Abide in the Presence of God
Spiritual Building-Stone No. 174
St. John
15:5-7, “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth
forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in
me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and
cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words
abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
Listen to what Elijah for the Gentiles said about it:
It's your approach. The attitude is what it takes. We are, and believe that we are in the Presence of Jesus Christ, but it's your attitude that brings the results. The mechanics is here and so is the dynamics. If you can just get started, God will do the rest. [1]
I believe the church is begin to hear the message, and beginning to understand. But, friends, listen, we've got to lay in the Presence of the Son; we've got to be ripened. Our faith isn't ripe. Intellectually we're hearing the message that God has give us, and seeing the signs that He showed us, and proving it by the Bible as that; but, oh, how the church needs to lay in His Presence till it tenders up, you know, and gets sweet in the Spirit so that it can bathe down. Sometimes in speaking the message, you get harsh, have to break it in like that, because you've got to clinch a nail to make it hold. But when the church once gets it, the Elected is called out and separated then in the Presence of God, I know it'll be something like the people was there when it takes its rapture. [2]
Now, church,
we're teaching now. But, remember, when you leave here, start moving out of
the shuck now; you're going into the grain; but lay in the Presence of the
Son. Don't add what I've said, don't take away what I've said. Because, I
speak the Truth (John 17:17) as far as I know It, as the Father has given
to me. See? Don't add to It; just say what I said.
The thing of it is, just tell the people to come seek the Lord Jesus (Jer.
29:13-14). And then you yourself lay right in His Presence; just make love
to Him, "O Lord Jesus, Son of God, I love You. Tender my heart, Lord.
Take away all the filth and the love of the world (I John 2:15-17), and let
me live holy in this present world before You." [3]
Lay in the presence of the Son to be ripened. That's exactly. The Word to be ripened into your heart to bring forth and live what we're talking about (Ps. 119:11). Yes, sir. Then you'll have no more doubts, if you let the Holy Spirit reveal it to you. [3]
Why can't the wheat lay out in the Presence of that Son-light and see the hour we're living in?
Pentecost will
only sheltered the message, giving it an open door until it gets scattered,
and then the shuck will pull away, and the wheat will lay in the Presence
of the Son, to ripen.
There won't be any denomination; you just remember. There's never been a revival
but about three years after the revival they start a denomination on it. Is
that right? And this last great miracle move of God in this last days, it's
went twenty years; and it's a million miles from a denomination, going further
away all the time; the shuck's pulling away, no cooperation, no nothing with
it. See? Always it pulls away from it. There can't be no more, it's a wheat
now. But we're plenty green. That's right. Have to lay in the Presence of
the Son to be mellowed up; that's all of it. Plenty green; we haven't got
the sincerity, the sacredness, the thing we ought to have in our midst to
know that the Spirit of the living God, moving in His Word and showing us
the things yet (St. John 16:13). [4]
Once again: The thing that's the matter with the message today is, those who obtain it in their hearts must lay in the presence of the Son to get ripened. See? You can pick up the message, and then let the Son bake all the greenness out of you, make you matured Christians (Hebr. 5:12-14; St. Luke 8:14). You see what I mean? God's coming soon to receive His church, and we must have that type of Christians for Him to receive. The wheat's got to get ripe. All right. [5]
Listen to that
Elijah, the prophet, cry out against them and their theologians. Notice, notice,
he spoke as if he was God Himself. Elijah spoke as if he was God Himself,
"The dew will not fall from heaven until I call for it.” (I Kings
17:1). Amen. Yes, sir. The prophet had been so long in the Presence of God...
The prophets of the Old Testament, or any time, when they lived in the Presence
of God until they become the Word; their Message is the Word Itself. And remember,
he said, "THUS SAITH THE LORD." And when those man had those messages
from God, and they become so wrapped up that their own thinking... It might
have been against their thinking; they might not have been able to see it
right. But they was speaking the Word of God, "THUS SAITH THE LORD."
"There will not be any rain till I call for it." Oh, what a statement.
He had been in the Presence of God and been vindicated so perfect. And remember,
that also follows Amos 3:7, "The Lord God will do nothing until first
He reveals it to His servants the prophets." [6]
And Isaiah remembered
then that his little journey wasn't very much. What did he cry? He knowed,
his gift, he hadn't acted right with it. He was far away. He said, "Lord,
I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among people with unclean lips."
And then the angel. See, it's a dreadful thing. He said, “Woe is me”
(Isaiah 6:5-7).
It's not the thing of blessing, and shouting and screaming. That's good. Now,
remember, I'm not condemning that. But I'm telling you; that's not what I'm
talking about. It's the power and the Presence of God which brings such a
holy fear, until you're paralyzed in His Presence (Dan. 10:7-9). You'll always
remember. You remember it. And Isaiah remembered as long as he lived. I imagine
when the saws was cutting through his body, he still remembered those angels
crying, "Holy, holy, Lord God." Certainly.
Jacob in his last hours could remember those Angels ascending and descending,
and it was such a dreadful thing to him (Gen. 28:12-17). It's not what people
think it is. It's something different. What we need to do is come into His
Presence remembering Him, that He's brought us here not for frolic, but for
service, brought us in here to work for Him. He had something to remember.
[7]
Now, gathered
in heavenly places it also means more than just to be rejoicing. In heavenly
places (Eph. 2:6-7), if you're really assembled in Christ, it's a fearful
thing.
Standing by that Angel of the Lord, you think you'd just be shouting and screaming.
That's not it. It scares you to death nearly. See? So you see, there's a difference
in just rejoicing and bubble dancing (which is all right), and then coming
down to the real thing. See, see? There's where the fear... It's a fearful
thing. Not that you fear that you're lost, but you're really before Angelic
Being and the Holy Ghost Himself standing there. [8]
Them revelations in the presence of that ball of Fire hanging there in the room, till... Oh, brother. Although I've seen It since a child, it... every time It comes near me, It alarms me. He almost puts me in an unconscious condition. You never get used to It. You can't: It's too sacred. [9]
Now, Father,
being that we see across the country, around the world in Africa, dozens and
dozens through South Africa, Mozambique; all across the country little assemblies
taking these tapes, and so will this tape go to twenty some odd different
nations. And they're beginning to see it and pull away, hundreds and hundreds
of them. Won't take many, Lord. And when the last member is received into
the Body, Christ will come.
Lord God, I'm asking the Bride tonight, the ones that I feel has pulled away
and waiting; may they separate themselves from everything of the world (II
Cor. 6:17-18). They must lay in the presence of the warm sunlight of the Son
of God, bathing in His Word and His love. Grant it, dear God. [10]
When I think of Africa, India, and around the world, millions of heathens screaming and crying for mercy, and who will go? Not pass them a tract, but bring them Jesus Christ. Somebody in His Presence, like Moses (Exodus 3:1-10), who could go down there and show them true deliverance, not make them join a church, or shake hands and have a creed, but bring deliverance to their soul; some good godly man. [11]
And I remember the vision of the Lord not long ago. Do you remember me telling it here? The sweetness of the Lord that morning said, "Do not fear whatever, wherever to go, or what, for the never failing Presence of Jesus Christ is with you wherever you go.” (Hebr. 13:5-6). So he can't, Satan can't kill me until God says it's finished. See? He might try it, but he'll never succeed in doing it. [12] But what a privilege it is for us who believe to walk in the Presence of God, every day. [13]
Some good sweet song, real quietly. It brings the Presence of the Holy Ghost into the meeting. [14]
The presence
of the Holy Spirit in this world instead of Jesus being here, proves that
Jesus was righteous and went to the Father. But it also says in John 14:18:
"I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you."
He sent the Comforter. He was the comforter. He came back in Spirit upon the
true church. He is the faithful and true witness in the midst of the church
(Rev. 3:14). But one day He is going to come back in flesh again (Zech. 12:10;
13:6). He will prove then Who is the only wise potentate,--it is He, Jesus
Christ the Lord of Glory. [15]
You've got to
feel so guilty when you stand in His Presence. Whether you go the Methodist
way, or the Baptist way, or whatever way you go, you've got to be so guilty
and feel so guilty till you... It'll kill you. That's right. It'll kill you.
Your worldly life will die right there. You've got to reckon yourself so guilty
in the Presence of God until your worldly life dies right there. The sin question's
over for you when you're standing in His Presence. When you look like that,
you're sure to live, because you die. And the only way you can live again
is: die first so you can live again.
Now, you see what I'm coming to, don't you, what the birth is, the new birth.
First, to die, in order to be born again... (John 12:20-25). And if you still
got the things of the world in you, you're not born again (I John 2:15). And
how you going to claim to be born again (John 3:1-8) and still with the things
of the world hanging on you? See? How can you do it? [16]
(Think about
the sinner woman in St. Luke 7:36-50.) She run in. She got real close to Him,
and she felt so guilty. That's the way a real penitent sinner feels in His
Presence: guilty. [17]
Looked down, and her heart begin to swell up. She knowed she was in His Presence.
There's something happens when you get in His Presence. She noticed the tears
begin to fall off of her cheeks, and she was standing there shaking with this
box in her hand. And she fell down at His feet. And she thought, "I can't
look up. I'm so guilty and dirty, I can't look up." So she started crying;
they begin to fall upon His feet. And she begin to wash them, like that, with
her hands, trying to wipe the tears off of His feet--and washing His feet
with her tears. [18]
I'm recommending Him to every weary person. I'm recommending Him to you that have no hope. You that's never been in His Presence, the only thing you have to do is confess your sins and realize that you're wrong (I John 1:9), and God has that Angel ordained tonight, called the Holy Ghost, that'll take all your sins away. Then you'll cry, "Lord, here am I, send me." I love Him. Don´t you? Living in His Presence.
Psalms 16:8, David said, "I have set the Lord before me." That's a good thing to do. So he could not be confused about it. He wanted to be conscious of His Presence, so David said, "I have set the Lord always before my face. Now I, David, have set the Lord before my face, always to be conscious of God's Presence." Wouldn't that be a good lesson for all of us tonight? Set the Lord before our face so we'll be conscious of His Presence. Put Him first. Why? Put Him first, before you. Why? Then you won't sin when you are realizing that constantly you're in the Presence of God. When you realize God's around, you watch what you say. [11]
How happy we should be living now in His Presence and know that He's this very present Help in time of trouble (Ps. 46:1). [19]
But the hour is come that every kingdom has to give away, because there is a Kingdom of God that's established in the human heart by the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the Presence of Jesus Christ (Luk. 17:20-21, I Cor. 4:20). And Christ will come to His Bride and will set up a Kingdom here on earth that'll never be diminished. How do you get into this Kingdom? You´re borned into it. [20]
Your fellowship's
with Christ; but they wanted a fellowship. They just couldn't stand it. They
wanted to get... well, you know like little cliques will rise up in the church.
You know it, you pastors. See? Like they say, "Birds of a feather..."
But if we're born again brethren, that's not the attitude to take. You see?
No.
Now, if we see something wrong in our brethren, let us just pray and keep
it before God and love that man till we bring him right into the Presence
of God. That's the way, really the way to do it.
You know Jesus said... There will be weeds in there, because Jesus said there
would be, but don't pull them up. You'll take the wheat with it. See? Just
let them alone. Let Him do the segregating when the time comes. See? Let it
all grow together (Matt. 13:24-30). [9]
References:
[1] “Proving His Word“ ( 65-0426), par. 28
[2] “God´s Only Provided Way Of Worship“ (65-1128M), par.
40, 285-286
[3] “Invisible Union Of The Bride“ (65-1125), par. 28-3
[4] “Trying go do God A Service” (65-1127B), par. 317a, 258b-259
[5] “Christ Revealed In His Own Word” (65-0822M), par. 89
[6] “Spiritual Food In Due Season” (65-0718E), par. 61-63
[7] “Remembering The Lord” (63-0122), par. 57b-58
[8] “Questions And Answers On The Seals” (63-0324M), par. 468-3
(78)
[9] “The Fifth Seal” (63-0322), Seal’s-Book pg. 348-349
[10] “Invisible Union Of The Bride” (65-1125), par. 49-2 - 49-3
[11] “In His Presence” (62-0909E), par. 66, 92, 72
[12] “Possessing All Things” (62-0506), par. 9
[13] “Who Do You Say This Is?” (64-1227), par. 156
[14] “Questions And Answers On The Holy Ghost” (59-1219), par.
442/135b
[15] “Laodicean Church Age / Church Age Book”, cpt. 9
[16] “You Must Be Born Again” (61-1231M), par. 69b-70
[17] “Presence Of God Unrecognized” (64-0618), par. 94
[18] “Jesus Keeps All Of His Appointments” (64-0418E), par. 65
[19] “Trying To Do God A Service” (65-0718M), par. 16b
[20] “God´s Provided Place Of Worship” (65-0425), par. 203