Resound Church Leah Ramirez
He Hides Right Before Us February 21, 2010
There is nothing ordinary about ordinary! Just under the surface, the supernatural dimension of God lies hidden…just out of view, but nonetheless present. God is hiding…but only so that He can be found. He is everywhere. His very glory in fact covers the whole earth, and yet we cannot see. We cannot hear. So He hides, squishing in just right, all so that we can discover He has been there all along.
I. THE DISCIPLINE OF AWARENESS
A. Everything supernatural is hidden in the ordinary. The Son of God, Creator of the Universe, was hidden within a body…dust of the earth. The fullness of God was concealed in a man. His glory was hidden, but only enough to be discovered by those who were truly seeking. All of the glory of God was contained in a cell, held in a womb of a virgin. Think about that. Dwell upon the mystery of God.
Colossians 1
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by[6] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
B. Oh, to know Jesus! The audacity of it all!!! The very fact that He is willing to be overlooked is too much to bear. He is willing to be disregarded. All the fullness of God is wiling to be overlooked. Can we comprehend this? So many passed right by Him. They scoffed, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” So many who were experts in the Law, missed the subject of their expertise altogether. Not only did they overlook Him, they despised Him.
C. What is it about man that we despise the ordinary? We despise the small things… And yet, Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven in terms almost too ordinary to be regarded: Leaven, wheat, a pearl, a mustard seed.
Matthew 13
10Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”…13This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand…16But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
…34All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:
“I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
D. It’s hidden…but only kind of. God was hiding right in front of them in the person of Jesus! The blessing is to see what is right in front of you. The blessing is being able to hear what is all around you. He is everywhere. He’s in everything.
E. We have disciplined our hearts to pray, and come to church and read our Bibles…but have we learned the discipline of opening our hearts to the longings of God? The Lord is always speaking. He is always longing for us. The real question is whether we have been sensitized to hear His voice.
F. These ordinary signs…these windows are the very longings of God to commune with us. The Lord is leading us, speaking to us, inviting us to connect. He is in the big stuff…and He is in the small stuff. He’s with the worship team and the shower singer.
Isaiah 6
1 I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the trainof his robe filled the temple. 2Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
G. The whole earth is full of his glory. You. Me. There are burning bush encounters all around us. At Walmart, the park and work. With your spouse and your children. The whole earth is full of His glory. God wants to invade our lives. Church is just the beginning. All of life, every part of life is sacred. It’s all a gift. The ordinary is no longer ordinary.
II. THE LONGING OF GOD
A. There are signs without….and there are signs within. God is longing for communion with us in ways that we cannot even fathom.
Genesis 2
18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for[5] him.” 19Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed[6] every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam[7] there was not found a helper fit for him. 21So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made[8] into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
B. God created man in His very image…and this man cries out, “At last!” When finally there was someone who could meet the longing in the heart of man, he cried out in relief. Man, who is formed in the image of God cries out in longing… This longing is God-like. This longing is godly.
C. Have you ever wondered about the hight, depth, width and length of the longing of God? This is love. What will the sound of God’s cry be when He is finally joined with His partner, His bride?
Isaiah 42
10Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants… 12Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare his praise in the coastlands. 13The Lord goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes.
14For a long time I have held my peace; I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant… 16And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.
D. He cried out in all manliness, and in the full intensity of womanhood: Childbirth. He is fully complete within Himself and yet there is a Longing within Him that we have never considered.
E. God longs.
F. This week we have had several people baptized in the Holy Spirit. It started out in the most ordinary way…but of course, everything Divine always does.
Acts 1
1:1In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized withthe Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
G. Don’t depart! Don’t move on. Don’t try and do the thing in your flesh. Wait. Wait for the promise. Wait for the full effect of the cross to come upon you. The cross made us clean and loosed us from our sins. The cross made us inhabitable.
The Ascension
6So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
H. It’s one thing to be clean and it’s another to have power to remain clean. Our flesh is weak. And clean flesh is still flesh at the end of the day. We need to very breath of God.
I. 10 days have passed since Jesus was taken out of their site on the Mount of Olives. They are in the most ordinary setting you can imagine: a church prayer meeting with little to no focus. They are waiting for ???? They are waiting. In the meantime they are choosing a replacement for Judas by choosing lots. Even their waiting is in the flesh. They can’t even wait right!!!
Acts 2
2:1When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and restedon each one of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?...—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
16But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
17“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18even on my male servants[3] and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
22“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it… 32This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing…
36Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
J. The is a Holy Invasion. It is the longing of God openly manifested in the earth. It’s not enough to brood over the earth…He longs to commune.
K. The outpouring of God was in response to Jesus’ ascent into heaven. He prayed it, but He had yet to present Himself before the altar of Heaven. He had yet to take His place at the right hand of the Father. He breathed on them…but His breath was still hidden. LIFE itself breathed on them! But it was still shrouded in humanity.