Ex. 33:14 through Ex. 33:16 ( NIV ) The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

15Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

This is a key of great power in God’s Kingdom. The Presence of God is the distinguishing characteristic that proves we have favour with God! Without it, we are as other men. The Glory of God is the “manifest Presence of God” the visible evidence that the person of God, Himself, has shown up among us.

Restoration of God’s manifest presence – the defeat of the program idol!##

The account of King David bringing the presence back to Israel shows there is a correct way to bring the presence of the Lord back into the house of the Lord.

We are in a time where God is about to restore His manifest presence back to the Church.

This creates a problem. We see an example of this problem where David went to bring the Ark of His Presence back to Jerusalem. 1 Chron 13

The first attempt failed dismally. Why? It was out of divine order. 1 Chron. 15:13
They put the Ark on an ox cart. David presumed to restore the presence of God in his own strength and with his own methods.

The presence of God is never to rest on anything that is man made. It is always to rest on the shoulders of His priests. When we model our procedures on the systems of this world we set ourselves up for the loss of life if we touch the presence of God. Vs9

David went back to the ‘instruction manual’ & he found in scripture that you don’t put the Ark on an ox cart – and what the procedure was to carry the Ark, according to the word of the Lord. 1 Chron 15 (in fact God gave very detailed instructions on how He wanted it done in Exo 25) In that time he sought the Lord, coming to the realisation that, "We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way" (1 Chr 15:13 NIV ,).

Evidently, God is very particular about how we do his work. God’s work is to be done God’s way – not ours. Our good intentions and good ideas are not good enough. We feel that if we are sincere or creative God will be happy, but

unfortunately, we can be sincerely and creatively wrong. We build our "new carts" – our new programs and strategies, and think, all we need to do is get the wheels turning – get the programs going and the wheels of religious activity moving, and God will be pleased. But no – he was angered. Why? Because we are trusting in the machinery of ministry, in our own plans and programs, rather than in him. So, how was the ark to be restored? On the shoulders of the priests. God uses men (and women) not methods. He puts his treasure in earthen vessels – in people. But only a particular kind of person – the Levites and the priests – those who have been separated by the anointing to minister to him. The only way the ark of his presence will be restored is on the shoulders of those who stand before him in their priestly ministry, offering the spiritual sacrifices of a consecrated life – and of intercessory prayer, and worship. Those, who with a heart of worship separate themselves to spend time alone with him – who refuse to be distracted by the madding crowd of pressing things and will not be content until they soak in his presence and even then still hunger for more. Who with a pure heart and clean hands wait on him for who he is, not for what he does. They will achieve things in the spirit realm, and, therefore, on earth that those using human methods never can^.##

The second attempt succeeded because it was done following the Lord’s procedure.

I believe the Lord is saying – be careful how you handle my presence.

Some say well we are not in the Old Testament any longer we don’t have to do all that stuff. The Old Testament has not been done away with – the principles are still the same. Jesus fulfilled the old He didn’t get rid of it.

Today we desperately need the manifest presence of God in our lives & Churches – but there is a procedure, a protocol in how to get the Presence back. I am convinced we have to do it His way in this, otherwise life will be lost. Read again the accounts of the book of Acts regarding the manifest presence of God impacting whole regions – we will see that again in western churches.

We cannot bring the presence of God in through the means of Man. The things we have concocted to build our churches, even the mindsets we have adopted need to be changed. A very simple example - one prominent elderly minister said to another “we are in a time where our services should go for an hour & that’s it”. Simple statement that says a lot about where the church is really at - but the other minister said “if that is true how come that the fastest growing bunch of believers are growing so fast where services last hours & hours & the presence of God shows up”. The answer is obvious. (could it be that the reason we are seeing the need to shorten our services is because people are bored - yes they are entertained but their spirits are bored because there is no Presence. I have been in meetings where the presence of God is manifest & people just sit - they don’t want to go home - they want more of God - they want to linger longer in His Presence)

The fasted growing group of Christians in the world is in the southern hemisphere not including Australia & New Zealand. This is the Pentecostal Apostolic movement. They believe in tongues, miracles, signs & wonders. It is the fastest growing movement in the world. There are 500 million more of them than Muslims in the entire world. They are growing at a rate of 14.9%. The top 100 largest churches in the world are Full on Pentecostal (not just in name only)

How do we enter the secret place of the Manifest presence of God?

Psalms 27:8 ( N KJV ) When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”

2 Chronicles 7:14 ( KJV ) If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

I noticed something in 2 Chro & thought what is the difference between seeking the Lord & prayer? I thought it was the same thing. I studied the word & found there were common elements of seeking God. The word reveals these elements of Prayer, worship, praise, obedience, fasting, getting your life in tune. Seeking to put the Lord first in every area of your life, bible study & meditation as ways of 'seeking' God. But in seeing this I felt that there was more to where God was leading me. Why would God differentiate between prayer & seeking His face if they were the same thing?

Then I found that there are a number of levels or stages of seeking the Presence of God. The focus is being in the 'secret place' Psa 91:1 - the tabernacle of His Presence Psa 27:4 (We must understand the difference between the omnipresence of God & His manifest presence talked about in previous teachings)

Entering in – there is a process

God said to Moses take off your shoes - holy ground.

There is a process of coming into His presence.

Coming before the King there is protocol - can’t just rock up how you want. Jesus made the way into Holy of Holies and there is a way to come in. It is true that my dad is the King & that’s great - has many benefits. But He is also the King. He is God. He is a holy God. Even as God's Kids we cannot come into the presence of a holy God with sin in our lives.

The concern of my heart is that this process becomes just another format that we seem to love to embrace instead of seeing it as a plan, set in place by the Lord to usher us into His Presence.

The bible is full of protocol – the OT is VERY particular in HOW things are done. Now before you say something like – well we are no longer living under the OT rules. Let me say this – the principles contained in the OT are still relevant today – Eg. You cannot enter the presence of God with sin in your life.

The first level is

THE OUTER COURT

The Outer Court is where the altar of sacrifice is. Everything in the temple revolves around the altar. Worship doesn't happen without the altar.

The altar represents repentance & confession of sin. It represents the sacrifice of Jesus & the blood bought redemption of all who will enter. It's where we get right with God. Sin is forgiven & washed away.

That’s why some can’t get into worship – because they haven’t got right with God. Maybe we need to implement a time of repentance, washing, confession for the congregation before we bring them into praise & worship. Many times we try & whip people up through praise to get into worship. Maybe that’s why in some places sin isn’t talked about, the blood isn’t talked about - they just whip people up with the music - the culture of the church - the atmosphere of the church, anything to get it 'happening'

The Outer Court is that place of surrender, where you come and get right with God and say, “God, I ask you to forgive me and cleanse me from the affairs of the day and the cares of the world.”

This place involves forgiveness, repentance. – often involves sacrifice. You come to the bronze laver, the washing of the water, the cleansing of the Word. And you wash yourself of the impurities of the day, the impurities of your life.

No sin can enter the manifest presence of God.

Psalms 24:3 - 4 ( KJV ) Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

We are talking about un-confessed sin – not sin that has already been dealt with. We are not talking about dragging up the past but 'present' sins.

Hebrews 10:18 - 20 ( TLB ) Now, when sins have once been forever forgiven and forgotten, there is no need to offer more sacrifices to get rid of them. 19And so, dear brothers, now we may walk right into the very Holy of Holies, where God is, because of the blood of Jesus.  20This is the fresh, new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us by tearing the curtain—his human body—to let us into the holy presence of God.

We are talking about

1 John 1:7 - 10 ( NCV ) But if we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other. Then the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from every sin. 8If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.  10If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and we do not accept God’s teaching.

This passage was talking to Christians.

If we confess our sins—If, from a deep sense of our guilt, impurity, and helplessness, we humble ourselves before God, acknowledging our iniquity, his holiness, and our own utter helplessness, and implore mercy for his sake who has died for us; he is faithful, because to such he has promised mercy,

Psalms 32:5 ( NCV ) Then I confessed my sins to you and didn’t hide my guilt. I said, “I will confess my sins to the LORD,” and you forgave my guilt.

Proverbs 28:13 ( NIV ) 13 He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness—Not only to forgive the sin, but to purify the heart.

Observe here, 
1. Sin exists in the soul after two modes or forms:

(1.) In guilt, which requires forgiveness or pardon.

(2.) In pollution, which requires cleansing.

2. Guilt, to be forgiven, must be confessed; and pollution, to be cleansed, must be also confessed. In order to find mercy, a man must know and feel himself to be a sinner, that he may fervently apply to God for pardon; in order to get a clean heart, a man must know and feel its depravity, acknowledge and deplore it before God, in order to be fully sanctified.

Most of us get beyond the Outer Court , but some of us are stuck in the Outer Court of the Most High because it's so hard for us to get that breakthrough. It's so hard for us to move from that process of repentance for whatever it is, that condemnation that is over us, the business of our life, or the Heavens are so brass you can't get a breakthrough. Every time you pray it is so dry and God seems so far away, you just give up. Some of us don't even move out of that process.

And when you haven't prayed for a while, and you feel kind of dry, and you feel guilty, you're like “God, I'm sorry, I haven't been here all week. Many people can move from here into the next level.

THE INNER COURT

As you come into the Inner Court of the Most High, There is the Table of Showbread and the Lamp. The Lamp speaks of the Light of Christ, it speaks of direction, it speaks of revival. The showbread speaks of the bread of Life. It's our daily bread. Its also the word of God. It's the bread of provision. It's the bread of healing. It's the bread of deliverance.

The priests worked in the inner court they tended the Lamp. You're the Priest of your Lampstand. You're bringing oil. You're making sure that the Lamp has fresh oil so that the Lamp can burn continually. That's what the Priest did in the Inner Court of the Most High. He tended the Lamp.

As he tended the Lamp, he burned incense, so it was a place of prayer. In the
Daniel 9:3 ( NASB ) So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.

The glory really doesn't happen until you've done everything that you can do to spend time with God. The Presence of God begins to happen when you've done all the praising and all the worship, all the prayer, and all the intercession, all the casting your cares, and making all of your requests known unto God. When you've finished saying “give me my daily bread”, asking God for direction, the anointing, study of the word, all the things you have need of, the sacrifice, the cleansing of all the things that you do.

When it's all over, The Holy of Holies. Sometimes I come into His Presence and all I can do is be still. Even if I wanted to say, “God, I give You praise”, it would bounce off the wall.

Many live in the Inner Court of the Most High, in that place of--they're not really praying unless they're praying. They live in that place. It's all they know; the works of prayer, how to intercede, how to pray, the manner of prayer.

But the Holy of Holies is absolute awe. There's majesty. There's peace. There's fear. There's holiness. You don't do anything anymore. All you do is stand there with the fruit of everything you've done. And then you just “be”. That's all you do in the Holy of Holies. You just “be”. There's nothing else to do but look at the glory. There's no more sacrifice, there's no more incense. There's no more work, there's no more duty. There's no more intercession, there's no more warfare. You are in the Holy of Holies.

Jeremiah 29:13 ( NIV ) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

2 Chronicles 15:2 ( NASB ) …….  And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him;

Not only CAN we behold the face of God as so many great men and women have in the scriptures, but it is something that we SHOULD SEEK as part of our walk as a disciple.

John 14:21 "he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him."

Matt. 5:8 the pure in heart shall see God

Psalms 63:2 ( NASB ) Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.

Exodus 24:17 ( KJV ) And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.

Exodus 24:15 - 17 ( KJV ) And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. 16And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.

Exodus 40:34 - 35 ( KJV ) Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Leviticus 9:23 - 24 ( KJV ) And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people. 24And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

1 Kings 8:10 - 11 ( KJV ) 10And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 7:1 - 3 ( KJV ) Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house. 2And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’S house. 3And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

”It is therefore time to issue a call to the church of the western nations to return to the Lord and to his presence. Without his manifest presence governing our gatherings and councils we are merely another corporation or club. When the Holy Spirit is both residing and presiding in Christ’s body our fractured humanity is healed and we are conformed to his image. Our union with him in the Spirit imparts to us his nature. His perfected humanity becomes ours as he “brings many sons to glory” (see Heb 2:10). He is not alone in his perfection – “For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all of one” (Heb 2:11). It is inclusive of all those who in Christ have received and yielded to the inner work of the Spirit – this alone defines the church.^##

The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has put cheap substitutes in its place…entertainment and worldly values.

Much of the church has forgotten that the reason we gather is to encounter the majesty and glory of God.

With our loss of the sense of majesty has come the loss of Godly awe and consciousness of the divine Presence.

At the risk of sounding like I am suggesting a program or just a change in the order of service, I am impressed of the Lord that we need to change the way we do things.

Currently we sing our 3 fast songs 3 slow songs, getting people ready to receive the word. We have announcements, offering, communion, the word preached, maybe an altar call (although even these are diminishing).

I believe we need to accommodate or make room for God in our services. One great preacher once said “you must preach for the altar”. What he was saying was - preach to get a response from people & allow God room to move on them.

We must give God ‘room’ – we must make our services accommodate His Presence.

How?