Desperate for God’s Presence

I don't know about you, but you could have continued worshiping. Incredible worship. Let me just open in prayer and then you can take your seats. Lord, I pray that something special happens tonight. That your fire would penetrate deep into our hearts. Lives would be changed. Marriages restored. Prodigals come home. Holy Spirit, have your way in this place. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you guys, you can be seated. Well, as he said, my name is Shane Eidelman. I'm a pastor in California. And there is hope for California. Many, many believers are contending. And standing up for the truth. So don't believe the media. God is working deeply. And in our church, Westside Christian Fellowship, we too share your heart for revival, prayer, and fasting. And so I want to talk to you tonight about the presence of God. The fire of God. Now, God's presence is frightening in regard to judgment. Isaiah says that the idols of Egypt will totter at his presence. But his fire, his presence is very good in the life of a believer. Matthew said that he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. It's a very good thing. When a church is on fire, the demonic realm is crushed and countless lives are changed. And America's only hope, our only answer right now, is a mighty move of God's Spirit, a spiritual awakening. To awaken his church. To be desperate for more of God. Desperate for more of his presence. And that's a question I want you to consider tonight. Are you desperate for more of God? We must pray that God would fill us with his holy fire. And we must cry out like the prophet Isaiah. Oh God, would you rend the heavens and come down and let the mountains shake at your presence and visit your people. We need the presence of God like never before. Oh, that the nations would tremble. Oh, that Washington, D.C. would tremble. Oh, that the churches would once again tremble. The fear of God is a very good thing. It's the beginning of wisdom and knowledge that draws us back to God. And when God rips open the heavens, it's imagery of his presence coming down among his people. The Bible comes alive We can't stop worshiping. Our hearts are set ablaze for more of God. My point is this. It all begins with desperation, desperation, desperation. There's a hunger. There's a hunger for more of God. A desperation. And God rends the heavens when his people seek him. Jeremiah reminds us that if we seek him, you will find him. Some of you need to hear that again. If you seek him, you will find him. When you search for him with all your heart, God promises that you will find him. So again, are you desperate for more of God? Are you hungry for righteousness and holiness? Is God your all-consuming fire? There must be desperation. Desperate people do desperate things. They might have all-night prayer meetings. They might fast and starve the flesh. They might take off a day and just worship God because they are desperate. But over time, if we're not diligent and diligent and disciplined, the fire of God can fade. And I truly believe that's why your pastor asked me to come here tonight. Maybe that describes some of you here tonight. You've lost your passion for God. You've left your first love. God seems distant. And that's why Jeremiah 29 was the solution. If you seek him, you will find him. But this word seek is not half-hearted. It's not apathetic. It's not passive. Seeking God in the Hebrew language, it's an all-consuming passion to find something. If you lost your child here tonight, would you eat dinner before searching for them? Would you look for them once your schedule permits? No. No. There's a hunger. There's a desperation. I've got to find that child. Now parallel that with seeking God. See, there's a hunger. There's a desperation. I've got to find God no matter the cost. That word seek is bakash in the Hebrew. I will not stop until I find him. Oh God, help us tonight. Give us that desperation. Again, desperate people do desperate things. They fully surrender their lives to Christ. They stop playing games with God. They pray fervently that God would rend the heavens. Obeying God's word is a delight, not a drudgery. God is not many things on their agenda. He is the agenda. He is the priority. We've got to foster that hunger and that desire. Are you hungry for more of him? I mean hungry for more of God. Because when the prodigal son was hungry, he stayed with the pigs, but when he was starving, when he was desperate, he ran home to the father. That desperation, that hunger, I must return to the father. And the father met him and embraced his son. There was a desperation. I love to study about revivals for 20 years now. Praying for revival. That God would awaken his church. And I came across the revivals of 1904, 1905. They interviewed a man much later on who had experienced that powerful move of God. And they asked him, why did the fire fade from that revival? And he said with tears in his eyes, when you lay hold of God, never, never, never let go. When you lay hold of God, there's a hunger. There's a passion. There's a desire to hold on to God. So is your fire fading tonight? Maybe you've grown cold or callous. Then I want to encourage you to cry out to God tonight. Oh God, would you rend my heart? Oh God, not just the heavens. God, come down and rend my heart. Break my heart. Humble me tonight. God hears the desperate cries of his children. There's a brokenness. There's a humility desperately needed today. There's a brokenness and humility. But with desperation, we also must have diligence. Many of you know of Hebrews 11.6 that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. The American church knows nothing of discipline and diligence. You visit the underground church in China or Iraq or Iran, there's a diligence despite the circumstances. Diligence is pressing in despite the temptation to quit. I believe that God is looking for those who will diligently pursue him. There's a heart of diligence. I will seek you even when I don't feel like it. I will pray when I don't see the results. I will contend for my marriage when all hell is breaking loose. I will pray for my prodigal sons and daughters even though I see no result because my faith trusts God despite the circumstances. Faith believes, God, Lord, I trust you despite what I'm going through. With desperation and diligence there also must be a desire for holiness and humility. The prophet Isaiah said, for thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity. Think about that for a minute. The God of the universe he says, listen to me. I am high and lifted up. Our God is an awesome God. What army can defeat him? What country can control him? What kingdom can contain him? What leader can conquer him? What plan can stop him? What problem can confuse him? What devil can destroy him? What weapon can harm him? What setback can hinder him? What obstacle can delay him? Oh, I can keep going. Let me tell you about the God I serve. The God who will raise up one king he will pull another king down. Our God is an awesome God. Focus on him nothing can stop God almighty. Oh, I feel like preaching tonight. Isaiah goes on to say that God's name is holy and in the American church we talk a lot about God's love and thank God for God's love it's grace that's brought me here thus far and it'll be grace that takes me home but of all the attributes of God throughout the Bible holiness is elevated above them all. The holiness of God the holy presence of God we need to get back to the fear of God in this place the holy standard of God the angels cry holy, holy, holy is our God and I think the church needs to start crying holy, holy, holy is our God where is the brokenness at the altar where is the holiness that we desire Paul said come out from among them be separates you will not know the power of God unless you come out from among them and be separate you will look different from the world get over it we try to teach our youth that all the time you'll look different you will act different your movie choices your music choices you're different you're holy and set apart for God others are desperate for more of sin you are desperate for your Savior so there's a difference in you come out from among them be separate be holy, holy, holy like God others love the world you love worship he who loves the world does not have the love of the Father in him there's a breaking away that must take place you want to be filled with the fire of God the Spirit of God then there is a separation from the world not legalism but a love for God and then finally we must embrace humility to keep the fire going and you're seeing how all of this works desperation meets diligence meets holiness but there must be humility going back to Isaiah God reminds us that he dwells in the high and holy place this verse has wrecked and rocked my world I wrote a book on it recently oh God would you rend the heavens and here's what got me he says I dwell in the high and holy place and at first glance you might think that's impossible you'll never experience the presence of God if that's where he lives but then he says I dwell in the high and holy place with him with him, her who has a contrite and humble spirit the very God of the universe will dwell and his presence will be revealed in your life if you have a contrite and humble spirit listen the blessing of brokenness is incredible there's so much pride in the church jockeying for position I want center stage attention God says humble yourself in due time I will exalt you of all the pain and problems I have seen pastoring of all the addictions and lusts that have taken people down of all the angry homes and broken families there is always one culprit one criminal pride a proud pastor is an ugly thing a proud Christian will not know the fullness of God's spirit it's hard to be used of God when you're full of yourself pride is deadly it is damning it is fatal it is disastrous I don't have any of this in my notes but I want to share something with you first you need to know that I am a prideful man working on humility everyday God knows we struggle with it but you're supposed to bring your struggle to the altar and repent I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ when I was 12 at my first drink around that same age fell in love with alcohol my age 16 the prodigal son crystal meth of course marijuana, alcohol the party scene I was on a highway to hell you guys know the ACBC song? that was it, that was my life and at the heart of all that was pride I thought I was Mr. Tough Guy listen men machismo no bueno you are hurting your family you are hurting your relationship with the Lord I thought a tough guy was when I could bench press 400 pounds and beat people up but I was prideful and arrogant and God humbled me very painful but I wouldn't change a thing because through that pain that brokenness there comes a strong anointing from God's Spirit the more humble you become the more God will promote you God will use you because you don't worry about status recognition promotion you begin to understand what John the Baptist said he must increase and I must decrease and when pride comes into your heart you rip it out and you find yourself on the altar crying out to God like David created me a clean heart and renewing me a right spirit oh God I have drifted from you I have left my first love oh God break me again and use me again I'm desperate I told you desperate people do desperate things we've got to break this pride out of our arrogant hearts pride is your downfall humble yourself tonight if God is breaking you and humbling you although it may be challenging rejoice in the refining process one of my favorite authors A.W. Tozer he said it is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply hurt us deeply remove that pride God knows how to humble us we must submit to the humbling process but you know what prevents mainly men I've spoken in a lot of men's conferences that's what I used to do before pastoring and excuses keep so many men from experiencing God a three letter word gets in the way but yeah but you don't know my spouse you don't know what I'm going through but but but but and I say shut your mouth get on this altar and cry out to God how bad do you want it are you desperate for more of God in the same way that olives are crushed for their oil or grapes for their juice we must be crushed in order for the pride to come out it's in that crushing process you see what happens is when for example I come up here I come with a limp now from the humbling process and God says he's no respecter of persons he's a respecter of principles he says that's a person I can use they've humbled themselves and we too must be humbled before we can be mightily used by God humility and brokenness keep the flames of God burning in your hearts then and only then do we have an incredible promise let's look at this briefly Isaiah I dwell in a high and holy place with him who has a contrite and humble spirit this is exciting God says I will revive the spirit of the humble so you come in dead church seems boring God is distant he says humble yourself and I will revive you I will awaken you I will restore you oh remember your first love when Christ was at all consuming passion I don't care what people think I'm going to raise up holy hands and seek God with all of my heart because when God moves it crosses denominational lines it crosses ethnicities for example I didn't understand one word of worship but I felt the spirit of God crying Abba Father Abba Father I felt the spirit of God moving among his people breaking restoring renewing reviving that is revival but again you must be humble and desperate for his presence the choice is yours here's how pride works many sitting in the audience or listening to this later will be saying to themselves that's good for him but I'm still a tough guy machismo I don't need that that's too extreme that's for women pride is deadly it is ugly it keeps many men from the kingdom of God I'm a man and I'm fascinated by how many men have one persona at church and one persona in the workplace or on social media the Bible has a word for that hypocrites and I often say I'm saying, it's because you need to hear what I'm saying. God's Word convicts. God's Word does not apologize. His Word is active and living, sharper than any sword. It discerns the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Real, Bible-believing, truth-elevating, preaching will cut to the heart. We are not motivational speakers. We are preachers of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. And I don't know about you, but I want to help you. I want to elevate the truth again. I want to bring back the holiness of God, and the righteousness of God, and the blood of Christ, and the judgment of God, and a precious Word called repentance. We don't want to talk about those words anymore, because they offend people. But have we ever stopped to consider that we might be offending God? I could go off on another sermon now, but I'm going to get back. The desperate need to get back to absolute truth. We are not motivational speakers again. We are to rightly divide the Word of Truth, because the time will come, and it is here now, when they will not endure sound doctrine, but they will look for teachers who will tell them what their ears want to hear. But God says, I'm not going to tell you what you want to hear. I'm going to tell you what you need to hear. And it cuts to the heart. Oh God, help us tonight. God, we need your Holy Spirit's fire. God, would you visit your people again? We're tired of playing church. We want to experience God. What a travesty it will be at the end of your journey, to find that pride robbed you of the presence of God. 50, 60, 70, 80 years, and we are still here. We are still here. 50, 60, 70 years, never knowing the power of God. Never being transformed by the glorious gospel. Never being mightily filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, if you believe on me, as the scriptures say, out of your belly will flow the Holy Spirit. And if you believe on me, you will see a river of blood. Rivers of dead stagnant water. No. Living, vibrant, abundant water. Jesus said, at the woman at the well, if you drink of this water, you I will never thirst again. Come and drink, come and drink deeply in the well of Christ. So for some here tonight, you need to bring your dead dreams. You need to bring your broken children. You need to bring your failed marriages. And you need to bring your shattered hopes to this altar. For others, you need to humble yourself tonight. Listen, it's a wonderful thing to experience God. And we've got to break out of that bubble of being comfortable. I want to experience the presence of God. Or I don't want to have anything to do with religion. Quoting Tozer again, I believe. The presence of God. When you enter God's presence with praise, I want you to think about this for a minute. When you enter God's presence with praise, he enters your situation with power. Can you imagine getting a church broken and humble again? On fire for God? So instead of an altar call, I propose an altar fall. Yo quiero decir que caigamos sobre el altar. I got that from Michael. You remember that? No. No, okay. Maybe it wasn't you. But there has to be a desperation. We can't just come in, sing a few songs, hear a message, and then go feed King's Stomach. Y llenar el estomago. There's got to be that desperation. So I want to encourage you. Come to Christ and drink deeply from the fountain of living water. And also, I don't know who's here tonight or listening later, o escuchando después, but I always want to remind you and challenge you, do you have a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ? Or are you playing games with God? The Bible says that you must confess Christ as Lord and Savior. Humility. Humbling ourselves. Listen, this is not a game. All of eternity rests on that decision. And on that final day of judgment, I'll never forget reading this scripture. I was 29 years old, hungover, crudo, far from God. I opened the word and I realized, you'll hear either, well done, thou good and faithful servant, or depart from me. I don't even know you. I said, wait a minute, how's Jesus not know me? You can know about someone, but not genuinely know them. If there's no relationship, and I cried out to God, and God filled me with His Spirit, the Bible came alive. I turned off my country music and put on Christian music. I began to have a desire for God, a passion for God, boldness for God, because of that beautiful word, repentance. And I don't wanna leave here tonight without letting you know that there is a God and He takes His word seriously. Matthew 7, you said you did many things in my name, but depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. So there's two groups I'm really speaking to tonight. The first group is many of you. Maybe you've lost that first love, and it's a sad thing when you lose that first love. You lose that passion, that zeal, that desire. You want more of God, but you're lost. You've drifted, and so we're gonna open the altar tonight. Also, if you've been playing games with God, we're gonna ask you to come up as well. Surrender your life completely. I finally realize that the Lord Jesus Christ is not an option. He's Savior and Lord. And we can have the worship team go ahead and come up. And I'm gonna actually, even though I don't speak Spanish, I'm gonna be up front, and I would love to pray for you. God knows, the Holy Spirit knows, and I wanna pray that the fire of God will fall upon your life again. Listen, the Holy Spirit, regardless of what you're doing right now, regardless of what you see on TV, the power of the Holy Spirit is not something to fear. The fruit of the Spirit is not weirdness. It's boldness. There's a fire for God. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Oh, if we could get the fire of God back in our lives. I don't know about you, but the only hope for America, the only hope for our families, is a powerful move of God's Spirit. Oh, cry out like the prophets. His word is in my heart like a burning fire. It's like a burning fire. Shut up in my bones. I'm weary of holding it back. And if that's you tonight, cry out to God. Say, God, fill me with that fire. Fill me with that Holy Spirit. Oh, God, I need you. I'm desperate for you. I'm hungry for you. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, shall, not might, shall be filled. There's a hunger for God. And we need that tonight. So I don't know what protocol is. I'll leave that up to Pastor Chris and Pastor Michael. The altar will be open. And I'd love to pray with you over here. Maybe the prayer team will be available as well. Thank you. Let me just close in prayer. God, I admit that I need you. God, I need to be broken and humbled on a daily basis. Lord, I know many here tonight and listening later, they've left their first love, Lord. Abundance has led to apathy. You've blessed our nation, and we've drifted from you. God, would you fill us afresh again with your fire, creating us a clean heart, Lord. Renew that right spirit within us. God, do a deep work in our families, our children, our marriages, and I pray for those who are single. God, fill them mightily with your spirit.