When the LORD Interrupts Us

II Chronicles 5. 11-14

2 Chronicles 5:12-14 All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. The 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, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God. 

The extreme presence of the glory of God made normal service impossible. The sense of the presence of God was so intense that  it was impossible for the priests to stay in the building.

"As soon as the temple is opened for business, all the carefully planned ceremonies and services have to be suspended because God takes over the entire building for Himself. The temple is to be for God's glory, not for that of human beings." (Selman)

"The glory of God had filled the house, and the priests were set aside. Where God is, man is forgotten. You will think little of the minister save for his work's sake - you will talk the less of the man when you shall see the Master." (Spurgeon)

God is showing ownership of His House.

Hebrews 9:23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 

The temple was a copy of heaven. God filled this man made temple with His glory and for that time it resembled heaven even more.

Clouds have been associated with God's Presence throughout the Bible and up to this very day.

Cloud of Glory.

Pillar of Cloud 

Exodus 13:21-22 By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. 

A cloud hid Him from their sight when He ascended. Acts 1.9

He is coming on the clouds.

Matthew 24:30-31 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 

Psalm 104:3 He makes the clouds His chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. 

Matthew 12:6-7 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. 

So there they are prepared for a day of worship, all Israel around this magnificent structure, one of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World and the LORD comes in power and fills the temple with His Presence so much that even the priests had to stop their work.

When the LORD interrupts us He is showing us that...

1. God is more interested in us acknowledging His Presence than we can imagine!

Asbury Revival-

Movement of God's Spirit where work has been suspended. 

Suspending classes at Bible College.

A week of prayer that turned into months of daily prayer here.

We need something like this again! An awareness of His Presence.

Always be aware.

Genesis 28:16-17 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the House of God; this is the gate of heaven.” 

We have plans, then the LORD interrupts. Flight delays, traffic, waiting in all forms are many times His interruptions. 

When the LORD interrupts us He is showing us that...

2. The LORD is desiring to show Himself Mighty on our behalf.

He wants to reveal Himself to us.

John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” 

Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with Me. 

He wants to show us His Glory.

Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. 

Isaiah 40:5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” 

 We need to be confident of His Presence  when we are not conscious of it we need to be conscious of it too.

When the LORD interrupts us He is showing us that

3. Never let your service for the LORD take away your love and adoration of Him.

*Getting bitter as we serve... unseemly.

*Working for His Approval

Fine line. We work because we love Him. My grandson, Tristan.

*Working for the Applause of man

While we do not start out that way we must be careful of this trap. People's appreciation and applause are not  good motivators. We need to watch out for them. We need to guard our hearts against taking them in.

Working for the Glory- all the glory goes to Him! It belongs to Him. That is one of the things happening in this passage this morning.

Psalm 115:1 Not to us,  O LORD, not to us but to Your Name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness. 

United in Humility and Praise... we have become so individualistic. There is a combined collective conscience that the church ought to have. One in heart and mind. 

Once again, we need to be careful in our walk with the LORD. We have seen Him work. We have watched Him provide. We must be careful not to allow extraordinary experiences to become common place.