In His Absence — E.A. Johnston

The Withdrawn Presence of God

There is a verse in the Song of Solomon which strikes a discontent chord in an otherwise soaring love ballad. It is verse 6 in chapter 5, and it laments, I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone.

My soul failed when he spake. I sought him, but I could not find him. I called him, but he gave me no answer. And we must take this verse very seriously, dear friends, for it applies to our sad condition, which exists in many of our churches today.

We come to church expectantly with the desire to meet our God, but alas, often instead of meeting God in a transforming way, we settle for mere human entertainment from the worship team and mere human reason in the pulpit from a pastor doing the best he can to keep your attention with clever stories and at times a raised voice, and we leave the sanctuary disappointed for we leave the same way we came in, unchanged, for it is obvious to at least some observers that there is a missing presence in our church services today and that missing presence is almighty God.

In his absence, we rely on human ingenuity and human talents to get by with the typical Sunday morning service. The typical Sunday morning church service is much like the lament of the lover in our text from Song of Solomon.

I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had withdrawn himself for a fear, friends, that one of the main remedial judgments upon the church in our day is the withdrawn presence of God among us. In his absence, we have the choir or worship band sing more songs.

In his absence, we tell more funny stories. In his absence, we'll use more emotional illustrations to move our hearers and their emotions and keep their interest until the service has ended and it's time to exit the building to go have lunch.

But there was a time, friends, years ago, when people did not want to leave the sanctuary. They tarried there because the presence of God was there. There was a time in our churches years ago when you could experience the power of God in a meeting.

The Loss of Spiritual Reality Among the Young

But now we are like the grieving lover in our text. I saw him, but I could not find him. I called him, but he gave me no answer. And I believe this condition in our churches today has become what is considered normal Christianity.

We have settled for the mediocre and the mundane today. It is no wonder that the teenagers in the church, when they get old enough to make their own decisions, that they stay as far away from church as possible.

I visited a church recently and all that was there were retired people or young families with small children. Where were the teenagers? Where were the young adults? They want reality and challenges, not boring sermons and youth activities.

If I was a teenager today, I would have no interest in church at all. I would find the local mall much more interesting than your typical Sunday morning service in church. But I remember a pastor sharing a story with me about how years ago he had revival come to his church.

He told me, you cannot drag the teenagers away from the church because the presence of God was there and they were all gripped with eternity. Lives were being transformed, souls were being saved, and God was receiving the glory.

But I'm afraid we have settled for the ordinary in our churches today, and many have given up hope of ever seeing anything extraordinary occur in church anymore. So in his absence, we rely on money and manpower to get by.

In his absence, we take pride in our many activities like short-term mission trips and block parties, and we have convinced ourselves that if we stay busy enough for God, then that's all we need to do, whether he's active in our midst or not.

Backsliding and the Remedial Judgment of God

My message this evening, friends, is entitled In His Absence, and I want to speak on this theme of the missing presence of God in our churches today. I want us to look at a couple aspects of this important subject.

Number one, the withdrawn presence of God is a remedial judgment from God upon a backslidden people. Now, we must be honest. We must ask ourselves some questions. Are we a backslidden church today? Have we backed away from the God of the Bible?

Have we replaced the weekly prayer meeting with self-help groups and yoga classes? Have we brought worldly entertainment into the house of God? Have we watered down the gospel message to make it more palatable to sinful man?

Have we compromised ourselves as a people through indulging in sin? Have we broadened the way to salvation, which Jesus never did? Do we rely more on money and manpower to get the job done in our churches today?

If we become a self-reliant church, a prideful church, a boastful church, I believe there are some churches today who are much like Samson, who when he left the tent, he realized not that the Spirit of the Lord had left him.

We've gotten used to the absence of God in our midst, and this is a sign of serious spiritual declension in our churches today, friends. These are important questions we must face, and we must answer.

Jesus had one command to the churches in Revelation, and that was to repent. But I believe, friends, that the church of our day is too proud to repent before God, and this is the main reason why we are experiencing his absence in our midst.

The Need for Conviction and the Power of the Preached Word

I find the following story fascinating. A Welsh pastor made the following remark concerning the power of God in a meeting. He said that there had been times in his church in the past in Wales where when he would be preaching, there would be a stillness in the congregation.

When it seemed as though everybody had stopped breathing, the preached words seemed somehow to be ripping the air as if chunks of eternity were being thrust into time. Oh, friends, how we need God in our midst like that in our day, whereby the Spirit of God is bringing conviction of sin to sinners' hearts and awakening them to their lost condition, where the preached word is like a broadsword, cutting the people in two with conviction and gripping them with eternity and the God of that eternity.

Joel's Pattern of Fasting, Repentance, and Assembly

What can we do to get the presence back amongst us? What can a pastor do to lead his church in a serious seeking of God? I believe we have biblical patterns that answer this question. Turn your Bibles, friends, to the book of Joel.

We will be in chapter 2, and in chapter 2, I will begin in verse 15, and I want to read us a striking passage of scripture, for it relates how a people of God can realign themselves back to God in a serious seeking of him.

This is God's biblical pattern, friends. Listen to this startling passage. Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and those that suck the breasts, let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber and the bride out of her closet, let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them, wherefore should they say, among the people, where is their God?

Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people, yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people, behold, I will send you corn and wine and oil, and you should be satisfied therewith, and I will no more make you reproach among the heathen.

Returning to God Through Humility and Prayer

I believe, dear brother pastor, that if you get serious with God, he will get serious with you, his word says in Malachi, return to me, and I will return to you, but you must be willing to humble yourself and repent of your sins, repent of your pride, and call a solemn assembly for your church, your sanctuary should become a Bethel, where nights upon nights the people of God are on their faces before God, calling out to him in desperate and anguished prayer, where you are willing to sit in sackcloth and ashes, so to speak, and humble yourself before your God, and earnestly seek his face and presence, where you are willing to cry out like the psalmist with the same desperation, give ear, oh shepherd of Israel, that thou lead us, Joseph, like a flock, thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth, turn us again, oh God, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

I really believe, friends, that desperate times call for desperate measures, we must get off our comforts of the status quo in our churches, and go seek our God in prayer and humility in nights of desperation, calling upon him with the burden of the psalmist, return, we beseech thee, oh God of hosts, look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine.

Revival That Transforms Homes and Captivates Youth

Listen, friends, we need a visitation from on high in our churches and land today, our teenagers are sunk in sin, and have no moral compass, and little faith in God, often they see a double standard in the home, whereby the parents say, do as I say, and not do as I do, they see their parents living a double life, and religion to them is just a sham, and they come to church and listen to a man talk who's no different from their boring teachers in school, for the man has no power backing his message to them, it's just mere words, and they're bored stiff and unchallenged spiritually, but if God were to visit our churches once again, in his manifest presence, you couldn't drag the teenagers away from church, teenagers are searching for reality, they hate fakes.

Years ago, when God was moving in some churches in this land, I was in a congregation where the power of God was in the meeting, and the very atmosphere of that church was electrified with the spirit of God, all you could do was to be melted down and bowed under the awful presence of the almighty, the teenagers of that church stayed in the sanctuary until midnight, night after night, they were broken over their sins, and getting saved left and right, this is how it all began, the men of the church went away to a retreat, and while they were on their retreat, God met them, and broke them, and transformed many of their lives, these men went home and began to act differently in the home, they began to act like true godly men, began to treat their wives like they should, they were tender toward them, gentle and godly men around the home, this so overwhelmed the wives that many of them got in their bibles, and got on their knees, and got serious with their God, and their own lives were spiritually transformed, and they too began to act like real Christians in the home, well you can just imagine friends the impact this had on the teenagers, who now witnessed a vital Christianity in their home, where the parents were praying, and the spirit of God was in their midst, many of the teenagers were now drawn to Christ, and revival broke out in that church, God was in their midst, and all they could do was to weep in his presence, no one wanted to leave the church, the pastor even quit preaching, for the presence of God was so strong, all he could do was to sit down and let the spirit of the Lord take over, oh dear friends, how we need, how we desperately need the presence of God back among us today, where the lily of the valley, and the chief among ten thousands, takes the field once again, where Jesus Christ our Lord reestablishes his preeminence and prominence in our sanctuaries once again, oh how I long for these days to come, how I hunger for God to reveal himself in our midst, how desperately we need him in this sad and sick land today, let us now go to our own knees in prayer, and take this time to earnestly seek his face, as if your very life depended upon it, let us pray.