A LEADING QUESTION

A KEY SCRIPTURE

Isaiah 57:15 "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

ARRIVING AT AN ANSWER

God declares Himself to be the inhabitant of eternity. He permanently dwells in eternity. He is the ever- living, ever-present, ever-supreme, ever-holy, ever-unchanging God. The two dwelling places of God are "the high and holy place" and spirit of the "contrite and humble".

There is a beginning and an end to human presence, but the all-presence of God is as indestructible as His life, His power (Psalm 102:26-27 ), and unchanging perfect character (James 1:17 ). His eternity establishes His forever unalterable omnipresence. He remains. Knowing He is always present is awesome, admonishing, and cause for adoring admiration.

A LEADING QUESTION

A KEY SCRIPTURE

1 Kings 8:27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? "

ARRIVING AT AN ANSWER

	God did manifest His presence in the temple Solomon built.
	God's presence could not be limited to the temple, nor can His presence be in any way limited.
	God is everywhere present and He is always now present.
	God is the all-seeing, all-knowing observer of our spirit, soul and body, and our actions are under is scrutiny.
	God, as Solomon recognised, takes personal interest in His people's prayers.
	God is requested by Solomon, to be open-eyed towards the temple because He had promised to put His name there (1 Kings 8:29 ).

God's glory would be manifest in the Most Holy Place, but prayer would be heard in heaven, the dwelling place of God (1 Kings 8:30 ). Here then is unmistakable acknowledgement that the all-powerful, all- knowing, omnipresent God cannot be limited to the temple, nor any other confinement or limits. How good it is that God is ever available by His being everywhere present.

A LEADING QUESTION

A KEY SCRIPTURE

Jeremiah 23:23,24 "Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? 24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD."

ARRIVING AT AN ANSWER

	The one who thinks it possible to escape from God's notice is self-deceived, just as were the false prophets described in Jeremiah 23.
	Lying and victimising the gullible, they sow the deception that God is not at hand as a witness (Jeremiah 23:23-24 ).
	The false prophets are confronted with revelation information that they have no hiding place, they are seen and heard by God (Jeremiah 23:25 ).
	All must deal with the fact of an unchanging, omnipresent, omniscient Lord. Jeremiah 23:11 "'For both prophet and priest are profane; Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness,' says the Lord."
	Deceivers cannot prevent their just punishment at the hands of a righteous God. Jeremiah 23:34 "... I will even punish that man and his house. "
	The idea that deceivers will get away with sowing their destructive heresies is wrong (Jeremiah 23:13-14 ). 2 Peter 2:12 "But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; "
	There is a day of reckoning for those who lead others astray. They will answer to the God who sees their lifestyle of ruthlessness, and their unjust use of power will be accounted for (Jeremiah 23:10-11; 2 Peter 2:10-11 ).
	Living immorally, living a lie, profiting by their determined evil action, while they hide behind pretensions to be speaking from God, their exposure by the Lord is certain (Jeremiah 23:14; 2 Peter 2:15-16 ).
	Leaders of wickedness strengthen evildoers. They persuade by encouraging permissiveness in yielding to the control of the flesh. They offer false hopes, at the same time they close their minds to the presence of a holy, righteous God (Jeremiah 23:14-16; 2 Peter 2:18-19 ).

No one can hide from the everywhere, all-knowing God. How admonishing, that the revelation of the nearby God should be recorded in a vivid description of the Old Testament false prophets, and reflected in the New Testament treacherous false teachers. The God who sees, desires that we become open-eyed to the truth of the word of His revelation, that our teaching of others may be unpolluted, undiluted, and unmodified.