When I was seven years old, I decided that Americans were wonderful people. I came from a family where chewing gum was forbidden. But I was given this little package about this big. It was sort of waxy paper. I took it off, and inside was a little comic. Do you know what a comic is? Yeah, and that was really amusing. And then there was this pink stuff, and it wasn't chewing gum. It was bubble gum. And I thought, they must be a marvelous people who can invent that. And the taste, oh, the taste. Well, when I was a student, I was sure that Americans were wonderful people, because I went into a little cafe place in London, and they had this substance which I'd never seen, but I had heard of it, root beer. Thank you for inventing root beer. We have an ointment, which we put on cuts and bruises, which has the same flavor. It's called germaline. And most British people think that they're not going to drink liquid germaline. But anyway, I'm glad to be here. And I'm glad to be in Texas. I've always admired Texas. And my first visit to Texas, I was brought up on the Lone Ranger. and Tonto, some of you have never heard of them, but the Lone Ranger was a Texas Ranger, and whatever trouble he got into, and however awful it was, he was always all right at the end of the show. Well, thank you very much for this welcome to Texas. Now then, the Bible message is 18 words. So there's a boy or a girl here who you can learn 18 words. You'll find them in Acts chapter 17. If you learn these 18 words and remember them and really remember them, then your life will change forever. And that's true if you're a non-Christian, and that's true if you're a Christian. Acts chapter 17, halfway through verse 27. Acts chapter 17, halfway through verse 27. He is not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being. Eighteen words. Do you want to hear them again? He, God, He is not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being. Ordinary people think God is far away, and some Christians think God is far away. I did. I was converted just before I was 15 years old. I was sure that God was the other side of the galaxy somewhere. Whenever I prayed, I went to my bedroom and opened the window and leaned out a little bit, because I felt that the Lord would probably hear me a little bit better, because he was such a long way away. It's a big error. It's a big mistake. Don't make that mistake. He is not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being. Think of a circle. There's the circumference, and there's the center. Where is God's circumference? Nowhere. Where is God's center? Everywhere. He's as near to you as if you were the only person in the world. And the fact that he's near to you does not make him further away from anybody else. So what we're going to do is three things. First of all, we're going to see how the nearness of God is taught in the Bible. And then I've something to say to those of you who don't know God. And then I've got something to say to those of you who do know God. So there's the menu. What's the Bible teach about the nearness of God? How does it teach that? Then something to those of you who don't know God, and then something to those of you who do know God. So how does the Bible teach the nearness of God? Well, it does it by story, because, ladies and gentlemen, God is kind. He's so kind that He doesn't just want to be understood. He does not want to be misunderstood. So he teaches us by story. So here's a young man. It's tough for him, but he deserves it. He's a liar. He's a deceiver. He's a cheat. He's not nice at all. The only person who really likes him is his mum. And things have gone wrong in the family. He's got a married brother, and he knows if he stays at home, this married brother will kill him. So he has to leave, and mum and dad arrange that he must go and stay with his uncle. There's no cars, there's no trams, there's no trains, there's no aeroplanes. He's going to walk. He's going to walk a week or two, or maybe more. There's no GPS. There's no maps. There's no internet. There's certainly no Google. So how is he going to guide himself as he walks away from danger to his uncle's, a place of safety? Well, he'll have to calculate north, south, east, west by looking at the sun. But what happens when the sun goes down? When the sun goes down, he stops and he lies down on the wet earth. And amazingly, he puts his head on a piece of stone and falls asleep. The liar, the cheat, the deceiver, this unpleasant, spoilt brat has a dream. The stones are moving around. And they're making a staircase. And there's beings right from where he is going up the staircase. And there are beings coming down. And they're angels. And his eye goes up the stairs. And he sees God. I am the Lord God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac. And God gives him a message. And he wakes up. And he says, surely, God was in this place. Which place, Jacob? Which place? God was in this place. God is in this place. Which place, Jacob? Just a bit of wet earth? Not on the map? God is in this place and I didn't know it. And he was afraid and said, this place is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven. Where's heaven's gate, Jacob? Right down there where there's a lyre. a cheat, a deceiver, an unpleasant, spoiled brat, on a piece of wet earth in the middle of nowhere, is heaven's gate. So let's shift a bit now. Let's go somewhere else. We're back in the desert, but a completely different part of the world. Not that far away, but a different sort of terrain, a different sort of country. It's very barren indeed. And walking through this piece of land is the most intelligent and best educated man on the planet. He's 80 years old. Today, he would have a PhD, and a THD, and a DD, and a DSC, and a fiddle DD, and a few other things like that. And he's looking after just a handful of sheep. And he sees a bush burst into flame. And that's no big deal. That happens regularly with that sort of intensity of heat. But there is something different about this particular bush. it doesn't seem to be burning away. So inside this 80-year-old man comes back the scientist that he is, and he says, I think I'd better go and have a look and see why this bush is not burning away. So he approaches the bush, and Moses, Moses, Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. What place, Moses? Just an ordinary bit of sand. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. Right, let's shift a bit now. There's two men. Let's talk about a child. Let's talk about a boy. He doesn't live with mom and dad. He lives with an old man. And they don't live in a house. And they don't live in a trailer. And they live in a church, except it's not really a church. It's a sort of tent church. There's places to sleep there, maybe even bedrooms. And it's nighttime, and it's the darkest time of the night. And morning will come soon, but it's really dark right now. And he's lying in bed, the little lad, and he hears his name. And he gets up, and he runs to the bedroom where the old man is and says, here I am, for you called me. I didn't call you. Lie down again. So he lies down again. Samuel. This time he walks. Here I am, for you called me. I did not call you, my son. Lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him. But there it is again. Samuel. Here I am, for you did call me! Ha! Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. Go and lie down again, and it shall be, if he shall call you, that you shall say, Speak, Lord, for your servant hears. Lying in bed, the child knows there's somebody else in the bedroom. That somebody else is getting nearer the bed. Samuel. Samuel. Speak, for your servant hears. Tell me, where did you sleep last night? Do you know you slept last night where you always slept? You've always slept in the presence of God. You've never slept anywhere else. You've always got up in the presence of God. You've never got up anywhere else. You've spent your whole life in the presence of God. He is not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being. And it's not just in desert places and in bedrooms. It's in busy places, too. And the temple was a busy place. There were priests coming on to duty, and there were priests going off duty. And there were Levites in great numbers going on duty, and Levites in great numbers going off duty. And there were worshippers coming in, and worshippers going out. And there were living animals coming in, and there were dead animals going out. And there was a man there with a tear in his eye. And in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above it were the seraphim, Each one had six wings. With two, he covered his face. With two, he covered his feet. And with two, he flew. And one called to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth. is full of His glory. That's how the Bible teaches the nearness of God. Now, I've got something to say to those of you who don't know God. The last time you took God's name cheaply The last time you said something which wasn't actually true, the last time you deceived somebody, the last time you treated Sunday like a Saturday, you did it in the presence of God. You're never out of his hearing. You're never out of his sight. You're never out of his presence. And you dared to do it in the presence of God. You're not a failure. You're a rebel. And God is kind. He gave you breath and is giving you breath. He gave you a heart, and it's beating now. He gave you sight, and most of you are seeing now. And he's done nothing but good to you, and nothing but kindness, and you've been indifferent to him, like an angel refusing to adore. like an angel refusing to bow down. You've lived all your life in the presence of holiness, and you haven't cared. You can't deceive him, you know. If the things you say here are different from the things you say there, And if the way you behave on Sunday morning is different from the way you behave on Wednesday morning, you can't deceive him. All your life and all your thoughts, all your desires and all your motives, they are an open book to the living God in whose presence you live and move and have your being. And you can say if you wish there is no God, but your conscience contradicts you. You've provoked him by constant sin. You've made yourself his enemy. That's the bad news. The good news is this. He is not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being. He's nearer to you than your hands or your breathing. He's nearer to you than you are to yourself. You don't have to go on a long pilgrimage to find him. You haven't got to go to a different country, to a different city, to different people, and wear different clothes, and go through some form of ritual. God is not there. Well, he is. But God is here. There's no feet and inches between you and God. It's a question of the heart. So if you seek him, you will find him. But you won't find him there, you'll find him here, wherever the here may be. And he can reveal himself to you just like he did to Isaiah there in the temple. Even though there may be crowds of people all around, he can just draw back the veil and suddenly you know that God He's near, you know. All the wonder of the gospel is there. Now, in Great Britain years ago, we used to execute our criminals in public. There was a particular place in London where men and women were hanged, usually men. And the prisoners were usually brought to that place of execution in a cart being pulled by horses. And the carts were usually of the same shape. They were actually basically a cage, and the man would be in the cage. And the people would look at the man, and the man, ashamed or frightened, would look at the road behind him so he didn't have eye contact with the crowd. It was common. There was one famous occasion, however, when the cart's going along towards the place of execution. In 20 minutes or so, he'll be a dead man hanging on the end of a rope. His face is stern and white and frightened. But as the crowd look at him, his face becomes calm. And now there's a smile. And now the man is laughing. Because the crowd's looking at the man. The man's looking down the road. Down the road, he sees a horse. On the horse, he sees a rider. And he's coming very quickly. And the crowd look at the man, and the man looks down the road, and the horse is nearer, and the man on the horse has a uniform. And the man on the horse, who's getting very near now, who has a uniform, has a scroll in his hand. And the man on the horse in the uniform with a scroll in his hand. He has a seal on the scroll. And it's the king's pardon. And it's near. So he laughs. Who did you meet? Jacob, who is the ladder between earth and God? Who did you set eyes on, Jacob? Because it says no man has seen God at any time, and you've seen him. Ah, but the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed Him. Jacob saw Jesus, which is why Jesus said to Nathanael, you'll see the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man, because there's a way back to God from the dark paths of sin, and it's Jesus. Who did you meet in the bush, Moses? I am. Didn't somebody else say that? I am the bread of life. I am the door. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the good. He met Jesus. Who was it in the bedroom who stood there and came nearer and met a boy in the night? It was Jesus. And who did Isaiah see in the temple when the veil was pulled back and despite all the noise and all the crowds, he saw the Lord? Well, John's gospel tells us, doesn't it? He saw Jesus in his glory and wrote of him. They saw Jesus as a man before he became a man. But he became a man, didn't he? He became a man in Mary's womb. He couldn't get nearer to us than that, could he? He became a man in a school, just a little boy. He couldn't get nearer to us than that, could he? He worked in a carpenter's workshop. He couldn't get nearer to us than that, could he? Yes, yes he could. He stood in a line waiting to be baptized, and only sinners were baptized, but he took the place of the sinner and was baptized by John the Baptist. He couldn't get nearer to us than that, could he? And he taught, and he preached, and he lived as holy on earth as he'd always been in heaven, and he died on a cross. Could he get nearer to us than that? He died the just for the unjust. Or as Paul the Apostle puts it, the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me. and he rose from the dead in the power of an endless life, that you and you and you and me, we might have a living Savior. Now, you unconverted people who don't know the Lord, the only thing keeping you away from God is you. He's near, and he says to you, seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him, While he is near, let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thought, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. And you can go out of that seat, or stay in it, and be pardoned now. That's why we call it the gospel. So that's how the Bible teaches the nearness of God, and there's a few words to those of you who don't know the Lord, and now a few words to those of you who do know the Lord. And I think I'll just start by asking if you've ever read anything by Professor John Murray. Have you? He's hard to read, isn't he? Professor John Murray, and this is how I do it. First of all, I make sure I'm standing up. That's the first thing. Secondly, I sharpen a pencil and hold it under my chin. Just there, not there, because otherwise that goes right through, but just under the bone. Then I open the book, and I begin to read out loud. And if my head drops, then the pencil keeps me awake. And if you do that, you will manage to read John Murray. And one day, you will read this. The fear of God is the soul of godliness. The fear of God is the soul of godliness. That's what gives godliness its pulse. So what's the fear of God? The fear of God is knowing He is not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being. That thought alone will change you forever. The only Christian life you've got is the Christian life you've got on this Friday morning. But that attitude, God is here, is the soul of godliness. It's easy to walk with God, you know. You can walk with him in your work. You can walk with him in your family. Enoch did. You can walk with him when you're surrounded by sinful, horrible people. You can walk with him when you're in danger. You can walk with him when your heart's breaking with pleasure. because he's there. You don't have to be a visitor to God, you know. Lord, said Moses, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. You can pray without ceasing, says Spurgeon, because he is there without ceasing. Just remember that, and your life will be touched with a radiance which it may not enjoy at the moment. And you're safe, you know. You're safe. A woman had a dream, and she went to her pastor. She said, Pastor, I had a dream. It really troubles me. Oh, please, Pastor, please help me. I keep having this dream. I have the same thing again and again and again, and it's beginning to hurt. "'Tell me your dream,' said the pastor. "'Well, it's like this, pastor. "'I'm living in my dream, I'm living in a bubble.'" And along comes some illness, and the illness can't get into the bubble until a voice says, okay, you can pass, and then I'm ill. And then I'm living in a bubble, Pastor, and there's someone saying spiteful things about me, horrible things about me, but they can't hurt me until the voice says, okay, you can pass, and then they hurt me. And, Pastor, it's like this, that there's an accident coming along, or a burglary, or unemployment, or a bereavement, or something indescribably awful. But it can't get to me, Pastor, unless the voice says, okay, you can pass, and then it happens to me. Pastor, please explain the dream. And he said, it's not a dream. Is it? Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing can touch you without the express permission of the ever-present God who says, okay, you can pass. I live my whole life. You live the whole of your life, Christian, protected by the fatherly presence of God. You and I should be the happiest people in the world. But we fall and we fail, don't we? But that's not the end of the story. I came out of the prayer meeting one night, and it was a terrible, terrible night, and it was just a short walk to where I lived, and it was pouring with rain, and the wind was blowing, and I walked along the street, hoping to get through the doors, and then there was a sound of brakes, and a horrible thud, and a woman lay bleeding in the middle of the road, and to my amazement, within a moment, there was a crowd around her, and they were saying, we've sent for the ambulance, hold on, don't give up, help's on the way, And she died. And I thought, it's never like that in the Christian life. We have our collisions and our calamities and our falls and our failures and the moments when we're really as low as it can possibly be. And no one ever has to say to us, help's on the way. because my Bible and yours says God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Now the time's going on, I think I'm gonna finish, but I'm not gonna finish just yet. Have you ever heard a preacher say that before? A couple of more things we need to say, here they are. Do you want to win souls? Do you want to win others for Christ? Do you know when you get that wonderful opportunity to speak to your neighbor about the Lord Jesus Christ, when you get to speak to your colleague at work about God, do you know that actually you speak about him in his presence? Isn't that great? You speak about him in his presence, and he can open a heart like he opened Lydia's heart, and like the sun opening a flower. Or he can open a heart like he opened the Philippian jailer's heart by an earthquake or a hammer. Or he can bring someone to spiritual life like a mother wakes a baby by a kiss. There's always hope in evangelism, you know. Lastly, I loved that word when I was a boy. I thank the Lord it's in the English language. Lastly, let's talk about your death. You may not have one, of course. That's a thought, isn't it? But let's assume for the moment you are. When are you going to die? Where are you going to die? How are you going to die? Who will be there? Yea, thou walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. And from his immediate presence, we go into his immediate presence. Thanks be to God. for his unspeakable gift. Amen. Amen.