Our sermon text, once again, is from 1 Kings 8. I've already read it, but I will go ahead and read it again, just the verse that we will be considering. 1 Kings 8 27. We will be considering this morning, as we continue to work our way through the doctrine of God, His omnipresence. His omnipresence. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you. How much less this temple, which I have built. If you have ever tried to explain to your children what God is like, if you have children, you have probably found that to be a very, very difficult task. In many ways, the idea of God is a very abstract concept, isn't it? It is hard enough for us who are adults to wrap our minds around the nature and character of God and who He is, much less to have our children understand it, and for us to explain God to them. And I trust that in regard to God's being, over the last several weeks, the last several sermons even more so, you have been enlightened and humbled as we have discovered together just how much we do not know about God, how much we fail to live in light of who God really is. In regard to the doctrine of God's omnipresence, The Little Children's Catechism, called the First Catechism, asks a question that the Shorter Catechism doesn't necessarily touch on specifically. It asks the question, where is God? The answer is, God is everywhere. A simple answer, easy to memorize, just three words, hard to understand, and impossible to comprehend. And you explain that, you get the follow-up questions from the children. If God is everywhere, is God in me? Is God in my brain? Is God in this table? And the kids begin looking at the table, trying to figure out how God is in it, as if he makes himself like a tiny atom that can fit inside any physical object like a table. But even then, we scratch our heads, don't we, ourselves, and wonder how God is everywhere and in everything. Well, those are the kinds of questions that we want to consider today with regard to the presence of God. Where is God? Is there any place that He is not? How is God present in the places that He is? Etc. When we speak of God's presence, of His being everywhere present, we are speaking of His omni-presence. Omni comes from the Latin word omnis, which means all or every. We also speak of God's omnipotence, meaning He is all-powerful, or His omniscience, meaning He is all-knowing. Thus, omnipresent means that God is all present or present in all places, that he is everywhere present. Now, an older word that I think would be good just to bring to your attention that was often used in conjunction with omnipresence was the word immensity. Especially if you have ever read some of the older theologians, you will find them referring to the immensity of God. God is immense, they will say. Some theologians speak of immensity and of omnipresence as basically synonymous. But others like Francis Turretin, one of church history's most respected theologians, distinguished the two terms in this way. Turretin said that the immensity of God is a property belonging to him from eternity. That is, God has been immense from all eternity before the creation. Whereas omnipresence denotes God being everywhere present in time and in space which he has created, filling fully all parts of his creation. I trust that you can see the difference between the two. Thus, out of God's immensity arises His omnipresence. Because God is immense, He is also omnipresent in all that He has created, and thus fills heaven and earth. Now, the word immense does not appear to be so popular today among theologians, and that is likely due to the fact that the meaning of the word immense has changed, even as we think about that word now. For us today, when we think of the word immense, we think of something as just very, very big or large. But not infinitely big. And even if you look up the word immense in many dictionaries today, you will find that to be the primary meaning of the word. Very big, very large, very great. But the older definition of the word comes much closer to the idea of what is infinitely big. Immense comes from the Latin word immensitatum, which means immeasurable or boundless. That is, that which is without measure, without limits, and without boundaries. And in that sense, God is immense. In fact, he is the only being, the older theologians would say, who is immense. Nothing else is immense in that sense but God. So God is immense in the older sense of the word, and God is omnipresent. The fact that God is eternal refers to the infinitude of God within relation to time. The fact that God is immense or omnipresent refers to the infinitude of God in relation to space, or better yet, location. When we speak in such a way, we are not simply referring to the fact that God is everywhere in His creation and throughout His creation, but that He is infinitely everywhere. That is, that he has an infinite presence. That there is no place where he is not, nor a place where he cannot be. That his presence has no limitations or boundaries. Like eternity, his presence never ends. Even the entire created universe is but a speck to God. It is like a drop of water compared to the ocean. God is limitless in every way. Our text today is perhaps one of the best verses to demonstrate the infinite presence of God in all of scripture, although there are many others that also speak of God's omnipresence, as we will see. Again, Solomon says in his prayer of the dedication of the temple, in the verse we just read, let me read it again. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which I have built. In other words, though Solomon had built God a house according to God's direction and according to the plans that his father David had given him, which plans David had received from the Lord, yet Solomon was very quick to acknowledge that God was not going to literally live there. as if he needed a place to live. He did not need a house, for indeed what house, no matter how big, could contain him, even if it were as big as the sun, or as big as the universe itself. By the way, it would take 1.3 million earths to fill the sun. 1.3 million earths. And the sun alone accounts for over 99% of the total mass of our solar system. 99%. But even if the house were as big as that, it could not contain God. But more than that, Solomon did not only say that the temple and the whole earth could not contain God, and the heavens could not contain God, but also that the heaven of heavens could not contain God. If there is a place that we think of as God's dwelling place more than any other, as God's home, as God's residence, so to speak, it would be the heaven of heavens. Not the sky, which are called the heavens in Scripture, nor the sun and the moon and the stars and outer space, which we would infer from Scripture are the second heavens. But the third heavens, of which the Apostle Paul said and calls them the third heavens, in which he had a vision or a sight of it, in 2 Corinthians 12 verse 2. The place where it is said that God's throne is there, where the angels worship Him, where His glory is more fully on display, where His will is fully and completely and immediately obeyed and fulfilled, where Christ is. not only in His deity, but also in His humanity. This is undoubtedly a physical place, since Christ in His physical body is there. The departed saints are there, though only in their spirits or souls, and the angelic host. And though most all of those beings are in their essence invisible except Christ, yet they are in a particular location. And that location is the third heaven, unless the angels are moving back and forth from heaven to earth, but it is their home, the heaven of heavens. Christ was able to fly there after his ascension from the earth. and the souls of believers are taken there after their death. Yet even though this heaven has a particular location and has particular dimensions, we have no idea how vast, yet we have not been able to see it or reach it with our most powerful telescopes, even though something like the Hubble Space Telescope has been able to locate a galaxy that is 13.4 billion light years from the Earth. Don't ask me to explain light years. I'm not sure I know what that means, but I know that it means a really long ways away. 13.4 billion light years away, they have discovered another galaxy. Yet, it has not been able to locate heaven or the person of Christ. Christ, in his humanity, is somewhere, either in the universe as we know it or outside the universe, but he is somewhere physically present in the third heavens, wherever that is. One thing is for certain, it is far, far away from us, in a place that we will never be able to see until Christ comes again and he brings heaven with him. But even though heaven is so far away from us, yet Solomon still said that God's presence is bigger and further away than that, because God in his presence is limitless. His presence is infinite. Indeed, our God is immense. But we want to follow it by saying how? How is God present? Well, we have to remember from a few sermons back that God is spirit. He could not be infinite if he were not spirit. All material, physical bodies have dimensions, no matter how great. But God, in His essence, as Father and Son and Spirit, He is pure Spirit in all three persons. And He fills all, all at once. In Jeremiah 23-24, God says through the prophet, Do not I fill heaven and earth? But for all created beings, on the other hand, including spirits, they are all somewhere, always somewhere, at some time. They cannot be in two places at once. Nothing in creation can be at two places at once. Not even the devil, which we would have every reason to believe is the most powerful, or at least one of the most powerful of all created beings. He cannot be there two places at once, although he is undoubtedly very, very fast. In the first chapter of Job, we are given this scene where Satan comes before God and says that he has been going to and fro. on the earth, walking back and forth on it. Now I guarantee you that he was not walking in the sense that we think of it. It is just a metaphorical expression, but rather this passage gives us the impression that Satan has been flying swiftly back and forth, up and down throughout the earth, moving unbelievably fast, faster than anything that we have ever developed or created. But as fast and as powerful as Satan is, he is only ever in one place at one time. Only God is omnipresent. And in his immensity and in his omnipresence, we should not think that God is simply in everything and fills everything, but rather that everything is in him. As Paul says in Acts 17, 28, for in Him we live and move and have our being. All things live and move and have their being in God. God is not so much in us and in the world, although we can say that, as we are in Him and the world and the universe in Him. Now, some have taken this notion in a wrong direction and have come to heretical conclusions, maintaining, because of this, that everything is God. Because God is omnipresent and everything is in God, therefore God is everything and everything is God. The universe and God are one. You can see how some would try to reach that conclusion. That is called pantheism. I'm sure most of you have heard that term before. Pan is the Greek word for all. Theism, the word for belief in God. Pantheism is the one who believes that all is God. But scripture makes it abundantly clear the great distinction that exists between the creator and the creature, between the uncreated and the created. God maintains this in Psalm 50, verse 21, where he says, you thought I was altogether like you, implying that God is far different from us. In Psalm 100, verse 3, it says, know that the Lord, a familiar passage, that he is God, it is he who has made us and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Here again, we see the difference and the distinction made between the creator and the creature. In fact, for pantheism to remain true, you have to maintain that everything that exists is eternal and not just God. And as we have already seen, that is certainly not the case, nor the teaching of scripture. Once you establish creation, you destroy pantheism in all of its forms. Some Hindus are pantheists. Albert Einstein was a pantheist. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a pantheist. But we maintain that God fills heaven and earth, not that he is heaven and earth. Genesis 14, 19 says that God is the possessor of heaven and earth, not a part of it. God is not the chair that you sit on, or the car that you drive, or the house that you live in, because he is not material. but He does fill all things as Spirit. I like the analogy that Stephen Charnock presented of a fish in the sea. The fish is not the sea, but where would the fish be without the sea? The sea upholds the fish and enables it to live and exist. It is by the sea that the fish lives and moves and has its very being. Yet the fish and the sea are distinguished from one another. So God does, as Spirit, fill all things, uphold all things, enable all things to exist. Like the water of the sea, so does God fill the heavens and the earth. He is everywhere present, at all times, at once. Since he is a most simple being that is not made up of parts, but a most simple and pure spirit, he is the entirety of his being everywhere at once. He is in the entirety of his being everywhere at once. God never moves. God never has moved, and he never will move. He cannot move from one place to the next, because that would mean that he could change positions. But God cannot change. Nor is there part of Him here and part of Him there. He is not partly in San Francisco and partly in Beijing and partly in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He is in all of those places, in all of the fullness of His being, all at once. Nor is He partly in heaven and partly on earth. Though in Isaiah 66.1 the Lord says, heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool, this does not mean that his head is in heaven and that his feet are on earth. But this is meant to teach us of the greatness and immeasurableness of his being. That is, that he cannot in any sense be contained, but rather he contains all things in himself. Just think about God's presence before the creation of the world and the universe and all things. Where was God's habitation? Where was God's home or dwelling place? There was nothing to fill. God was simply everything and everything was God. As Tertullian said, God is uniquely a place of his own to himself. Within his very self, he is holy everywhere. Are you beginning to understand, congregation, that God is fully everywhere? That as to his essence, as to his very being, he is no more in heaven than he is on earth, or he is in hell. Though God is distinct from creation and from all His creatures, He is not separate from them. He is in the sun and He is at the center of the core's earth. He is everywhere in the fullness of His being. He is not more so in heaven than He is anywhere else than we are gathered here right now. God is as much right here present with us as He is in heaven in His essence. He is in the White House. He fills it with His very being. He is in the depths of the sea. He is in the righteous, and He is in the wicked. He is in the angels, and He is in the saints. He is in Satan. He is in everything. God as Spirit can be where material things are and where bodies are at the same time and in the same location. Do you remember when Jesus asked the one demon-possessed man, what is your name? And the unclean spirit, or I should say spirits, replied and said, we are legion, for we are many. Surely, if a multitude of demons can be in a person, so can God. If Satan can enter Judas, God can indwell and does indwell all that he has created and everyone he has created. No wonder it says in Proverbs 21.1 that the heart of the king is at the hand of the Lord, and he turns it wherever he wishes. Because everyone's heart is in the hand of the Lord, and he turns everyone's heart however he sovereignly wishes. No wonder it says that God hardened Pharaoh's heart and he opened the heart of Lydia. No wonder it says in Proverbs 15, 13, the eyes of the Lord are in every place watching the evil and the good. He is everywhere present in all, filling all, upholding all, sustaining all. Now this does not at all mean that simply because God fills all things and is everywhere present, that He approves of all things in His presence. You may have been shocked that I said recently, just a moment ago, that He is in Satan. But God does not approve of everything, of what goes on everywhere where he is. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just because you are in the same room with another person does not mean that you are in agreement with them. Two people may be physically very close to one another and yet be very far away from one another in spirit and in outlook, such as a married couple where one is a believer and another an unbeliever. Though God is everywhere, even where sin abounds, yet He never condones sin, or commits sin, or encourages sin, or can tempt anyone to sin. James says in James 1.13 that God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. Now, A valid question that could be in the back of your minds as I have been speaking to you about the presence of God that could be raised with regard to God's presence is this. Why does scripture speak of the presence of God as if his presence were different from one place to the next and from one person to the next? Why does the scripture picture God as moving and as filling one place differently than He fills another? Why does Psalm 33, verse 13 say that the Lord looks from heaven? and sees the sons of men. Why does Genesis 3.8 say that the Lord God walked in the garden in the cool of the day when he came to give Adam and Eve a visit in Eden? Why does Proverbs 15.29 say that the Lord is far from the wicked? Well there are basically two reasons, or a combination of the two, for these various forms of expressing God's presence. And this again reveals why the task of systematic theology is so important. One reason is that scriptures frequently employ anthropomorphic language, and you've heard me say that before recently in one of my other sermons. But just as a refresher, anthropos is the Greek word for man, morphe is the Greek word for form. So in other words, God often reveals himself in a human way or manner of speaking. He presents himself as taking on human form, thus in a way that we can relate to and understand with our finite physical human bodies and minds. Our minds are not physical, but God uses imagery of himself in the Bible that is human-like. And I pointed out some of those passages, and the Bible is replete with such passages. In fact, Herman Bovink said that the Bible is anthropomorphic through and through. But the other reason is that we have to distinguish God's essential presence from the manifestation of His presence or the mode of His operation. Okay, this is very important. I'm gonna read this again. We have to distinguish God's essential presence from the manifestation of His presence or the mode of His operation in His creation. As to His essence, God is everywhere present, all at once, equally. And that cannot change, because He is the infinite God. But the way He manifests His presence does. God manifests His presence. differently in heaven and in earth and in hell. He manifests his presence in different ways, in various places, and at various times. With regard to heaven, earth, and hell, in general he is said to be present in the fullness of his glory in heaven, in patience and forbearance and grace on earth, in justice and in terror and in wrath in hell. According to Francis Turretin, God is said to be in heaven as a royal palace where he displays his glory in an eminent manner. And we are to consider heaven when we pray that we might elevate our thoughts above this earth and to help us think nothing concerning God but what is great and lofty. What an excellent description and helpful instruction about why God inhabits heaven. We are to look to heaven as the habitation that has been prepared for us by God. We are to look to heaven as the place where God manifests His holiness and as an ethical model for which we must strive here on earth. And thus we pray, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God is present on earth graciously, mercifully, patiently, accomplishing His purposes to save His people from their sins. Oh, how gracious. Our God is in the dealings of mankind and in our own hearts and lives. He has been with you every moment of your life and every sin that you have ever committed. And he perceives all things from the perspective from an eternal now. We learned that last week. We have a tendency to think of our sins that we've committed so long ago. They are not so real and present to us. but they are ever present to him. And yet for Christ's sake, he forgives them all and pardons them all and does not hold them or count them against us. It is not as though God actually forgets our sins, okay? That's just a figure of expression. If he forgot anything, then he would not have infinite knowledge and he would not be God. But he no longer remembers them against us or counts them against us. Though God fills the earth and dwells all on the earth, He does not indwell all in the same manner, nor manifest Himself to them all in the same way. In 1 John 4, 16, God is said to be in believers by love. Isn't that wonderful? He that abides in love abides in God and God in him. He does not indwell the unbeliever in such a way. Unbelievers are rather separated from God by their sin. Isaiah 59.2 teaches us that sin separates one from God when it says, but your iniquities have separated you from your God and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear. This is not a separation from God's essential presence, but of his gracious and loving presence. It is not a local separation, but a spiritual one. In hell, God is just as present as he is in heaven. But in hell, God dwells and will dwell among the damned in his wrath and terror. For them, he will manifest himself as a consuming fire. They will forever be afflicted by the terror of the Lord. He will take His vengeance upon them for their many sins against Him and be their eternal enemy. They will never escape the presence of God. God's face will never shine down upon them, but be forever against them. And in fact, the presence of God will be far greater to them, manifested far greater to them in hell than it has ever been on this earth. What amazing, wonderful truths when we think about the infinite presence of God. What can we say as our minds are lifted up to these things? There's no better response than that of the psalmist in Psalm 139. Let me just read some verses from there. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell on the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me. What a comfort it is to the believer to know that through Christ, this omnipresent God has become your eternal friend and he will never leave you or forsake you. He will forever be with you graciously, gloriously. Lovingly, you will never be outside or away from His presence. You will bask in it, in His loving, gracious, forgiving, glorious, ever-blessed presence for all of eternity. It will be manifested to you in a way that far exceeds anything that you have ever experienced on this earth or in this life. But on the other hand, what a dreadful thought is the omnipresence of God to the impenitent and the unbelieving. Why would any sane person remain in sin, remain in their pride and rebellion when they know that God is always present with them and against them, observing all they do and will hold them accountable one day and will personally avenge himself upon them forever. to know that this infinite God holds them in the palm of his hand and will forever be their terror and their dread. They will never escape his presence. They are not away from it now, nor will they ever be. But praise be to God that that day has not yet come. The door of hell has not been shut and the door of heaven is still open. Jesus said, I am the door. Come by me and come through me and you will know the gracious and loving presence of a heavenly Father. If you will but come to Christ, your sins will be wiped clean and you shall be washed from its every stain. Why would you remain in your sin when God is present with you now and knows them all and could drop you into hell at any moment when His arms are open wide now to receive you through His Son, through the Lord Jesus Christ? By far the greatest manifestation of God's presence that has ever been was a gracious and glorious one, when He came in the person of His incarnate Son. In that He actually did come. And not to appear as a man, but to become a man. to save sinners like you and like me. This omnipresent God became a man and took upon him human flesh in order that we might dwell with him, not only personally, but in person. Therefore, let us look to Christ and embrace Him as the God who is always and everywhere present, and we will have this God as our gracious God forever and evermore. Let's pray together. Dear gracious and merciful Heavenly Father, we thank you for this word that you have brought before us today, this reminder that you are infinite, that you are infinitely present everywhere. Oh, how great and awesome a God you are. Where can we flee from your presence? We thank you, oh God, that you have revealed yourself to us in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we can be united to you by faith and know your glorious and loving presence forevermore. We pray, O God, that if there is any in this place who does not truly know you, who has not cast themselves upon the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, that they would do so today. O God, work and move in their heart as you opened the heart of Lydia, open theirs, that they might receive your word and your truth, that they might be filled with your glorious presence forevermore. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. We will close by singing Psalm 139.