Winter 1996
A Time of Transition
Wade E Taylor

"Behold, I stand at the door ..." Rev 3:20a.

We are approaching a time of change in the Lord's approach to the redeemed. Concerning His coming, the Lord first comes to us. Many already have or are about to experience this. He comes in various forms and ways, that He might make Himself personally known to us.

The problem for most of us is that we have a preconceived idea as to how this should be. Much of the opposition to the present stirring of the Holy Spirit is due to the fact that He is not doing things the way people think He should.

There is a progression in His return. First He comes to us, then within us, after this, He comes for us, and then, with us. To those who are presently being moved upon by His coming to them, He is saying, "There is more, open the door and I will come in-to you."

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any
man 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.

We "open" this door as we respond to the moving power of His presence, say yes to Him, and turn aside to be alone with Him.

The Lord is saying, "If you will invite Me within, I will sup with you in your way; then you are to sup with me as I desire." Thus, our supping with Him may be quite different than we are expecting.

Many of us have been telling the Lord what He should do, why He should do it, and all the tremendous things that would happen, if He would. The Lord is breaking this pattern by doing things that are contrary to our natural thinking.

"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not
many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty,
not many noble, are called.

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the
world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the
things which are mighty ....

That no flesh should glory in His presence"
I Cor 1:26-27,29.
We ourselves are the temple, not the building in which we meet. When Jesus came into the church of that day, He made a whip which He used to drive out the money changers and those making merchandise of the things of God. They were not yielding themselves to the (spiritual) purpose of these things, but were using them for their personal gain.

That which Jesus did in His day to bring correction is presently being furthered by the Holy Spirit in our day. He is doing this to make room within us for His present working, which will culminate in His eternal purpose.

One of the big lessons that we are to learn as a Christian is that we can totally trust the Lord when He comes to us. We must come to really know this and recognize that He knows what He is doing, even though we may not understand.

"Or what man is there of you, whom if his
son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a
serpent?"

"If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your Father which is in heaven
give good things to them that ask
him?" Matthew 7:9-11.

We can trust our lives in His hands.

"And I will give thee the treasures of darkness,
and hidden riches of secret places, that thou
mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee
by thy name, am the God of Israel" Isa 45:3.

There are "treasures" into which we are to enter that do not fit the past patterns we have followed. The Lord seeks to do something deep within us and bring forth these hidden riches, which is our life conformed to His life, and then His life manifested through us.

These things are neither apparent or seemingly desirable. When Peter, James, and John were taken up into the mount by the meek and lowly Jesus of Nazareth, they became eye witnesses of His transfiguration in which His raiment shone as the sun while He conversed with Moses and Elijah.

They had neither perceived nor comprehended who He really was, and what was available to them through Him. The Word tells us that there is also within us that which is not apparent.

"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a
spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to
offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ" 1 Peter 2:5.

This word, "lively stones," is a powerful word. If this were being translated today, the word that would be used would be "atomic radiation." These lively stones are intended to contaminate everything that comes near. Thus, we are called to become "contaminators of a higher order." We are to impart Jesus, who in His resurrection is a "quickening spirit." Our presence should greatly affect others.

While the children of Israel were in the valley going about their every day tasks, Moses was in the Mount waiting in the presence of the Lord. The Lord had said that He knew Moses "face to face."

Moses spent so much time in the presence of the Lord that he became "contaminated" with it. Thus, when the anointing came upon him as he ministered to the people, his face began to glow.

"But if the ministration of death, written and
engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the
children of Israel could not steadfastly behold
the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance;
which glory was to be done away" II Cor 3:7.

Because the people saw the reflection of themselves in this manifested glory, they asked him to put a vail over his face. To a great measure, that vail yet remains and little is seen of His glory.

"How shall not the ministry of the Spirit be
more glorious? II Cor 3:8.

This verse tells us that the glory which we have should be more glorious than that which Moses had. Yet no one today is being asked to vail their face because of the intensity of visible glory.

There is a glory that is available to us, that is yet hidden from us. Time is short and the Lord is seeking to do a greater work. The Lord is looking for an entrance into our lives to bring about a face to face relationship. He is asking us to trust Him, open the door, and let Him come within and possess the land.

Only then will He be able to come FOR and WITH us.