man. Christ describes Himself as the way, the truth and life.

Three things that we have to access and go through in order to get to God the Father. And the point is, we have that access through Jesus Christ. Christ is the door that we walk through to access God. It reminds me back with Moses. Remember Moses was the go-between? He was going back and forth? Well, Christ replaces Moses and does this one even better. He is the door that we can all walk through and personally have access to be in God’s presence. God gave us access to His presence through His Spirit. Think about that on a day like today. It’s Pentecost. God poured out His Spirit.

Go to Ezekiel thirty-nine. Ezekiel thirty-nine. Brethren, these are powerful, powerful verses that we’re reading. Ezekiel thirty-nine, verse twenty-nine. Ezekiel thirty-nine, twenty-nine. This is God speaking. “Neither will I hide my face any more from them.” Why? “For I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, says, the Lord God.” How important is Pentecost? We’ve been hearing about it all day. How important is Pentecost? God poured out His Spirit among flesh, all of us.

Some of us are seeking to have God’s Spirit in us, and not just working with us. In both cases, God’s Spirit is involved. God poured out His Holy Spirit on the church two thousand years ago, God is still pouring out His Spirit on flesh today. And with that, comes the opportunity to be in His presence. To be face-to-face with Him. God desperately, if I could put it that way, God desperately wants to be in presence with us. I said, “Desperately.” That’s strong. He gave His Son. He sacrificed His Son. Those are actions of someone who desperately wants to be in contact with people.

But I repeat, do we, or I ask, do we desperately want to be in contact with God? Do we want to be in contact with God as bad as He wants to be in contact with us? That’s another way I can put it. Or is it no big deal? Sometimes you don’t miss what you have until it’s gone. Think about the significance of being in the presence of Almighty God. The children of Israel were in awe, “Moses, you talk to Him.” We can’t do it. It’s harder for us to understand because we don’t see the thunder and the lightning and the quaking the way that they did. It’s harder for us to get our heads around it.” But being face-to-face with God is of the utmost importance. We’re in God’s presence, it’s more personal. We recognize Him, He recognizes us. Remember from the beginning, all the benefits and the things that comes with being face-to-face. We better understand each other, human beings and God. And of course, when we’re face-to face-with God, we’re together. In His Presence.

To be face-to-face with God, we must take the same approach as David took in Psalm twenty-seven, let’s go there. This is the attitude that we should have. Psalm twenty-seven, verse seven. Psalm twenty-seven, verse seven, “Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me and answer me. When you said, ‘seek my face,’ my heart said unto you, ‘your face Lord will I seek.’” So when God said, “Seek my face,” David said, “Okay, I’ll seek your face. Your face will I seek.” “Hide not your face far from me. Put not your servant away in anger, you have been my help. Leave me not neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.’

How rare is that? A child to be forsaken by his own father and mother, that just doesn’t happen. It happens occasionally, but that’s pretty rare. David is saying, “Even when my father and mother pitch me to the side, you’re there.” It’s powerful. Young people, if your parents give up the faith, you still have a decision to make. I will say that to my kids. If father and mother decide, “You know what, I want to go do something else.” You have your own opportunity to have your own relationship, your own chance to be present with God.

How can we be face-to-face with God? How can we do it? How can we be in God’s presence? One way is through prayer. Hebrews chapter twelve. Hebrews chapter twelve. Brethren we should desperately want to be face-to-face with God. If I could put it this way, it should consume us. Hebrews chapter twelve. We’ll pick it up in verse eighteen. “For you are not coming to the Mount that might be touched, and that burn with fire nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest,” That sounds familiar. We just read about that.

“And the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words which voice they heard, and treated, that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. For they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned and thrust through with a dart. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, ‘I exceedingly fear and quake.’” So we’re getting a juxtaposition here comparison. But you are come on to Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.

Brethren, when we go and pray, we are on a journey. See yourselves as going on a journey. It’s saying here, “We’ve come to Mount Zion onto the city of the living God.” Imagine approaching a city, a grand city, a city that would be occupied by God. What would that look like? Angels and spirits of Just men made perfect, beautiful scene, entering God’s throne room, being in His presence. We’re meeting with God when we pray. Appreciate that. Prayer is our opportunity to talk to God. You’ve heard that before. It’s personal.

Turn to Matthew six. Granting the question of how to be face-to-face with God. Matthew six, verse six. Matthew six, six, “But you when you pray, enter into your closet. And when you have shut the door, pray to your Father, which is in secret. And your father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.” When we go to God, it’s personal. We’re in our prayer closet. We go in and we close the door behind us. Why? Because it is a private face-to-face meeting with our God. It’s being described that way. Christ was no different.

Let’s go to Matthew fourteen. Stay here in Matthew, Matthew fourteen, verse twenty-two. Matthew fourteen, twenty-two. “And straightway Jesus constrained His disciples to get into a ship, and to go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.” “You all go ahead, just go ahead. Go ahead of me. Crowds, go, go.” He sent them away. “And when He had sent the multitudes away,” verse twenty-three, “He went up into a Mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, He was there alone.” Christ wanted face time with God. He wanted his own one-on-one time with God. Brethren, we have that same opportunity to have that face-to-face one-on-one time with Almighty God. Christ needed it. How much more do we need that face-to-face time?

Psalm ninety-one, Psalm ninety-one. Never fully appreciated these verses until preparing for this message. Psalm ninety-one. “He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” To be under God’s shadow, He’s there. It’s a secret place. “I will say to the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God, in Him will I trust. Surely, He shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shall you trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.”

Brethren, prayer is our opportunity to talk to God. We can make our requests known to Him. Things that we would never say to anyone else we can say to God. We’re in our prayer closet. The door is closed behind us. Hopefully no one’s eavesdropping. We can talk about our lives, the things that we’re going through, the challenges that we’re facing, the attitude that we got into earlier that day, the person that we’re having struggles getting along with but we don’t want to admit it. We have the opportunity to do that when we’re face-to-face with God. We can pour out our hearts. We can say things that we would never say to anyone else. Remember, I said it was important that Moses was able to talk to God after they left Sinai. Remember, I said that when they were in the Tabernacle. They went to a different place and Moses still had access to God.

Go to Psalm one thirty-nine. Psalm one thirty-nine. That was more important than we might think. Psalm one thirty-nine, verse seven. Psalm one thirty-nine, seven. “Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend unto heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there.” God and Moses met on Mount Sinai. Then they met in the Tabernacle.

Brethren, we can meet God wherever we want. We can meet Him in the bedroom next to our beds. We can meet Him in the kitchen when we pray. We can meet Him in our cars when we pray. We can meet Him at work when we’re about to lose it when we pray. We can meet God wherever we want. We are not restricted to the mountain. We’re not restricted to the Tabernacle. We can meet Him wherever we want.

Psalm five. We have to make sure, brethren, we must make sure we’re taking advantage of this amazing opportunity. I’m sure you’ve all appreciated the importance of prayer, but hear me, appreciate it even more now with this idea of being in God’s presence. Psalm five. We hear about prayer all the time, as we should, it’s a tool of Christian growth. Sometimes you hear about something so often you can sometimes forget how important it is and how significant it is. Certainly, you don’t want to do that.

Psalm five, verse two. “Harken unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for unto you, will I pray.” We’re talking about prayer. “My voice shall you hear in the morning, oh God. In the morning will I direct my prayer unto you and will look up. For you are not a God that has pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with you.” Brethren, we don’t want to miss prayer. We don’t want to miss it. God is there. God is present. We don’t want to leave Him standing. We don’t want to stand Him up. He’s there. He’s waiting. His presence is there waiting, waiting for us to come. God wants to meet with us face-to-face.

If you find prayer difficult, we all do. Sometimes it’s hard to pray. It’s part of the reason sometimes we miss. If you find it difficult, be creative. It’s easy to pray when you’re going through something, but we’re not always going through something difficult. Be creative. Take the model prayer. It’s called a model for a reason. Take the components of that prayer and talk off of it. It’s in Matthew six, I think nine through thirteen.

If you have to, open the Bible and read the verse. Go to a psalm. We’ve been in and out of Psalms. Many of them are prayers. They’re written for a reason. Now, most prayers are going to be in the closet with the door closed. Well, these prayers were put on display, open book. Why? So we can benefit from them. So we can take these very prayers, countless of the times you’re the same. I’ll read that psalm and it’s like, man, that’s just exactly what I’m going through. Oh, it put it so well. That’s how I’m feeling. That’s why they’re there, to inspire us, to give us ideas. Pick up the announcement bulletin. There’s prayer requests in there. Read them to God. Be creative. Be creative. Prayer is a very, very good way and required way to be in God’s presence.

Another one is Bible study. Spirit-led Bible study. Let’s go to second Timothy chapter three. Second Timothy chapter three. Verse three. Oh, sorry. Second Timothy chapter three, verse sixteen. Second Timothy three, sixteen. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God,” we’ll come back to that, “and is profitable for doctrine, for reprove, for correction, for instruction and righteousness that the man of God may be perfect thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” That phrase, inspiration of God, that means divinely breathed. I’ll say it again, divinely breathed. When we speak, we are breathing. I’m breathing out my words. It’s saying that all scripture was divinely breathed or spoken from God from his mouth, which is attached to his face, so from God’s face.

Second Peter one twenty-one says, “The prophets spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Again, that divine breath, spirit, it’s described as wind in John three. That’s why we say Bible study is God talking to us. Prayer, us talking to God, Bible study, God talking to us. Brethren, when we study our Bibles, we should look at it like this. Go to Jeremiah chapter one. Jeremiah chapter one. Bible study, like prayer, is one of those things we hear about all the time. Of course, we do it. It’s exciting. Sometimes more exciting than others. When it comes to being in God’s presence, we want to make sure we’re seeing it properly.

Jeremiah chapter one, and this is how we should think of Bible study when we can. Jeremiah chapter one, verse four. “Then the word of the Lord came unto me.” We see that phrase all the time in the Bible. The word of the Lord came unto me. Keep reading, “saying,” so it’s speaking here, “before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations. Then said, I, Ah, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak for I am a child. The Lord said unto me, say, not, I’m a child, for you shall go to all that I shall send you, and whatsoever I command you, you shall speak.”

I just picked that verse, but what jumped out to me was very colorful. You’re seeing this back and forth between God and Jeremiah. Some of the promises that he has in there do have application for us and to us. The exchange was so powerful. It’s like God was there with him. The word of the Lord said unto me, and then Jeremiah’s responding and going back and forth. We should engage the word of God the same way, brethren, when we’re excited. We’re back and forth. “God, why did you say it that way? That’s interesting. Oh, that doesn’t help me understand it.” Instead of just [mumbling] Figured that’d get your attention. Because you think, “Okay, study. Oh, I got to study. Oh.” No, it’s exciting. It’s back and forth. It won’t always be like that. Of course, no it’s not, but strive for that. Strive for that.

Our Bible study should come to life. God knew. God knew that being face to face was so important through His word, He knew it was so important that He gave His word a face. Let’s go to John chapter one, verse fourteen. There’s one verse here, John one, fourteen. “And the word was made flesh and dwelled among us and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth, Jesus Christ,” and of course, Jesus Christ had a face. The word of God was given a face. People wonder, “What is this? How can these words be put to life? What does it really look like? How can I do all these things that God is telling me to do and expecting of me?”

I know, God. I know. I’ll give them an example. I’ll give them a literal example to be able to watch and to be able to see. The thing is, remember what Christ told Philip? What did He tell him? If you’ve seen me, then you’ve seen who? You’ve seen the Father. Don’t miss the connection. The word, which is this book, became Christ, and if you saw Christ, you saw the Father.

Brethren, when we study this book, we are looking into God’s face. We are face-to-face with our creator. How does that change your Bible study? It’s not always easy. It’s not always easy being face-to-face with God, even through His Word. Go to Second Timothy, chapter two. Second Timothy, chapter two. I can try with all my might to make Bible study always sound so fun and it’s just a blast. Sometimes it’s easier than others, but many times, brethren, it’s difficult. It’s hard. It could be a challenge.

Second Timothy chapter two, verse fifteen. “Study to show yourself approved unto God a workman...” I want you to just focus on that word, “A workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” God’s communication to us is perfect. His Word was purified seven times. His Word is perfect, so it’s coming to us perfect. Our understanding is not always perfect. It could be a challenge to understand everything God is saying. We don’t always understand what God is saying immediately, and it should be as no surprise. He said you have to work at it. We have to work at it.

Sometimes we have to wait to understand it because we’re just not in a place in our lives where it makes sense to us. We have to labor to be in God’s presence. Remember David? I will seek your face. Seek implies it’s not always just right there. We have to dig. We have to search. We have to sometimes put it down and come back. Brethren, Bible study does not have to be arduous. It’s a mix. It does not have to be arduous. It does not have to be always so difficult.

Go to Psalm one. Because just like we have to work at it, we have verses like Psalm one, one. Psalm one, one. “Blessed is the man that walks not in the council of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful...” Here we go, “but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law does he meditate day and night.”

We’re reading about someone who is delighting being in Bible study. It’s fun, it’s rewarding, it’s encouraging. It’s all other positive words that I could put to it, and it’s day and night. When it’s day and night, it’s something that you want to keep doing. When we recognize that, when we come into contact with God’s word we’re coming into God’s presence, that makes day and night make that much more sense.

Remember, God wants to be with His people. I went as far as saying, He desperately wants to be with his people. We should desperately want to be with Him day and night. We have that opportunity through Bible study, through coming into contact with God’s word. We’ve looked at prayer, we’ve looked at Bible study. Another way to come into contact and be face-to-face with God. It’s not a way you might immediately think of.

Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two. We’ll pick it up in verse forty-two. Of course, the context is Pentecost and Acts is the book that lays out Pentecost, so we want to see it in that context. Acts chapter two, verse forty-two. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers, and fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles, and all that believed were together and had all things common and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need, and they continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and with singleness of heart.”

We just read a description of God’s Church. All of us. Brethren, that’s us. We do all those things. Anyone in the world looking for God’s Church, look to those verses. Find the group that’s doing those things. Brethren, that’s us. Two thousand years later, we’re still doing the very things that I just read. It didn’t change. We kept it going. In God’s Church we are together in doctrine, obviously together in fellowship, sharing meals. We just shared a meal. We’re together in prayers, selling all.

It talks about attending the temple. We meet in halls. It talks about meeting in homes. We still do all of that. We do it all together. We’re all looking at each other. We’re all face-to-face with each other when we do it. We do all of those things. What does that have to do with being face-to-face with God? Because that’s the subject. What does any of that, yes, we are face-to-face with each other, yes, we shared a meal together. I was looking at you and you were looking at me and all the things, and we meet in homes and all that. Yes, we’re together and we’re looking at each other, but what does that have to do with being with God face-to-face?

Matthew eighteen, verse twenty. Matthew eighteen, twenty. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, this is Christ,” there am I in the midst of them.” Is that true or not? All those things that I was listing in Acts, were those things all not being done in the name of Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ? Yes. So, guess what? He’s there. When we’re sharing a meal, when we’re doing all the things that we talked about, meeting in the temple, meeting in homes. He’s there.

What about the Father? John fourteen. John fourteen. You know the answer, but we’re going to read it in the scripture. Where’s the Father during all this? John fourteen, verse twenty-three, “Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man loved me, He will keep my words and my Father will love Him, and we will come unto Him and make our abode with Him.” The Father and Christ are together.

When we gather in Christ’s name, God is there. God is there with us just like he was in the Church with the Church in the wilderness, the children of Israel, just like God was present, remember, present in the Church, with the Church in the wilderness is the pillar of cloud, pillar of smoke. God is present with His modern Church today. It’s no different. He manifests Himself in different ways, but we just read that God and Christ make their abode within us. They are with us. We don’t have to look out at a cloud, fire, smoke. They make their abode. They’re dwelling with us.

John one, John one. First John one. Excuse me, First John. First John one, verse three. First John one, verse three, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his son, Jesus Christ. And these things I write unto you that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of Him and declare unto you that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ., His son, cleanses us from all sin.”

Remember, God does not want to be in the presence of sin. Christ’s blood cleanses us of that sin. Guess what? Now we can be with Him. Now we can have fellowship with Him. Now we can be in His presence. Brethren, when we get together, God is there. God is with us today on Pentecost. God is here, and because He’s omnipresent, He’s with brethren all over the world today. God is with us.

What does God’s presence look like? What does it look like? We talk about making abode within us. What does it look like? Is it fire? Is it smoke? Is it a shiny face? Remember that? What does it look like? Well, what I’m going to say to you may surprise you. It may surprise you. God speaks to us through people, through people. It could be a minister. It could be a fellow member. Our face is His face. When we fellowship, potluck meal and you’re sitting across from a person and they’re telling you their experience, things that they’ve gone through and they’re glorifying God, you’re seeing the face of God in that person and through that person. Wow, really?

When you’re sitting across from a minister and he’s counseling you, and he’s telling you the mind of God, you’re seeing God’s face through that man. How else is God is... We don’t hear an audible voice from God. We hear from the minister. We hear it from the person that we’re sitting across from, that they’re sharing their past or something that they’ve gone through glorifying God.

When we serve each other, the person being served, you’re seeing God in their face. Remember Christ said, “Hey, you giving the least of these a drink of water it’s like giving me water.” Remember? When we serve, the person is seeing God’s face in us through us. That, brethren, is in part why God places so much emphasis on fellowshipping and being together.

This whole time, what have I been talking about? The importance and significance of being in God’s presence. Fellowship is a powerful way to be in God’s presence. God is here with us. Being face-to-face with God in His presence, with each other in fellowship, has a major requirement, has a major requirement. Turn to John seventeen. John seventeen. It has a major, major requirement.

John seventeen, verse twenty-one. What is the requirement? John seventeen, twenty-one, “That they may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that You have sent me and the glory which You gave me I’ve given them that they may be one even as we are one.” So what does it mean to be one with God and Christ?

Let’s go to First Corinthians chapter one. First Corinthians chapter one. We’re reading about this requirement of having fellowship and being face-to-face with God through people. First Corinthians chapter one, verse ten, “Now, I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all speak the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” That is the requirement, brethren, we must be united.

There can be no division between us. Division is a dangerous, dangerous, dangerous thing. If a minister sees division in a congregation, his antenna go up and he has to deal with it. We can never allow division to come between us. We won’t always agree on everything, but we cannot allow that to get to the point where it’s division. And we really can’t get allowed to get to that point when God is there with us. When God is there with us and there’s division, what are we doing? What are we showing to Almighty God? God cannot be in the presence of that.

Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two. Let’s read a summary verse on this, set of verses on this, Philippians chapter two, verse one. Philippians two, one, “If there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowel and mercies, if any bowels and mercies fulfill you my joy, that you be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves.”

Brethren, we have to humble ourselves often to be able to maintain this unity. Sometimes we have to humble ourselves. You know what? I think I’m right, but I’m just going to humble myself right now. Why? Because I want to be on one accord with my brother. With my brother or my sister. “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” The same Christ that is there with us with the Father, when we get together in fellowship.

Brethren, we should all look like God to each other. When we see each other, we should see God. And guess what? We will. Why are we here? To become God. Sometimes I meditate, I think about it, “What will I look like when I become God?” What will all of you look like when you become God? Will you look the same? Will I be able to look at you, “Oh, yes.” Or will you look completely different?

I think about the man who saw Christ after He was risen, they didn’t recognize Him. Will we look different? Will our faces look the same? Well, we’re all knowing I guess we will be able to figure out who’s who. But, brethren, that is an exciting thing. That is an exciting thing. So when I say we look at each other, and we should see the face of God, it’s true. We are begotten sons and daughters of God.

Face-to-face, as I conclude here, face-to-face means to be in God’s presence. That’s what it means. But brethren, I admit it, I also want to know exactly what does God’s face look like? It’s great to be in His presence, it’s wonderful, but what does His face actually look like? Let’s go to First John chapter three. This is the final verse. Couldn’t end a sermon like this without this final verse.

First John chapter three. First John three, beginning here, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God.” Heard about that earlier. “Therefore, the world knows not us because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.”

One day we’ll actually be able to see God’s face, not merely be in His presence. What will that look like? I don’t have enough time in the message to speculate. But brethren, allow that verse and all these verses to inspire you. Pentecost, a wonderful day. The day we have God’s Spirit. We’ve been given God’s Spirit. A Church that looks like the same Church two thousand years ago. Allow that to inspire hope in you.

Pentecost is an extraordinary Holy Day, for many, many reasons, but the main reason it’s because we have the ability to be in God’s presence. The ability to see God face-to-face.