Josh Brake: Hey, welcome back
to another episode of the

Breakthrough Church Podcast.

I, um, have you ever had this experience
where you feel like the Lord just

downloaded something to you and you,
it, it just kind of unlocked everything

It felt like, it feels like everything
becomes clear, everything gets

focused, and you're like, oh, I get it.

Uh, I feel like that happened to me.

Uh, a couple weeks ago, and I've just
been marinating in it, if you will.

I've been steeping in it, uh,
this truth about the presence of

God, and it really has helped.

Um, and so I'm gonna help, I'm gonna do
my best just to walk y'all through, uh,

the tension that I have been feeling.

And then, and then I'll, I'll,
I'll explain how the Lord kind of.

Spoke truth into that tension.

Uh, I don't have as many updates
related to Breakthrough Church for you.

Um, the team and I are still meeting
on Sunday nights, and something

that's really cool is there's,
there were even more people that

came to our Tuesday morning prayer.

Um, and we're just waiting on the Lord
and he is there revealing himself to us

in really cool and, and, and special ways.

Um.

And, uh, it's just cool to see the
team kind of catch that hunger.

You know, they're, they're
hungry for the manifest presence.

Well, this last Sunday night, I,
I shared with the team that, um,

man, we are gonna be a church that
prioritizes the presence of Jesus.

And that's not a new thing.

I've said that, but it felt new
in my spirit because of what I'm

sharing, gonna share with you.

It felt like I had never said it
really in that way before because of.

The fresh revelation that I have in my
spirit around, uh, the presence of God.

So I'm gonna just do my best to, to walk
you through, uh, the journey I've been on.

Um, I shared last time, I believe
that, uh, maybe two, two episodes ago,

I can't really remember, but right
before Eleanor was born back in March.

The Lord kind of delivered me
from a spirit of performance

and, uh, and, and religion.

And I, I have to strive
for God's presence.

And if I just do X, Y, and
Z, then God will be there.

And if we as a church just worship
in this way and do this thing and

have this set, then worship set, then
God will come and he'll be present.

And.

He delivered me from that, and I
just was so set free and I just,

that fleshy part of my spirit, he
just cut it out and did surgery and

said, no, that's not the gospel.

That's not the good news.

So I've been walking in this newfound
freedom, but the question that I

have, that I've been asking myself
that I haven't quite had an answer

for until now, I think, I think I do.

Um, I'm not saying I have the answer
necessarily, but I have an an answer

that's very, very helpful for me.

But the question has been,
what is his presence?

You know what I mean?

Like, okay.

Is it just this like atmospheric
thing that we experience

sometimes in worship or prayer?

Like what is it?

Um,

I've just struggled with that.

And then some churches use language like,
Hey, we're gonna, you know, I don't know.

I, I want, I, I'm not.

Here, I'll just say it.

There's some churches that'll say
like, Hey, we're gonna worship

and then God's gonna come.

He's gonna be here.

He, and the implication that in my mind,
I'm not saying they're saying this, but

in my mind what I hear is God's not here.

But then when we engage in
this way, then he'll be here.

And I struggle with that.

And I, I don't, I, again, on this
side of it, I don't think those

churches are actually saying that.

Maybe some of them are, but I don't
think those church, I think the churches

that are saying that, um, have a way of.

Talking about it inside and in their
culture, that makes more sense.

And so it's not fair for me to judge,
I'm not judging any of those churches

'cause it's all about language and
how you're talking about something.

And um, but I, as in this
newfound freedom of I'm delivered

from a spirit of performance.

It feels weird to say that if I just
perform in this way, then God will be.

Present 'cause the gospel is Jesus
has shed his blood so that I can be

welcomed back into the presence of God.

Not because of my performance, but
because of the performance of Jesus.

Uh, the righteousness of God has
been made manifest apart from the law

through faith in Jesus Christ, whom
God set forth is our propitiation.

It's Romans chapter four.

Um, it's, this is the good news,
that the righteousness of God

is now mine because of Jesus.

So then I am with him.

His presence is with me.

And now that is always, that is true.

Amen.

So I've struggled, especially
with wanting to be a church that

is prioritizing his presence.

I'm like, we don't have to do anything.

But I've had experiences in the
presence of God in other churches

and in the branch and at Breakthrough
when we've gathered sometimes and,

and how do I talk about it, right?

Like, how do I talk about that
experience without making it sound

like we did something to get it?

We did something to earn that.

Um,

and I feel like the Lord has
finally spoken truth into that.

Um, a few weeks ago I went to a
conference, uh, at the upper room

and, uh, it was a conference for
pastors and leaders, the upper

rooms at church in South Dallas.

And last minute got got an
invite and it was like, oh

yeah, I would love to go there.

So I was able to make most of the
conference and, and one of the

things that they did was, uh, just
kind of describe their language for.

Uh, how they talk about
the presence of God.

And it is so helpful and so good,
and I'm not gonna go into all of

that right now, but what it had me
realize is there's, there's more than,

there's more to it than just, if we
worship, then God will be present.

There's more to it than that.

So I began to search the scriptures,
and I've shared on this podcast, uh,

what the Lord's revealed to me through
scripture in terms of the tabernacle.

But I took it a step further.

I said, okay, well, I've, I've, I've
really researched the tabernacle.

But I'm gonna go to the temple, which
was Solomon's version of the Tabernacle.

David, in two Samuel seven, he
says, God, you dwell in a tent, may

like I'm gonna build you a house.

You deserve a whole house.

God.

God comes to him and says, no,
you're not gonna build me a house.

Uh, in fact, I'm gonna build you a house.

And then your son who comes after
you, he's gonna build me a house.

And there's a promise that he gives David.

He says, uh, I will put my name
there, or my name will be there.

This is this promise about this
house that Solomon is gonna build.

The promise is from the Lord.

My name will be there.

The question that we have
to ask is, what is a name?

Um, I most people probably don't name
their kids any na like names that

have meaning necessarily back in I.

Back in this time in Old
Testament times and biblical

times, name's been everything.

A name was who you were.

A name was your reputation.

It was where you came from.

It was who you are.

It was everything you stood for.

It was what you represented.

It was the revelation of
who you are as a person.

Your name, like one name,
like think of Yahweh.

I am.

What is that revealing
about the nature of God?

The character of God is that he's eternal.

He always was, is and always will be.

He's unchanging.

Never gonna shift or change with
seasons like he is the same always.

And all that is communicated
in a name, Yahweh.

So a name is someone is, it's
the revelation of who someone is.

And so God's promise to David that I'm
gonna build you a house or that, that

your son is gonna build me a house.

And that my name will be there is
basically God saying, um, I will reveal

who I am to you and the world through
this house, that the revelation of

who I am will come through this house.

Okay.

That's a pretty cool promise.

Um, because God loves
to make himself known.

If you remember back in Exus 25, he
tells Moses to build me a, build him

a sanctuary that I might dwell in.

Their midst was his, was his command.

He has this desire to dwell
in the midst of his people.

He wants himself to be known.

He wants to reveal who
he is to the people.

Okay, so there's the promise.

If you fast forward to One Kings
eight, Solomon has built the arc.

He's done all the work
that he is needed to do.

Uh, it's the same pattern.

That Moses had, um, the
pattern hasn't shifted.

Uh, and you know that when you read it,
you can see, oh, it's all the same stuff.

It's just grander.

It's more beautiful.

He uses more expensive stuff.

Um, it's basically just a more
magnificent, beautiful version of

what Moses built back in Exodus.

Well, in one Kings eight, uh, the whole,
the, the arc of the covenant holding.

Uh, the Commandments, the 10
Commandments, the tablets, it enters

the inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies.

Uh, and

when it gets in there, the
priests leave the holy place.

And then it says in one Kings eight
verse 10, and a cloud filled the house

of the Lord so that the priests could not
stand to minister because of the cloud.

For the glory of the Lord
filled the house of the Lord.

This should bring you back to Exodus 25.

That's the same thing that happened
when Moses built his house or the

tabernacle, the house of the Lord.

It says that the cloud covered
the tent and the glory of the

Lord filled the tabernacle.

This is the same thing that's happening.

The cloud filled the house of the
Lord and the glory of the Lord

filled the house of the Lord.

The manifest presence of God filled that
room and I filled that, filled that house,

and you know it because you could see it.

It was a cloud.

Think of a cloud, look into the
sky and look at, look at a cloud.

Like, think it's a cloud.

It's this, uh, fuzzy manifestation
of this presence, right?

And, and it, and it's used as, um,
the other word for it is glory.

It's the cloud and the glory,
the cloud of glory and exodus.

In Exodus 40, once Moses finished
the work, it says, the cloud of the

Lord filled the tabernacle and it
was the cloud that led them by day

and then the pillar of fire by night.

So it's, it's the, the manifest presence.

It's God making himself known
to his people is his presence.

Right?

So, um, I'm gonna connect
these, stay with me.

So in One Kings Eight, after
the arc of the covenant.

It comes into the holy place.

The cloud fills the house of the Lord.

The glory of the Lord filled
the house of the Lord.

Okay?

Then Almon prays, and he pres.

He prays, prays this, he says in
verse 15, blessed be the Lord, the

God of Israel, who with his hand,
has fulfilled what he promised

with his mouth to David, my father.

Remember the promise of God to
David that your son will build me a

house and I will put my name there.

My name will be in that house.

Since the day that I brought my
people Israel out of Egypt, I chose

no city out of all the tribes of
Israel in which to build a house.

That my name might be there.

There it is.

But I chose David to be
over my people Israel.

Now it was in the heart of David, my
father, to build a house for the name

of the Lord, a house for the name of
the Lord, right, the God of Israel.

But the Lord said to David, my father.

Whereas it was in your heart to
build a house for my, for my name.

There it is again.

You did well that it was in your heart.

Nevertheless, you shall not build the
house, but your son, who shall be born

to you shall build the house for my name.

Now the Lord has fulfilled
his promise that he made.

Okay, let's stop there for a second.

The promise was that a house would
be built for the name of the Lord,

that my, the Lord said my name will
be there, Solomon, and his prayer

says that has now been fulfilled.

That promise that God's name
would dwell in the house of

the Lord has been fulfilled.

How was it fulfilled?

The cloud?

Glory, the manifest presence of God.

This house was the place that
God's name would be and the place

God would manifest his presence.

In other words, this house would
be the place God reveals his

character and manifests his presence.

When I was reading this
a couple weeks ago.

Meditating on it, it hit me
like a ton of bricks in my soul,

almost like the glory of the Lord
filled my heart, and I heard this.

My presence is the revelation of who I am.

They're one in the same.

My presence is the revelation of who I am.

The presence of God is the same thing
as God revealing who he is to us.

This is what the temple was.

His name dwelt there.

What's a name?

It's the reputation of someone,
the revelation of who someone is.

And then what was the fulfillment
of the name being in the house?

Was that the glory of the Lord?

The cloud, the manifest
presence was in the house.

The revelation of who God is and
the manifestation of that God's

presence dwelt in the same house,

the presence.

Is the revelation of who God is.

This helps me so much because it's
not like, oh, I have to pray and

worship and then God will come.

What happens is God is there, and when
we worship, when we pray, and when we

put our attention on who God is, he then.

Authors faith in us to see his nature
and his character, and when he reveals

his nature and his character, we
begin to sense his manifest presence.

Why?

Because when he tells us who he
is, it's always connected with

his proximity, his nearness, to
do the very thing his name is.

Okay.

Lemme just explain that Jesus calls
the Holy Spirit, the comforter.

In a moment of prayer, let's say
you're praying and the Holy Spirit

tells you I'm your comforter.

My guess not my guess.

I know for a fact if the Holy Spirit
really is authoring faith in your heart

for him as comforter, you're going to
experience the comfort of the comforter.

Which is the manifest
presence, the nearness.

So you have the revelation that the Holy
Spirit is the comforter, but then you

also have the experience of his comfort.

This is how God works.

Why?

Why did Jesus come and say the kingdom
is here and then heal the sick?

Because he always acts out
of his nature and character.

And the fruit of that is the
presence filling the space.

To make that real, to have fresh faith
for the character and nature of God.

Solomon knows this.

Solomon will go on and pray
a prayer of dedication.

His prayer is that ultimately
he's like God, we know that no

one house can actually hold you.

The highest heavens can't contain you yet.

Have regard.

To the prayer of your
servant and to his plea.

And he asks that your eyes, God may be
open night and day towards this house.

The place of which you have
said, my name shall be there.

That you may listen to the prayer that
your servant offers towards this place.

And then he goes on to pray that when,
um, and I'm gonna summarize it, but

when your people pray towards this
house, would you answer from heaven and.

Act on their behalf.

Whether it's forgiveness for
sins, condemnation for the guilty

vindication for the righteous, it
also, if you go on in verse one,

kings eight, there's um, rain.

If you're, there's a drought
and they ask for, they look

to the house and ask for rain.

Would you give them rain and provide?

Would it it be provision?

Sometimes it's healing.

Sometimes it's belonging.

For the foreigner.

Um, Solomon is asking that your
character and nature and your

manifest presence would be revealed
to others through this house.

This is amazing.

This is why this temple is
so important and this is why

the pattern matters so much.

It wasn't until the ark, the covenant
keeper, the thing that held the

vessel that held the covenant.

Came into its rightful place in
the Holy of Holies on the throne.

That's when the cloud covered the tent
or the temple, and the glory of the

Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Now you should be thinking, who
is the true covenant keeper?

Jesus Christ.

This is all picture of Jesus.

When worship of Jesus is rightly
prioritized in a community of

believers, the glory of the Lord
will fill the house of the Lord.

It is all about the revelation of Jesus
as the covenant keeper, because it was in

his actual body, his body, and his blood.

What does he say?

This is the blood of the new covenant.

The new covenant.

What was the arc of the covenant?

It kept the partnership, the
relationship between God and man.

It held the agreement, the terms of the
agreement of that partnership in himself

and Jesus in his body, in his blood.

It's the new way to relate to
God is through the blood of

Jesus, not through the tablets,
but now by the living written.

The living incarnate word that
is Jesus in his blood, in his new

covenant is how we relate to God.

When we worship Jesus for who
he is, the cloud comes and the

glory of the Lord fills the tent.

Right, but it's not just this
atmospheric cool experience that we get.

It's the revelation of who he is
and, and we know who Jesus is.

In Matthew 16, Jesus asks the disciples,
who do people say that I am Elijah or John

the Baptist, or one of the other prophets.

And then Jesus looks at them and
says, who do you say that I am?

And Peter speaks up and says, you are
the Christ, the Son of the living God.

In Luke chapter 24, Jesus tells the
people, the two guys on the road to

Emmaus, he says, are you so slow to
believe all the prophets, the law and

the prophets spoke that the Christ must
suffer and then enter into his glory?

The revelation of who God is, is
seen in Jesus, and Jesus is the

Christ, the suffering man of God.

So let me tie all this together.

As a community, a breakthrough.

What I'm trying to do is I want to
create a, a culture where, right worship

of Jesus as the Christ is experienced,
where we engage with Him as being the

Christ Jesus, the suffering servant,
Jesus the Christ, and Christ crucified

when we worship him, as he has been
revealed to us in scripture as the Christ.

We can reasonably expect the Holy
Spirit to come author Fresh Faith,

which is the manifest presence
of God for who he really is.

And then we can expect him to
act in the ways that he is.

Um, this is kind of, I'm, I'm gonna
stop there 'cause I, I'm, I'm.

Maybe getting a little on a rabbit
trail or I'm, I'm just, I'm trying to

communicate this as clearly as I can,
but the manifest presence of Jesus is the

revelation of who he is and the revelation
of who God is, is in Jesus, the Christ.

Um, and the, the only right and
true revelation of who Jesus is.

Is the one with holes in his
hands and his feet and his side.

Because the next passage in Matthew
16, Peter, Jesus tells them that I must

go suffer and die and be raised again.

And Peter says, far be it from you.

And Jesus says, get behind me Satan,
for you don't have your mindset on

things of God, but in the things of
man, any revelation of Jesus that does

not include holes in his hands and
feet is demonic and from hell itself,

the only true right revelation of
Jesus is as the suffering servant.

The one who was crucified,
the lamb of God.

That is the only true
revelation of who Jesus is.

And so you can logically say the
manifest presence is the revelation that

Jesus is the Christ, the Lamb of God,

and as a church, when you prioritize
worship of Jesus as the Christ,

you will be a place that houses.

The manifest presence of God.

Um, I, there I, I have more to say.

I'm gonna say one last thing, A
practical piece that I think is,

is true based, based on this.

Um, there have been times where I've
experienced the manifest presence of

God, but I haven't really experienced
the true revelation of who he is.

And that's usually in a time where
others in the room are experiencing

a true revelation of who he is.

But I don't have the faith
for it in the moment.

Um, and I, it's a cool experience and
it's awesome, but it fades quickly

after and doesn't produce lasting
change 'cause there's no faith there.

Um, there have been times when I've,
uh, I've, I've received revelation

of who God is in terms of, I,
maybe I've read the Bible or heard

a good sermon, um, but I haven't.

Experience the manifest presence
of God in that revelation.

And when I get a revelation of who God
is without the manifest presence of God.

Then, um, that doesn't produce fruit.

That actually only produces pride because
then I just have more knowledge, but

I don't have more, any heart change
based on the revelation of who God is,

being a purple, being a purple, being
a person of his presence, is being

a person who walks in an awareness
and knowledge and faith of who he is.

Um, and we need the
Holy Spirit to do that.

Uh, the Holy Spirit's the one who
gives us the faith to believe God

when he says, I am Yahweh, or I
am your comforter, or I am King.

Uh, the Holy Spirit is the one that
gives us the faith to walk in these

things and to do these things.

The cloud was the Holy Spirit, um,
the, the, the embodiment or the

personification of the Holy Spirit.

And so, um.

Okay.

I I, I feel like in the last five
minutes or so, I may have not

have been as clear, but I, my,
my, here's what I'm trying to say.

The presence of God is the
revelation of who he is.

It's not just this, ah, if we worship,
then he'll come and it's atmospheric

and it's this cool feeling in the room.

It's not that the manifest presence
is when he reveals himself.

And I bet all of us can think of times
when we've just really in our heart

of hearts, seen who God really is.

And we have either wept.

Or knelt down on, fell on our faces,
or, um, just sat there in total

peace and joy or maybe laughed.

Um, when we by faith, see God for who he
really is, we begin to sense his presence.

And that's what, that's
just so helpful for me.

His presence is the revelation
of who he is and, um.

As a church, we wanna be just rooted and
grounded in the revelation of Jesus as the

Christ, but also lean into a dependence
on the Holy Spirit to make that real,

because it's not real for a lot of people.

They may know that that is true, but it
hasn't hit their hearts because the Spirit

hasn't been led in to give faith for that.

And we want to be a place that is,
uh, just rooted in the foundation,

that Jesus is the Christ,
uh, and also, uh, leaning on.

Uh, and depending on the Holy
Spirit to author fresh faith in

our hearts for Jesus and who he is.

Um, so, uh, this really
unlocked a lot of things.

I, I hope it's helpful.

I, I gimme feedback.

Email me, text me if you have my number.

Um, let me know what you think about this.

Lemme know if there's any
thoughts, anything I'm missing.

'cause I'm still processing some of this.

Trying to learn more about
how to talk about this stuff.

'cause it can be kind of weird,
but I think, uh, this is progress,

uh, for me to know, man, okay,
God, God's presence is his man.

His manifest presence is him
revealing who he is, you know.

So, uh, thanks for tuning in guys and,
um, I look forward to another update, uh,

on breakthrough and how we're doing, uh,
in the coming, uh, week or week or two.

So, uh, love you guys and hope
you have a awesome, awesome week.