INTRODUCTION: "Remember men, preaching is an appointment with God." This is what our homiletics teacher at East Tennessee. School of Preaching told us who were preacher students. He was emphasizing the importance of preaching, how God was present with us in it, and that it was a serious work. But in reality all worship is "an appointment with God." God is present with us. This is a fact that we often do not take seriously. How would we react if we saw the physical presence of God with us in our worship. He is. 

BODY

I. GOD IS PRESENT IN EVERYTHING WE DO. 

A. We can't go anywhere where God is not present. 

1. Psalm 139:7- "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" 
2. Jeremiah 23:23,24- "{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."

B. The Lord is never far from his people. 

1. Psalm 16:8- "I have set the Lord always before me: because {he is} at my right hand, I shall not be moved." 
2. PSA 145:18- "The Lord {is} nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth." 
3. ACT 17:27- "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:"

A. When we worship God, he takes notice of our actions. 

1. Ecc. 5:1,2- "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter {any} thing before God: for God {is} in heaven,and thou upon earth:therefore let thy words be few." 

a. Solomon is saying, "Be careful what you utter in wor- ship, God hears everything we say and notices every- thing we do."

2. Revelation 8:3,4- "And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer {it} with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, {which came} with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand."

B. Jesus tells us that he is with us in our worship. 

1. Matthew 18:20- "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." 
2. From the context of this passage we know that Jesus is referring to our assemblies. 

a. Matthew 18:17- "...tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." 

A. Moses before the burning bush. 

1. Exodus 3:2-5 
2. Moses was told to approach God in a reverent manner.

B. The reaction of Joshua before the presence of the Lord. 

1. Joshua 5:14,15- "And he said, Nay; but {as} captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship,and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest {is} holy. And Joshua did so."

C. Old Testament saints were to worship God in reverent fear. 

1. Psalm 89:7- "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all {them that are} about him." 
2. Habakkuk 2:20- "But the Lord {is} in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him."

D. The reaction of John before Jesus. 

1. Revelation 1:17- "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:"

E. What does all this teach us? 

1. When we come together to worship God we are coming into the presence of God. 
2. Being in the presence of God, we should have an attitude of reverence toward him. 
3. How we react to the presence of God determines whether our worship is pleasing to Him. 

Copyright 1999 by Grady Scott may be reproducted for non-commercial purposes at no cost to others.