The Presence of the Lord

“Do not cast me from Your presence, and do not take the Spirit of Your holiness away from me.” (Psa. 51:11)

The Spirit is the presence of the Triune God. John 14:17 says, “Even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you.” God’s presence is actually the Spirit. When the Spirit is away, God’s presence also is gone. If we have the Lord’s presence, we have wisdom, insight, foresight and the inner knowledge concerning things. The Lord’s presence is everything to us. If we lose God’s presence, we lose everything.

As the people of God, we should always be one with our God, who is not only among us but also in us, making us men with God—God-men. We should also practice being one with the Lord, walking with Him, living with Him and having entire being with Him.

In our daily experience, sometime we may say, "What about today? What shall we do—wait for that kind of person to come?" No, do not wait. Our waiting does not avail. We should just walk in the presence of the Lord and let the Lord do it. As Charles Wesley said in one of his hymns, "'Tis mercy all!" Yes, it is altogether a matter of God's mercy. Forget about our background, our situation, or what may happen in the future. We simply need to trust in the Lord's sovereign mercy. If we have a heart for Him and for His people, He will work everything out. He will give us the full enjoyment of the birthright of Christ. This is the way to walk as a Christian, to fight as a child of God and to build up the Body of Christ.

By abiding in the vine, we enjoy the presence of the Lord.

How to abide in the vine? (John 15:5)

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A L L I N G	R A Y | R E A D I N G	E P E N T I N G		E A D I N G	R A Y I N G	E E T I N G

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Scriptural base & additional references

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1)      Psalm 51:11 Do not cast me from Your presence, and do not take the Spirit of Your holiness away from me.

2)      Joshua 7:4  So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but they fled before the men of Ai. (Footnote)

3)      John 14:17  Even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you.

4)     1 Corinthians 7:40   But she is more blessed if she so remains, according to my opinion; but I think that I also have the Spirit of God.

5)      Hebrews 1:9   You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of exultant joy above Your partners”;

6)  Isaiah 11:2   And the Spirit of Jehovah will rest upon Him, / The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, / The Spirit of counsel and might, / The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah.

7)      Isaiah 11:3   He will delight in the fear of Jehovah: / He will neither judge by what His eyes see, / Nor decide by what His ears hear.

8)      The King's Antecedents and Status, ch. 3

O Lord, I want to dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life!

“One thing I have asked from Jehovah;/ That do I seek:/ To dwell in the house of Jehovah/ All the days of my life. / To behold the beauty of Jehovah,/ And to inquire in His temple” (Psa. 27:4)

In Psalm 1 the psalmist appreciated the law to the uttermost, but in Psalm 27 he no longer appreciated the law. Instead, he appreciated dwelling in the house of God to behold God's loveliness. He desired to dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of his life (v. 4). This is to enjoy God, not the law, in God's house. We can see that at times the psalmist was with the group of Cain in the line of the knowledge of good and evil, but at other times God turned him to be with the group of Abel in the line of life.

The temple of God is the only thing the Old Testament seeking ones were after. Their feelings, their affections, and their appreciation were for God’s house. Our God is a lovable person with a lovely dwelling place; God Himself is enjoyable, and His dwelling place is also enjoyable. When we are beholding God’s beauty, we are in a very pleasant, delight and lovely atmosphere. 2 Cor. 3:18 says that we can have an unveiled face to behold the glorious face of the Lord in glory. In our time with the Lord in the morning, it is best to have short prayers with a number of “selahs” so that we can behold the Lord, look at the Lord.

The Psalmist also inquired of God in His temple, this means that we can check with God about everything in our daily life. We all must desire to dwell in the house of God, in Christ, in the local churches to behold God’s beauty. 

        Seek ye first the kingdom of God

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIiVy8ewa68&feature=related

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Scriptural base & additional references

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1)      Psalm 27:4  One thing I have asked from Jehovah; That do I seek: To dwell in the

  house of Jehovah All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of Jehovah,

  And to inquire in His temple.

2)      2 Cor. 3:18  But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the

  glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory

  to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.

3)      Life-Study of Psalms, Ch. 1, 8

4)      Christ and the Church Revealed and Typified in the Psalms, ch. 6

5)      The Vision of God's Building, ch. 12

Our praises to the king, the queen and the children, we would obtain beauty in the King's eyes

Psalm 45:9 says, ‘The daughters of kings are among Your most prized;’ We are all the kings' daughters. As those born of the King, we-the believers, have a royal and honorable status. Our conducting ourselves according to that status is a glory to Christ (Eph. 4:1; 2 Thes. 1:11-12). We were poor sinners, but now we are royal, we are kingly.

We should not be proud, but we must all realize that we are kingly and honorable. When we walk on the street, do people sense something honorable about us? We should not forget we are kings' daughters and the most prized. This is praise about us, but it is praise to Christ. If others say, "Look at those poor Christians, what miserable beggars they are!" that is a shame to Christ. However, when people recognize or sense in us something of our royal and honorable estate, though they may not agree with us, that is a real glory to Christ.

Verse 9 also tells us that we are the church, we are all one queen, a corporate body, and now is at His right hand. The praise here is about the queen, but it goes to the King. For example, Brothers, if you have your dear wife standing at your side, and someone speaks commendably of her, you will feel happy. The praise is about your dear wife, but it goes to you. Every time we speak well of the church, Christ in heaven is made glad. When we say, "Praise the Lord for the church in Ontario in Eastvale District", our Lord is well pleased. Whenever we speak well of the local churches, it is a kind of praise to Christ. Our praises must be not only about Christ, but many times about the queen, about the churches.

In verse 10-11, we can find that sometimes even the instructions given to the local churches are the same as praises in the ears of Christ. The proper instructions given to the church make the church more really the church; therefore these too are praises.  All the local churches must learn how to hear and how to forget, how to hear the Spirit's living, up-to-date speaking, and how to forget the past - the old relationships, the old ways, the old background.

The more we forget the past, the more beautiful we become in His eyes. Hallelujah! If we would leave all the past and go on with the Lord in a new way, we would obtain beauty in the King's eyes.

http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/1098

Out of the local churches
  Shall praises make Thee glad,
And praises upon praises
  Thy joyful saints shall add.
                                                   (Stanza 5)

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Scriptural base & additional references

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1)      Psalm 45:9   The daughters of kings are among Your most prized; / The queen stands at

Your right hand in the gold of Ophir.

10   Hear, O daughter, and see;  and incline your ear; / And forget your people

and your father’s house;

11  Thus the King will desire your beauty. / Because He is your Lord, / Worship Him.

2) Christ and the Church Revealed and Typified in the Psalms, ch. 7

How Beautiful is the Queen in Psalm 45

In Psalm 45 the queen has two garments. The 1st garment is the gold of Ophir, the woven work inwrought with gold - Christ as our objective righteousness, which is for our salvation. The 2nd garment is the embroidered clothing - Christ lived out of us as our subjective righteousness, which are for our victory. O, how beautiful!!!

http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/1099
The Queen in Gold of Ophir