THE PRESENCE OF GOD WITH HIS PEOPLE REV. E. C. DARGAN, D.D., PASTOR FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, "Fear not; for I am with thee." (Isa. xliii. 5.) The people of Israel were in trouble. Great had been their transgressions, and bitter the penalty they had paid. Many and sore had been their afflictions, nor were they yet free of them. At such a time God sends them this gracious message. It was indeed timely. It is God's own reassurance, spoken through the prophet, to his people. The Lord declares his love for them, his peculiar interest in them. He had done great things for them in the past; he promises to do even greater things for them in the future. He will gather them from whence they had been scattered, north and south, east and west. If God so encouraged his ancient people, is it not reasonable to expect that he will do as much for his people now? Are they who have been redeemed by the blood of his Son less precious to him than were the children of Abraham? Surely not. We find in the New Testament abundant repetitions of this promise. We are fully authorized to accept this assurance given to the ancient people of God as our own, and to encourage ourselves thereby. And this applies to us both as individuals and as the church. I. GOD'S PRESENCE WITH HIS PEOPLE IS DISTINCTLY ASSERTED. We consider first of all the great and blessed fact that he is thus present. It carries of course more than the mere general truth of the divine omnipresence, which is one of the great attributes of God. This is a special, self-manifesting presence, and is a gracious act of God. This presence may be denied by some. The unbeliever may utter the bitter taunt, "Where is thy God?" The general multitude may pass it by as something incomprehensible. The doubting Christian feels lonely at times and is prone to say, "Verily, thou art a God that hidest thyself!" The grief-stricken Christian in the depth of terrible sorrow may say, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" The back-sliding Christian under the frown of his heavenly Father may feel that God is far away from him. The whole church during long seasons of spiritual declension may well feel that God's full presence is lacking. But over against all this is God's simple, direct assertion, "I am with thee." Let us notice that this presence of God does not depend upon our moods. And it is indeed well for us that it does not. Nor is it to be argued away by any human logic. Alas! we may be argued out of belief in it, but the glorious fact itself cannot be argued away. It is God's own positive declaration; he does not condescend to argue the case. Nor is it made to cease by our coldness. This is most gracious of all. We may put up screens and exclude the sun's light, but our screens cannot keep the sun from shining; we only shut ourselves out of its light and warmth. So our spiritual declension and coldness may hinder our joy in God, but they do not (blessed be his name!) keep him away from us. So against all inferences to the contrary, we have God's definite assertion of his presence with his people. The more fully we accept and believe his gracious word the better will it be for us in all respects. Let us carefully notice the method by which God makes known his presence with his people. If we believe God's promise that he is with his people we may still ask, how does that presence show itself? How does it become apparent to our observations? How do we become conscious of it in our own experience? And such questions we may ask, not as captiously demanding proof of what God so firmly declares; but that we may rejoice to see his promise fulfilled. There are external tokens of God's presence with us. These are not the reality itself, but they are the forms in which that presence is made known. Let us beware of mistaking the token for the fact. But on the other hand, let us also beware of thinking the token to be an empty and meaningless thing. God's presence with us is betokened by the Bible. We have God's word here translated and printed for us. It is not God, but God is in it. When devoutly studied in private and faithfully taught or preached in public it is one of the manifestations of God among us. Again God's presence is manifested in his church. The union of God's children, his co-workers, into organizations; the grand gathering of all who believe in him into one great whole; the fixing of these into permanent bodies for the preservation of the truth— this is Christ's Body. And this organic or collective aggregate of Christ's own people is on his part a "real presence," in a good and true sense of the phrase. For though the Head is out of sight, the living, throbbing Body is here; and we are a part of it. Now especially God's presence is set forth in the ordinances of the church. Its mere existence is a declaration of his presence, but its exercises of worship and commemoration are a nearer manifestation of God's actual contact with his people. Worship, preaching, baptism, the Lord's Supper-all these are the tokens of God's presence among us. Oh! that our minds were enlightened to see him in them all; that they may not be to us mere empty forms, but forms full of God! But let us clearly see that with us God's presence is not confined to these outward tokens. There is a secret and mysterious method of his presence that does not express itself in external forms, however suggestive, but is felt in the inner chambers of the being. It is the witness of the Spirit. It is the contact of the divine with the human consciousness. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit.” It is here that God touches the individual. It is here that the sweet promise of our text is directly fulfilled. Such a presence cannot be seen, but it can be felt. When so realized it is not to be boastfully claimed, but we try to make it appear as a virtue of our own, and that would be blasphemy; but it is to be humbly received and enjoyed in the secret place of the soul as the most precious and blessed of all earthly experi ences. This is the personal view of the great subject of God's presence with his people. Is there anything for us to do in order to make the presence of God a distinct and abiding reality in our own hearts and lives? Yes; there is a wellknown phrase about "practising the presence of God," which indicates both the duty and the method of the Christian's course in this great matter. It is easy to see that the use, constant and habitual, of what are called "the means of grace" is the answer to our question. We must read and study the Word of God, attend and employ the exercises of public worship and fellowship with each other, and above all pray and meditate much in private. These things will bring to us, as many of us well know, and as the testimony of thousands emphasizes for us, the consciousness of that divine and gracious presence which God has here and in many other places promised to his people. The special blessing of that presence given in our text is now to be noted. II. GOD'S PRESENCE WITH HIS PEOPLE IS THE ANTI- This is the main purpose of the promise to overcome fear; and this is true chiefly because God's presence is that of power combined with love. It is the presence of power. Weakness fears; but weakness upheld by power need not fear. Humanity is weak, and God's people are only human, and so are often fearful. But they should not fear, because infinite power is on their side. This power exhibits itself where it is most needed, for it is the power over all powers. This is its guarantee for our help, |