Peter Tan-Chi - To Finish Well, Live In God's Presence
To finish well, live in God’s presence. What does it mean to live in God’s presence? This is both a command and a promise. A command. In John 15, Jesus commands us. Everybody read this together. (v.4) «Abide in Me…» is a command. Abide by Jesus. «…and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me». (v.5) «I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit. Apart from Me, you can do nothing».
Do you notice the word abide? To abide is to stay in intimacy with Jesus. And He is saying, «You remain in Me, stay with me, and I in you». The analogy is the vine and the branches. You and I know you cannot bear fruit if you are not connected to the tree. The vine cannot bear fruit if it’s not connected to the branches. It’s obvious, yes or no? That is how dependent you are. So to live in God’s presence is to be conscious of your need, to be conscious that He is with you, to be conscious that you are totally dependent upon Him. This is the promise. Jesus tells us, «…He Himself has said…» Everybody read this. (v.5) «…'I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.'»
Are you aware that’s a promise from God? (v.6) «…so that we confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me? '» So this is an amazing promise. God is saying, «I will never leave you, nor will I ever forsake you». This one promise. It’s a command. But I’m going to talk about something else that most people don’t understand. It’s called, the manifest presence of God. What is the manifest presence of God? John 14:23. Manifest presence of God. «Jesus answered and said…» Everybody: «…'If anyone loves Me (the condition: if anyone loves Me), he will keep My word.'»
So what is the proof that you and I love Jesus? Obedience. One more time. What is the proof that you love Jesus? Obedience to whom? Obedience to His word. (v.23) «If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word and My father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him». That word abode is another, similar word with abide. But this time the emphasis is permanent residence. It is not staying in hotel. It is making your heart the residence of Jesus and God the Father. In other words, God is saying, «I want you to really experience My very presence in your life». Most Christians fail to understand that God is with us, but more than that, God wants you to experience His real presence in your life. Look at Exodus 33:14. When Moses was talking with God, this is what God told Moses. (v.14) «…'My presence shall go with you and I will give you rest.'»
So one of the manifestations of God’s manifest presence is a life of peace, a life of rest in the midst of calamities, in the midst of chaos. Look at what Moses said. (v.15) «Then Moses said to God…» Everybody read, «…'If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.'» Do you know the context of that verse? Because God told Moses: because of your sinfulness, I will not go with you guys anymore. I will send My angel and My angel will fight for you. My angel will lead you to the promised land. When Moses heard that, Moses said, «No, I don’t want your angel. I want You».
Friends, do you experience the manifest presence of God? Joseph understood the presence of God in his life. If ever there is somebody who is going to be paralyzed by his past, destroyed by his past, it is Joseph. You know why? Joseph lived with a dysfunctional family. His father played favoritism. His father sowed the seed of hatred and jealousy in the family. So the Bible tells us the brothers hated him. Now, Joseph was not perfect. Joseph could learn humility because sometimes he’s proud when he tells his brothers his dreams. You know, sometimes certain things you don’t broadcast, and the Bible tells us, Joseph in Tagalog is «sipsip (synchopant)». He would tell his father the bad things committed by the brothers.
So Joseph needed to grow. How many of you have issues within your own family? Raise your hand. A lot of us have issues with our own family. Yes or no? Joseph’s issue was horrible. They hated him so much they wanted to murder him. I wanted to imagine now you have family members who hated you so much that they plotted to murder you, and they basically succeeded. That’s what happened to Joseph. They succeeded in almost killing him, except by divine providence, someone decided, «Let’s not kill him. Let us sell him as a slave». That’s the background. All right, Genesis 39:1. «Joseph had been (when he was sold as a slave) had been taken down to Egypt and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard brought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there».
Now, be honest, what will you think? If you are Joseph, will you be asking where is God? Will you be asking that? Will you be asking yourself, «How did this happen to me»? Joseph decided, «I will be conscious of God’s presence in my life». «I will keep on trusting Him». «I will keep on following Him». Even though he was tempted to question God. All right, so look at Genesis 39:2: «The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian». (v.3) «His master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all he did to prosper».
My question, how did the pagan master saw God in the life of Joseph? Answer: Is it possible, by the way he worked? Is it possible, that he was working hard? Is it possible, that the master saw him praying? Is it possible, that Joseph would talk about his God? Is it possible, that Joseph was different from all the other slaves? Yes or no? Question: If your neighbor looks at you, if your classmates look at you, if your boss looks at you, will your boss see Christ in you and in me? Genesis 39:4-5, let’s read together. (v.4) «Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him (what?) overseer (he became the manager) over his house, and all that he owned, he put in his charge». (v.5) «It came about that from the time he met him, overseer in his house and over all he owned the LORD, (everybody read) the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s on account of Joseph; thus, the LORD’s blessing was a upon all that he owned».
You know, what’s my prayer? That all of us will be like Joseph. That people will be blessed because of you. That’s my prayer. «Wherever I will be, Lord, let me be a Joseph. Let me be a blessing to others». Are you a blessing? You can be a blessing because God is the source of our blessing. Real success is because of God’s presence in your life. Friends, many of you know God in the head, but are you living and acting in God’s presence? Live in God’s presence. How will that impact your public life, your work life?
Read Colossians 3:24–25. I love Colossians 3:24–25. Everybody, let’s read this together. Ready, go. «Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve». So what’s my thesis? If you live in God’s presence, it’ll affect your work life because when you’re in the office, you are working for who? The Lord. You see, you are not just working for your earthly master. It doesn’t matter what you do. If you are in school, you are studying for the Lord. If you are at work, you’re working for the Lord. In short, if you work for the Lord, God wants you to be excellent. Say that with me. Excellent. So from now on, all CCFers, all Christians should be excellent at work. Agree or disagree? All right.
Tell your neighbor, «Be excellent»! Whatever you do, do it for the Lord. I like this quotation from Booker Washington. You know, what is excellence? Booker Washington said, «Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way». That’s excellence. Next principle: It will affect your private life, your moral life. What do I mean? Look at Genesis 39:6-7. Live in God’s presence. Just remember one thing. Everybody, say that with me. Live in God’s presence. It’s going to affect your private life, not just public; your moral life. (v.6) «Joseph…» everybody read, «…was handsome in form and appearance». In Tagalog, what is the meaning of 'form'? Oh, the guy has nice physique. Not only a nice physique, but also, good-looking. So ladies, do you like to meet a guy called Joseph? Don’t be shy about it. No problem. (v.7) «It came about after these events…»
Now, you have to understand. In Genesis 39, you think it just happened overnight. No. No. From that time onward, it was years. The master was looking at Joseph, and Joseph was faithful. He did not promote him overnight. It took time, it took years. Joseph finally got promoted. (v.7) «It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, 'Lie with me'». Grammatically, it’s a command. What will you do if you were Joseph? What are your possible excuses? «It’s the boss’s command». Is that a good excuse? «Lord, you know I love You, but you know, submit to authority». «Lord, I’m in this foreign country. Nobody will know».
You see, when you are in your private life, when you are about to commit sin, you must live in God’s presence. Satan will tell you, nobody will know. Satan will give you all excuses. Pornography? Who will find out? You are all alone, just one time. You see, Joseph could have all kinds of excuses. And gentlemen, I want you to know, temptation is real, especially for men. Our temptation is real. How do you escape temptation? Remember: To finish well, you must understand, what happens to you is outside your control, but what you do with what happens to you is within your control. Let me repeat. What happens to you is outside your control. When people will betray you, when people will take advantage of you, when temptation will come, that’s outside your control many times. But what you do with what happens to you is your responsibility.
So in the case of Joseph: Outside his control, betrayed, sold as a slave. But what is within his control? His response. How do you respond to difficult problems? How do you respond to temptation? Sin is ultimately against God. That is why it is serious. People often ask me, what’s wrong with premarital sex? What’s wrong with sex outside marriage? Everybody’s doing it. Simple answer. God made us. God made the rules, and those rules are for our protection. And every time you disobey the rules of God, you are hurting yourself. Therefore, every sin is a moral offense against God. My friend, every time you commit sin, I want you to know something. God is saddened. God is grieved.
You see, you grieve God because He loves you. When I give rules to my children and they don’t obey me, I am grieved. They think I’m angry. I am not. I am saddened. I am grieved. Because I see my children destroying themselves if they don’t learn how to obey. And God sees you. He loves you. That’s why the Bible says, «Do not grieve the Holy Spirit». (Eph. 4:30) Now, does God get angry? Of course He gets angry, but His anger is for a purpose: To make you repent. In CCF, we have a rule. I ask all the pastors, including myself, as a rule, we do not want to spend private time with the opposite sex. Lunch, dinner, counseling. As a rule. As a rule, I don’t like to travel alone because I know my weakness.
You see, I have a weakness. Of course, some people think I’m handsome, but the weakness is the opposite sex, right? So I don’t travel alone. I always travel with my wonderful wife. I tell our pastors, I tell all the other church leaders, even those from other denominations. It is expensive, but it is more expensive if you fall into immorality. So better think. Live in God’s presence. One more time. Everybody tell your neighbor, «Live in God’s presence». You know the Bible tell us, this happened day by day. (v.12) «She caught him by his garment, saying, 'Lie with me! ' And he left his garment and fled». He ran. You know what? The wife changed the story. The wife slandered Joseph, the wife made up an amazing story. It is called fake news. You know what is fake news? You invent something. And Joseph was maligned and he was sentenced to jail. Put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. Will you still trust God? Will you still follow Him?
You see, when you live in God’s presence, your emotional life is affected. You know why your thought life is affected? For Joseph, he said, «I don’t fully understand, but I will trust God». He kept trusting God. Look at Joseph’s experience after he was put in jail. Genesis 39:21, together, «The LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and He gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer». This guy, Joseph, is amazing. Now that he’s in jail, he did the right thing in jail. Okay? Let’s read this together. (v.23) «The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper».
Are you living in God’s presence? Louder. Will you please tell your neighbor, «God is with me». Tell your neighbor, «God is with me». How do I know Joseph was doing things properly? Can you just jump to this verse? Verses six and seven. Genesis 40:6-7. «When Joseph came to them in the morning, he observed…» Okay. There were two guards, «…He observed them, behold, they were dejected. He asked Pharoah’s officials who were with him, 'Why are your faces so sad? '» In other words, Joseph, when he was in charge of the prison, there were guards, there were prisoners. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he was thinking of others.
Friends, when something bad happens to you, the temptation is to be sorry for yourself. The temptation is to have a pity party, to not think of others. But I praise God for Joseph. He knew that God was with him. His thought life was changed. Because his thought life says, «God is with me», his emotional life was affected. He was not depressed, he was helping. He was helping others. And you know what these two gentlemen told him? We had a dream. They explained the dream to him and Joseph explained to them the meaning of the dream, and it came true, but Joseph did something very human. Can I tell you something? See, Joseph is also human. He requested. You know what that is?
Look at Genesis 40:14–15, he said, «Only keep in mind when it goes well with you, please do me kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. For I was, in fact, kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing wrong…» In other words, Joseph asked for a favor. «Bro, please, once everything is well with you, throw in a good word for me». «Tell the boss I’m not guilty. Tell the boss I should not be here». Guess what happened. This is one thing you need to know. You know what happened? Read the next verse, Genesis 40:23. «They forgot him». Guys, do you ever feel forgotten sometimes? Joseph could have felt, «God has forgotten me». But I want you to learn a principle. The principle is this. Helen Keller said the following, everybody read, «Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved».
You know, God sometimes will allow time. You must know this principle. God is always present. God knows what He is doing. When you are in the midst of trial, in the midst of problems, I have good news for you. God is present. You must live with that truth in mind. Waiting is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be. You need to learn to wait. You know why? If you don’t learn to wait, you’ll not become all that God wants you to be. And the Bible tells us, look at Genesis 41:1. «It happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream…» Who gave Pharaoh a dream? God gave Pharaoh an amazing, scary dream which he could not understand. He asked everybody. He asked all the magicians, all the wise men of Egypt, «Can you explain this to me»? Nobody could explain this. The cup-bearer said, «Boss, I remember a young man. He was my interpreter. He interpreted a dream for me».
When Pharaoh, heard the cup-bearer, you know what Pharaoh did? «Send him Immediately»! «Send him»! Let’s find out what happened. Pharoah said, (Gn. 41:15) «I heard that you can interpret dreams». What did Joseph answer? You know, Joseph said, «Boss, I can do it». Is that what he said? Read the next verse. (Gn. 41:16) «It is not in me». You see, Joseph was God-centered all time. He was living in God’s presence. His relationship with God was intact. He wanted to glorify God and he said, «It’s not me, it’s God». So Joseph explained the dream to Pharaoh. If you want to know the explanation because of time, will you read the Bible on your own?
That’s how you read the Bible. After you read the Bible on your own, Joseph did something amazing. He not only told Pharaoh the meaning of the dream, he added something. He told Pharaoh, «Pharaoh, don’t just listen. Take action». «Seven years of plentiful harvest. Start getting 20% of all harvest. Build storage, keep all the goods, 20%, because the next seven years will be famine». «You better start doing it now». When Pharoah heard this, what did Pharoah say? He talked to all of his advisors. Do you know of anybody who has the spirit of God in him? Even Pharaoh. So God is in Joseph. «Why don’t I appoint you»? «So Joseph, I will now appoint you». What was the appointment of Joseph? The prime minister of the most powerful country at that time. Pharaoh said, «Joseph, I am the only person higher than you. You are now the ruler of all Egypt».
To finish well, live in God’s presence. When you face adversity, make good choices. But when you face prosperity, that’s another story. Joseph is now at the height of his career. The Bible tells us he is now the boss. The truth is this, many people can face adversity, very few can face prosperity. The test of character is not only when you are alone. What will you do? When Joseph was alone, he stood up for God. The test of character is when you are given absolute power. What will you do with that power? To make a long story short, what happened? The brother showed up. You know what Joseph told his brothers? «Do not be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here…» Everybody read, «…God sent me before you to preserve life».
You see, the thought life of Joseph was affected. He saw the sovereignty of God. He realized there are no accidents. Even in the worst of situations, God is in control. Amen? My friend, are you having problems today? Yes or no? Can I give you good news? In the midst of your problem, can you now say, «God is with me»? In the midst of problems, when you feel like giving up, I want you to know something. Is God in control? So why is He allowing problems? You do not know why but you walk with Him. You need to learn to look for treasures. Somebody shared this with me years ago, and then recently, I met this guy. His name was Steven Scott. This is what he told me. He said, «Every trial produces hidden treasures». Every trial produces hidden treasure.
Now, can I give you my revised quotation? For a child of God… everybody read: «For a child of God, every adversity has its hidden blessing». Do you believe in this? Louder. Do you believe? What is my proof? My proof is very simple. Look at the perspective of Joseph. Genesis 50:20–21. Joseph told his brothers, «…you meant evil against me but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive». You see, Joseph saw the hidden blessings of all the trials he went through, and Joseph said, one of the blessing is the preservation of your life; the preservation of Egypt, the preservation of the whole world. Instead of starvation, God used me to save them. (v.21) «So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones. So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them».
Your ability to forgive people will come when you realize God is always present. Many people are angry. You cannot forgive people because they have wronged you, they took advantage of you, they betrayed you. But cannot tell you something? If you see God at work, you can honestly say, «What you did was wrong, but I choose to forgive you». And that’s what Joseph did. Can bad things come out of good things? According to Roman 8:28, can you please read that? We know «God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose». All things work together for good. When I lost my job in our own company, as I said, in the Philippines, everything is possible. I was telling the Lord, «Where is justice? How can we lose our own business»?
But you know what, as I look back today with all my heart, I thank God because it was the greatest blessing, if you ask me, that happened. You know why? I didn’t realize I was a proud person. I learned humility. I learned empathy. I began to see the sufferings of people. I realized there is injustice in this world. I also realized, from the bottom of my heart, that we need to do what is right. We need to be compassionate. And that is what God did in my life. And you know what? God did something. When God took away our textile chemical business, the simple reason is this: because God wanted me to be somewhere else, to have a new business. And that new business is where we are today.
Look at me. There is blessing in all trials. Question, are you willing to trust God? What was the last statement of Joseph? Many people don’t know that this is last statement of Joseph in Genesis. Look at chapter 50. What did he say? This what he said: (v.25) «Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, 'God will surely take care of you and you shall carry my bones up from here.'» (v.26) «Joseph died at the age of 110, and he was embalmed in the coffin».
You know what Joseph is saying? Egypt is not our home, our home is the promised land. And God is telling you today, «This world is not your home, our home is up there». That’s where you and I belong. And God is saying, «Don’t set your heart on the blessings of this world». Joseph did not allow prosperity to blind him. He said, «Carry my bones». And the Bible tells us in Exodus, when Moses left Egypt, they carried his bones. The Bible tells us in the book of Joshua, they buried Joseph in the promised land. Is God amazing? Yes or no?
Let’s bow heads. Okay, let’s bow our heads. If God has been speaking to you, perhaps you are not leaving in God’s presence. You are not even sure if God is present with you. You don’t even know if God is with you. I’d like you to pray simple prayer. I want you to pray that God will come into your life and stay with you, and that’s His promise. But have you ever invited Him as your Lord and Savior? I know God is knocking in your lives today. Stand up, and pray with me wherever you are. Praise God! Lord Jesus… You pray this prayer with me.
Lord Jesus, I invite You today to come into my life, to dwell with me forever and ever. I surrender my ambition. I surrender my goal. I surrender my all to You. Jesus, I accept You as my Lord and my Master. Help me to trust You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen.