Is It Scriptural to Say “GOD SHOWED UP” at a Service?
You might hear a minister say something like “God showed up and showed off” at a particular service. Since the LORD indwells every spiritually-regenerated believer, is it biblical to say this?
The phrase can be defended as scriptural. To explain, anyone born of the Spirit has the indwelling Spirit, which means God indwells the believer as a human Temple (Romans 8:9 & 1 Corinthians 6:19).
However, Jesus Christ spoke of a corporate anointing when believers meet together (Matthew 18:18-19), which means a greater sense of the LORD’s presence. The Almighty is omnipresent, of course — present everywhere at the same time in the sense of knowing what’s going on everywhere and nothing can be hidden from the Creator (Jeremiah 23:24 & Proverbs 15:3) — but this does not mean that God lacks a central presence and form (Psalm 11:4), it just means that the LORD manifests His presence and the corresponding glory to people at a certain time/place.
A good example from Scripture is when God’s glory manifested as an awesome cloud at the Temple, as observed here:
13The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:
“He is good;
his love endures forever.”
Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, 14and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.
2 Chronicles 5:13-14 (also noted in 1 Kings 8:10-11)
I think we can all agree that “God showed up and showed off” on this occasion.
Interestingly, the LORD’s glory manifesting as an awesome cloud can also be observed in the heavenly Temple in John’s apocalyptic vision (Revelation 15:8).
When God manifest’s His presence in this manner, you could say the LORD is more here than He is there. A good example from recent history is the Brownsville Revival, also known as the Pensacola Outpouring, which took place from 1995-2000 in the Florida Panhandle. A pastor in Ohio I served under at the time was criticized for wanting to visit the revival on the same grounds of the argument stated above (not that there’s anything wrong with asking such a question). The pastor happily responded, “Yes, God is here in our assembly and indwells each of us by the Spirit, but if the LORD is throwing a party down in Pensacola, I want to go to it!”
Related Topics:
What Is GLORY in the Sense of God’s (Shekinah) GLORY?
Praise & Worship—What’s the Difference? Why are they Important?
What Is GLORY? Are There Different TYPES OF GLORY?
What Does “Christ in You, the Hope of Glory” Mean?
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