Clean hands and a purified heart drawing near to God — these are requirements to experience the awesome presence of the glory of God, Rick Evans told Alabama Baptists during the convention sermon he preached from James 4:8–10 on Nov. 16.
Evans, pastor of Dalraida Baptist Church, Montgomery, said, “Without the presence of the Lord in our churches, our worship is as useless as an empty fireplace on a cold winter’s night.”
The Lord’s presence will not be manifested in a mighty way if people just show up at church, “pray some prayers and sing some songs,” he noted. Christians must “return to their first love,” and it must be with clean hands.
The condition of a person’s hands tells a lot about him or her, Evans said, giving examples like a farmer’s hands, calloused and hard, or a musician’s hands, tender and smooth.
“What condition are your spiritual hands in this morning?” he asked the audience.
“I’m afraid we run before [God] with dirty hands, where clean hands are actually required,” Evans said. “If we are going to experience the glorious presence of God, we must walk in harmony with His will and before Him with clean hands.”
Believers also must draw near to God with a purified heart — emptied of all things within it, he noted.
“God wants us to get to the point where our will is broken, where our heart has no desire of its own … and we just want to please Him … just want to be near Him … to be broken before Him.
“That’s the heart He heals, and that’s the heart He purifies,” Evans said.
He referenced Psalm 55 and David, who dealt with sin for years in every way possible and yet sin remained in his life.
Finally he had an “Aha!” moment, Evans said.
David realized God didn’t want sacrifices or songs but a broken spirit and a contrite heart.
But once a believer does draw near to God with clean hands and a purified heart, how does He then reveal His glory, Evans asked.
Through His people’s lives, he said, noting God’s glory is revealed differently today than it was during Old Testament days when He revealed Himself with miraculous signs like burning bushes and parting of seas.
Evans said songwriter Lanny Wolfe must have “understood God’s manifestation” when he wrote “Surely the Presence of the Lord Is in This Place,” with the lyrics, “I can feel His mighty power and grace. … I see the glory on each face. Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.”
But there is no shortcut, Evans said. “We can’t try to imagine the glory of God in banners or [church decorations].
“Let’s draw near to Him, spend time in our prayer closets and have our hands clean and our hearts pure … and (then) the presence of the glory of the Lord will be in this place.”
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