INTRODUCTION
In Part 1 we saw that the Judgment of God is not God being wicked. It is God being just, holy, and faithful to His Word.
Today in Part 2, we must correct a dangerous lie in the Church:
“God withdrew His presence from me.”
No.
God does not withdraw His presence from man. We are the ones who walk out of His presence.
From Genesis to Revelation, the story is the same. Man walks out of faith and obedience, and therefore walks into calamity.
And because God is a gentleman, He does not force Himself on us.
1. THE PATTERN FROM GENESIS: MAN WALKED OUT
Genesis 3:8 “And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden... and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God.”
Notice it carefully.
God was still walking in the garden. God did not move.
Adam moved. He hid. He walked out of fellowship through disobedience.
Judgment here was not God leaving.
Judgment was the consequence of Adam leaving the place of covering.
Outside God’s presence: shame, fear, toil, death.
That same pattern has repeated from Genesis to Revelation.
Cain walked out — Genesis 4:16 “And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord.”
Israel walked out — Hosea 9:12 “Woe also to them when I depart from them!”
The church in Laodicea walked out — Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” Jesus was outside.
Truth: God is always at the door. Man is the one who walks out.
2. THE NATURE OF GOD: HE DOES NOT WITHDRAW
Malachi 3:6 “For I am the Lord, I change not.”
Hebrews 13:5 “...for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
God’s presence is not a mood that changes.
His presence is a place. And that place is called OBEDIENCE OF FAITH.
God cannot be where sin and rebellion reign, not because He is mean, but because He is Holy. Habakkuk 1:13
So when we choose disobedience, we choose distance.
We walked out. He did not push us out.
This is why David cried in Psalm 51:11 “Take not thy holy spirit from me.”
He knew it was his sin that would cause separation.
3. THE SECRET: IN HIS PRESENCE IS FULLNESS OF JOY
Psalm 16:11 “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
This is the key to understanding Judgment.
Judgment is what happens when we leave the place of Fullness of Joy.
When we leave His presence, we don’t just lose God. We lose joy, peace, wisdom, protection, and direction.
The world calls it “bad luck.”
The Bible calls it “walking out.”
Examples:
1. Jonah walked out of God’s assignment → Storm, fish, calamity. Jonah 1:3
2. Samson walked out of the vow → “...and he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.” Judges 16:20 He departed first.
3. Saul walked out of obedience → “...the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul.” 1 Samuel 16:14 Because he rejected God’s Word. 1 Sam 15:23
4. THE WAY BACK: OBEDIENCE OF FAITH KEEPS US IN THE FULLNESS
God’s Judgment is also His invitation to return.
Obedience of Faith is not legalism. It is love in action. John 14:21 “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.”
When we walk in obedience:
1. We stay in His presence — “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.” John 15:10
2. We stay in Fullness of Joy — Psalm 16:11. Joy is not a feeling. It is a location. The location is “in His presence.”
3. We escape calamity — Proverbs 19:16 “He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul.”
Repentance is simply walking back in.
James 4:8 “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”
5. APPLICATION FOR THE CHURCH TODAY — AUGUST 2026
Ndi Nna, this is the Month of Open Doors.
But many doors in our lives are shut because we walked out.
We walked out through:
Pride, Compromise, Bargaining Gospel, Bitterness, and Abandoning the weak.
God is not far. He is at the door knocking. Rev 3:20
He is not withdrawing. We withdrew.
THE JUDGMENT OF GOD IS THIS:
When you leave His presence, you enter the wilderness.
But when you return in obedience, you enter Fullness of Joy again.
CONCLUSION
From Genesis to Revelation, the story has not changed.
God never left.
Man left.
And God, in love, made a way for man to return — through the Cross.
So the question is not “God, where are You?”
The question is “Lord, where did I walk out? Help me to come back.”
Return to His presence. Return to obedience of faith. Return to Fullness of Joy.
Because outside His presence is calamity.
Inside His presence is Life.
HAVE FAITH IN GOD.
DON’T WALK OUT. ABIDE.
— Apostle Edward Freedom
Watchman & Teacher of the Word
#UnderstandingTheJudgmentOfGod #MonthOfOpenDoors #FullnessOfJoy
