Fall 1987
Important Distinctions That Make a Difference
Wade E Taylor

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: IF ANY man (or woman) hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" Rev 3:20.

The certainty that all Christians have the "abiding presence" of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them is absolute. There are no conditions to meet, apart from receiving Jesus as Saviour. For all who are redeemed, this is a reality that can be depended upon. The Holy Spirit is always faithful in His ministry of maintaining our redemption, and of making Jesus known to us and very real within us.

However, the possibility of having the "manifest presence" of the Lord revealed to us is conditional. For this experience to become a part of our spiritual life, we must be able to recognize His presence, and then be willing to turn aside from all activity in order to wait upon Him.

This ability to recognize His manifest presence, and to be able to rightly respond to it is dependent upon the development of our spiritual sensitivity and upon our obedience in turning aside in response to His presence whenever He desires to visit us.

We must learn how to open the "door" of our being to Him when He personally comes and seeks to reveal His presence to us. This means that those who desire to have this experience of intimate communion with Him must respond to any indication of His manifest presence, and then promptly turn aside from whatever they are involved in, and acknowledge His presence by inviting Him to come within the room of their spiritual life and activity.

In the Song of Solomon, the Lord purposely made an attempt to visit His bride at a time when it was not convenient for her to respond, and she failed he test. This exposed her spiritual need, and caused her to see what her interests truly were. Through this, He was able to teach her concerning the value and the purpose of His "manifest presence."

When He came and knocked on the door of her heart in order to accomplish all of this, she heard His knock and acknowledged it; "I sleep, but my heart waketh. It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled" SS 5:2a.

She was comfortably resting in bed and made an excuse as to why she could not respond. "I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?" SS 5:3. Reluctantly, He departed because of her failure to open the door of her spiritual life to Him, even though her excuse was reasonable.

During the time in which the bride lived, the latch on the door of entrance into a home was located on the inside of the door. It could only be unlatched by reaching through a small hole in the door and unlatching it from within. This provided a limited means of security and protection from wild animals.

The Lord had such a desire to visit with His bride that He reached through this opening in the door towards the latch, but He did not open it as the door of our heart is always in our control, and can only be opened by us. This action by the Lord deeply stirred the bride towards Him. Later, she testified concerning this, "My beloved put in His hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for Him" SS 5:4.

The Lord will never invade or violate our privacy. We must open the door, He never will. This principle is established in Scripture. "IF any man HEAR my voice, AND OPEN the door, I will come in to him" Rev 3:20b. An action is required on our part before He will manifest, or reveal His presence to us.

When she noticed that His hand was reaching toward the latch as an expression of His desire towards her, she (finally) responded and opened the door to Him. "I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer" SS 5:5-6.

Now, He will allow her to experience the essential difference between the gifts and the blessings that He is able to leave behind for her to find, and the tremendous value of His "manifest presence." He longs for us to come into the understanding of knowing Him as a person, rather than allowing us to continue knowing Him solely for all of the things that He can provide.

He had reluctantly withdrawn His "manifest presence" from the door of entrance into her spiritual life. However, the anointing or the result of His presence had remained upon the lock. When she touched the lock, all of this anointing came onto her hands. She had a handful of the gifts and blessings that He left for her when He departed. Previously, she would have been content to have these apart from Him, but now she panicked and longed for the personal presence of the Bridegroom Himself.

Many are not able to differentiate between these two different aspects of His presence:

First, there is the general sense of His divine presence that relates to our salvation and to its outworking within our lives. This speaks of the unconditional "abiding presence" of the Holy Spirit within us.

Second, there is the coming of the Lord to us in order to personally reveal Himself to us, and to share Himself with us in fellowship. This speaks of a conditional visitation from the Lord, and is referred to as His "manifest presence."

The first aspect of His presence is general, and relates to His enabling grace and power. "Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord" Jer 23:24B. The second aspect of His presence is specific and personal, and relates to His person. "He standeth behind our wall, He looketh forth at the windows, shewing Himself through the lattice: SS 2:9b.

Previously, the bride had vividly expressed a characteristic of the Bridegroom; the sensitiveness of His "manifest presence." She had said, "My beloved is like a roe or a young heart" SS 2:9a. She knew that His manifest presence was delicate, and that it could be easily grieved. Therefore, she should have known that He would leave when she delayed her response to Him.

"I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had widthdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when He spake: I sought Him, but I could not find Him: I called Him, but He gave me no answer" SS 5:6.

We should carefully consider these things, and then learn from her mistake. We must be diligent in becoming increasingly more perceptive than we are in discerning His presence. Whenever He comes to reveal Himself to us, we should promptly acknowledge His presence. Then, we should turn aside from whatever we are involved in and, in a spirit of anticipation, invite Him to come within the room of our spiritual being.

After she realized that He was gone, she turned to those who should have been seeking Him with her, and said to them, "I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love" SS 5:8.

There are two different categories of Christians within the Church. This is clearly brought out in the Song of Solomon. "My dove, my undefiled is but one: she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her" SS 6:9-10a.

The first group is the "Bride." The bride has captured the singular attention and interest of the Bridegroom. She had said to the Lord, "Tell me, O thou whom my soul lovest, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?" SS 1:7. She seeks to go beyond others to the Lord Himself.

The second group are the daughters of Jerusalem. These are saved and have some understanding of the things of God. They regularly attend Church and become involved to a certain extent. Their testimony is quite different: "What is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?" SS 5:9b. They are saying, we have gone far enough, we will stay here. Besides, we do not see why we need to go through all these dealings."

The Lord had withdrawn His "manifest presence" from the bride. However, she was not satisfied with the Church program, apart from the presence of the Lord of the program. Therefore, she spoke to the Church visible, portrayed here as the daughters of Jerusalem, and said to them, "I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love" SS 5:8.

The daughters of Jerusalem answered her and said, "What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?" SS 5:9.

They only saw the benefits of being a Christian. To them, going to Church represented the doing of their "duty." Also, it provided them with a time for social fellowship and activities. The thought of fellowship and communion with the Lord Himself was far from their minds, or interest.

The daughters of Jerusalem could only say to the bride, "What is He more than a good job, a nice home, or security? What is He more than all of the good things that we have? We are satisfied and content. We ARE the daughters of Jerusalem, and it is enough; do not bother us with your seeking of the Lord. Besides, you are trying to be too spiritual."

But something had happened within the being of the bride. She had experienced the joy and the satisfaction of communion with Him. She had been within the "garden enclosed" with Him. Now, she longed for the continuing experience of His personal presence, and felt incomplete when she was apart from Him.

When the daughters of Jerusalem said to the bride, "What is He more than another," she did not tell them about all of the blessings that she had received from Him. Rather, she began to tell them about the Bridegroom Himself.

"My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: His lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: His belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet: yea, He is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem" SS 5:10-16.

She gave an intimate, personal description of her beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. She was able to clearly describe His Person because she had been spending time alone with Him, and had a single eye towards Him, alone. She knew him, and could give clear expression to His beauty and desirability.

The daughters of Jerusalem had said, "What is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?" The bride exalted the Lord Jesus and set Him forth as the answer to the inner cry of every heart. This brought a response from the daughters of Jerusalem that is so needed in our day of special gimmicks and programs to build up the Church. "Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee?" SS 6:1.

Their hearts were stirred by the testimony that flowed up out of her being as she expressed her love for Him. The bride set forth the Lord Himself in evident view for the daughters of Jerusalem to behold.

In Acts 1:8 the Lord said, "But ye shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be WITNESSES UNTO ME ...". As we set our gaze upon Him and "witness unto Him," His beauty is reflected through us for others to behold.

The enemy of our spiritual life will seek to turn us aside from this, and will try to deceive us by telling us: "Do not spend time waiting on the Lord. It is selfish to seek to become personally spiritual. Do not waste your time alone in fellowship with Jesus. Rather, go out and do something for somebody else. Get so busy working for the Lord that you have no time to meet with the Lord in your own devotional life." The enemy knows the power that can flow through the life of one who has been alone with the Lord in His chambers. He knows the heart cry of those who will eagerly respond when they witness the beauty of Jesus being expressed through the life of His bride, who truly knows Him.

We must be willing to set apart time to wait upon Him in His presence, whenever He comes to us for this purpose. As we do this, we will fall so completely in love with Jesus that we will be changed and become like Him. Then, it will be He that is seen rather than us.

Then wherever we go, the result of this "manifest presence," that we have experienced in times of intimate communion with Him, will cut through every bondage and every fear in those who are witnessing the result of our life in His. This will bring others to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. "Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek Him with thee" SS 6:1.

"For many are called, but few are chosen" Matt 22:14. The "many" refers to the daughters of Jerusalem. The "few" refers to the bride. Another way to say this is: "The daughters of Jerusalem are called, but a bride is being chosen out from among them because she is willing to respond to His presence and to come apart and seek Him".

Here again, two different categories are expressed. The called, and the chosen. The "called" includes all Christians. The "chosen" refers those who are pressing on to know the Lord Himself, and are obediently turning aside to spend time with Him alone, even when it is not convenient for them to do so.

The Lord is calling a bride out from among those who are still saying, "I have gone to bed, how shall I get up?" These "daughters of Jerusalem" know the voice of the Lord to a degree, but they are not committed. They have a limited involvement in the Church, but are willing to go only so far and then draw a line and refuse to go further. They say, "I will not become one of those fanatics." The price for going on to truly know His manifest presence is very high, and they are not willing to pay this price.

"The daughters saw her, and blessed her" SS 6:9b. The daughters of Jerusalem have enough spiritual capacity that they can see the bride, and enough spiritual sense to know that they should bless her. However, they can only know the Lord through the description that the bride gives to them when she, with a glow within her being says to them, "This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem."

How much better, that we should arise from our bed of indifference and respond to His knocking on the door of our heart and invite Him to come within. Those who do this will never again be content with merely knowing about Him through the knowledge of His omnipresence within the Church.

These will be progressively drawn upward into the place where they will come to truly and intimately know Him through the ongoing revelation of His manifest presence.