Living in His Presence, Part I
Living in His Presence, Part I
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." (Psalms 91:1,2)
It may be true of most of us that we are pretty much at our ease in America in the present hour. There is food in the markets, Medical assistance is available. We have plenty of entertainment. For many of us there are opportunities to make more money than we actually need.
Our little ones bounce around the house playing with their toys. Our pet animals are well fed. We Christians are not ordinarily persecuted for our belief in the Lord Jesus, although that may be changing.
But I believe the Spirit is telling us in America to prepare ourselves for trouble. This means pressing closer to the Lord Jesus so He is more real to us and present with us than may have been true formerly.
I read somewhere that some of the English people, during Word War Two, carried a metal card in their pocket that had the Ninety-first Psalm engraved on it.
Not a bad idea!
Even better yet is the idea of looking up to the Lord Jesus right now. He is ready to bring us forward in a further step of redemption if we will be obedient.
Heretofore we may have learned about the Lord and worked for the Lord. Things are different now. He wants to draw closer to us. He wants to be in our thoughts, words, and actions to a far greater extent than ever before.
He wants us to say with Paul, "I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live. Yet not I but Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Revelation 3:19-21)
The words above were addressed to the angel of the Church of Laodicea.
It may be true that the seven churches of Asia Minor are chronological to a certain extent, with the first church, Ephesus, representing conditions at the time of the early apostles.
This would means that we of today are in the transition from the Church of Philadelphia to the Church of Laodicea.
"Laodicea" means the "word of the people," that is, "democracy."
We Christians may believe we have need of nothing, but in truth we are "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." We are "lukewarm," being neither "hot" for Christ nor "hot" for Satan.
What is Jesus saying and doing concerning us in our miserable situation?
"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent."
In the present hour, if Christ loves you, you are going to be rebuked and chastened. To my regret I realize that many pastors are telling their congregations that God loves them so much He never would rebuke them of discipline them.
This sort of pastor is a false prophet who is seeking favor with the people.
It is a fact that when we tell the believers in America that they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow the Lamb wherever He goes, some of them will begin looking for another church whose pastor will whisper sweet nothings to them so they will keep coming to church.
Being "earnest" is not in the vocabulary of many American Christians, or in the vocabulary of many of our political leaders. This means being sincere, faithful, and true. Our nation, sad to say, increasingly is becoming cynical. The politicians, the merchants, and sometimes the religious leaders, lie as often as they tell the truth. And most everyone expects this.
The days of George Washington and the cherry tree are over, because the political leaders would blame someone else for things they themselves had done or caused to be done.
What mother of today would want her son to be president, as was true in the days of Washington?
"Repent!" What does that mean? It means to stop what you are doing wrong and seek the strength and Virtue of the Lord Jesus so you can begin to do what is right. Such is the need of the hour!
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock." Jesus is on the outside of the Church of Laodicea. We talk about Jesus quite a bit, but we do not know Him. We do not live in His Presence. We do not ask Him to guide us in all that we do. In short, we do not know Him. He is on the outside of the churches in too many cases.
But He is knocking. If you are one of those He has chosen to be a ruler during the new world of righteousness that is coming, He will knock until you realize something awesome is taking place. If you keep ignoring the knocking you may end up in the hospital, or something worse may take place.
"If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me."
When you realize Christ is knocking, then open your heart to Him. He never will force the door open. You must of your own will open your life to the Lord.
You know, the Christian tradition is that God is building a mansion for us in Heaven. This thought is prevalent in our hymnology and numerous Christian texts.
The concept of "mansions" in Heaven to which the elect go upon their death is due to an unfortunate rendering of John 14:2 (KJV):
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."
Notice the same verse in the New International Version:
"My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?"
Mansions and rooms are not the same thing in today's English!
The New International Version is true to the Greek Text.
The "Father's house" is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. In Him dwells all the Fullness of the Godhead. Christ is the eternal Tabernacle of God.
So the meaning of this venerable verse is that in Christ, who is the Father's House, there are many rooms, many abiding places.
Here is the point. Instead of our going to Heaven as to a mansion, God is coming to us as a dwelling place for Himself.
This accurate understanding of John 14:2 opens to us a whole new understanding of what God is doing in our time.
Now John 3:20 makes more sense and is more pertinent to our thinking.
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
The above tells us of the beginning of the entrance of God into us. And just think! It is taking place now—in our day!
Christ dines on our obedience and worship. We dine on His body and blood.
The sixth chapter of the Gospel of John tells us about eating the flesh of Christ and drinking His blood. From my point of view, not nearly enough attention is paid to this chapter in today's Christian teaching.
We must come to the understanding that eating the flesh of the Lamb and drinking His blood is not primarily a ritual we celebrate in our churches. Eating the flesh of Christ and drinking His blood are the way we are to live.
As we walk in victory, overcoming sin and self-will, we are given the flesh of the Lamb to eat and the blood of the Lamb to drink. Because of the Life and Virtue that are in the Substance of the Lamb, we can continue to overcome sin and self-will.
Also, our first "self" is dying. The new "self" is coming to maturity. The new self is the Kingdom of God, a room in the eternal Tabernacle of God.
The Lamb dines on our obedience and worship. We dine on His body and blood, which are our resurrection life.
Now notice the next verse, Revelation 3:21:
"To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne."
"To the one who is victorious." If we are to inherit any of the promises of Revelation, Chapter Two and Three and Revelation 21:7, we have to live the life of victory in Christ.
We are so backslidden in America we are being taught that no one can overcome sin and must be "saved by grace." The purpose of "grace" is to free us from the Law of Moses. It is not an alternative to growth in Christ!
Such is a tremendous lie. Living the life of victory in Christ is the normal Christian life.
"I will give the right to sit with me on my throne."
Now, where is the Throne of Christ.
We know it is the highest throne of the universe.
And his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:19-21)
The Throne of the victorious Christ is at the right hand of almighty God!
And we, the victorious saints, have been given the right to sit in that Throne with Jesus Christ. Think of it!
"Just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne."
We see that the Lord Jesus is at the right hand of God. Also, Jesus has sat down with the Father on the Father's Throne.
Next Part Kind of confusing!