"DISTINCTIONS THAT MAKE
A DIFFERENCE"... a chapter from the book, "The Secret of the Stairs"
by Wade E
http://www.wadetaylor.net/
Keeping our
spirit "Poised"
There are threescore queens
My dove, My undefiled is but one. Song of Solomon 6:8a, 9a.
The certainty that all
Christians experience the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit is
absolute. Apart from receiving Jesus as our personal Savior, there are no
conditions to meet. For all who are redeemed, the indwelling presence of
the Holy Spirit 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 personally real within us.
However, our experiencing
the manifest presence of Jesus is conditional. To have the
ability to recognize His manifested presence when He comes to knock on
the door of our spirit, and the capability to rightly respond when He does, is
dependent upon the development of our spiritual sensitivity and the set
of our spirit.
This means that we must
prayerfully keep our spirit poised toward Him, so we will be able to recognize
His presence, when He comes and makes known His desire to fellowship with us.
As our love for Jesus grows,
we will find ourselves expectantly looking forward to these visitations of His
manifest presence. This requires our learning how to open the door of
entrance into our spirit, when the Lord comes to visit with us.
Developing Our Spiritual Senses
In our new birth, we are
spiritually reborn and become a new creation.
Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold,
all things are become new. And all things are of God, Who has reconciled us to
Himself by Jesus Christ. II
Corinthians 5:17-18a.
Our newly created spiritual
senses must be progressively developed, just as our natural senses gradually matured,
as we grew.
There is a natural body,
and there is a spiritual body. I Corinthians 15:44b.
It is through these inner
spiritual senses that we perceive, or recognize the manifest presence of the
Lord.
Behold, I stand at the
door, and knock ... Revelation
3:20a.
The "Room" of Our Spiritual Being
This door is the entrance
into our spirit. Those who truly desire the Lords friendship will
quickly respond to the manifestation of the fact of His presence (knocking),
and invite Him to come within the room of their spiritual being.
This room (chamber) is the area within our inner being where we commune
with the Lord. It is a set apart place where He is alone with us
(our chamber), and where we are alone with Him (His chambers).
As we expectantly invite the Lord to come within our chamber to sup
with us, He will guide us to the stairs that lead upward to His chambers
where we sup with Him. Here, we partake of His life and become one with
Him.
That I may cause those that
love Me to inherit substance; and I will fill
their treasures. Proverbs
8:21.
Now, we are ready to go into
the vineyards, with Him.
The Choice to Open the Door
The Heavenly Bridegroom
attempted to visit His Bride at a time that was inconvenient for her, therefore
she failed to respond. Disappointed, He departed because of her
reluctance to open the door of her chamber to fellowship with
Him. But, all was not lost. Instead, He allowed her to recognize
the essential difference that exists between the gifts and blessings,
which He willingly left behind for her to find, and the tremendous value of His
manifest presence. Jesus longs for us to desire to know Him as a
person, rather than to only know Him for what He provides.
During the time in which the
Bride lived, the latch on the door of entrance into her home was located on the
inside of the door. It could only be unlatched by reaching through a
small hole in the door and unlocking it from within. This provided a
limited means of privacy, security, and protection.
The Lord so intensely
desired to be with His Bride that He reached through this opening in the door
toward the latch, but He did not open it. The door of entrance
to our spiritual chamber is always within our control, and may only be opened
by us. This action by the Lord of reaching toward the Bride deeply
stirred her. Later, she testified concerning this,
My Beloved put in His hand
by the hole of the door, and my bowels (the inner depths of her being) were moved for
Him. Song of Solomon 5:4.
The Consequences of Delay
The Lord will never invade
or violate our privacy. We must open the door; He never will. This
principle is established in Scripture. He will knock, and then stand
there, waiting for us to open the door. But, He will leave if we do not
do so.
If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him. Revelation 3:20b.
When she noticed His hand
reaching toward the latch, as an _expression of His
desire to be with 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 spoke: I sought
Him, but I could not find Him; I called Him, but He gave me no answer. Song of Solomon 5:5‑6.
When she opened the door, He
was no longer there. Because of the delay in her response, He had
reluctantly withdrawn His manifest presence from the door of entrance
into her chamber. However, the anointing, or the result of His presence,
had remained upon the lock. When she touched the lock, this tangible
anointing came onto her hands,
my hands dropped with myrrh, and my
fingers with sweet smelling myrrh. When He departed, He left for her
a handful of the blessings. Previously, she would have been
content to have these blessings, apart from Him, but now, she panicked and
longed for the personal presence of the Bridegroom Himself.
Omni-Presence vs. Manifest Presence
Many are not able to
differentiate between these two aspects of His presence.
First, there is His omni-presence,
which fills heaven and earth, and 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 as a Person, having intellect, will, and emotions. The
Lord is eager to come within our chamber, to personally share Himself with
us in fellowship, and then lead us upward into His chambers, where we
share with Him in the outworking of His purposes. This speaks of a conditional
visitation from the Lord to us, and is referred to as His manifest presence.
The first aspect of His
presence is general, and relates to His redemptive grace.
Do not I fill heaven and
earth? says the Lord. Jeremiah 23:24b.
The second aspect of His
presence is specific, and relates to His person.
He stands behind our wall, He looks forth at the windows, showing Himself through
the lattice.
Song of Solomon
2:9b.
Jesus expresses the
conditions that allow Him to personally manifest Himself to us in the Gospel of
John.
He that has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me: and
he that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will
manifest Myself to him.
Judas
says to Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to
us, and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, If a man love Me,
he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and
We will come to him, and make Our abode with him. John 14:21-23.
An Important "step" for the Bride
The experience of her
failure in responding to the attempted visit of the Bridegroom became a very
important step for the Bride, in learning the secret (a
prompt response to His desire to be with her) that will lead her to the
place of ascent into His chambers. She missed her opportunity to respond
to the manifest presence of the Lord, this time. But she learned through
her disobedience, that she urgently needed to develop an inner spiritual
sensitivity, so she could hear His knocking upon the door of her
chamber. She also learned the importance of quickly responding to His
approaches, regardless of her present circumstances.
I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early (without delay) shall find Me. Proverbs 8:17.
Previously, the Bride had
picturesquely described a characteristic of the Bridegroom - His hesitation in
revealing Himself, because of His sensitivity to being rejected. She had
said,
My Beloved is like a roe or
a young hart.
Song of Solomon
2:9a.
She recognized that His
manifest presence was delicate, and could be easily grieved. Thus, she
should have known that He would leave when she delayed in responding to Him.
We can learn from her
mistake, so we do not become the cause of another disappointment to the
Lord. We must be diligent in seeking to become more perceptive, enabling
us to rightly discern His presence. We need to be attentive in listening
for His knock, and to promptly turn aside from whatever we may be doing, when
He comes to reveal Himself to us. Then, in anticipation, we can invite
Him to come within the chamber of our inner being.
A Second Mistake
After her failure to respond
promptly to His visitation, the Bride made a second mistake. Instead of
asking for His forgiveness, and then waiting for Him to again come, she
departed and returned to her old ways, seeking out others for advice,
concerning the loss of His presence.
The watchmen that went
about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the
walls took away my veil from me. Song of Solomon 5:7.
Again, the ministry turned
on her because of her disobedience. They did not understand the inner
workings that were taking place at this particular time, to bring about
the changes that would enable her to become more responsive to the Lord.
For we
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has
before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10.
The Lord's Inner Working
Unseen to these watchmen,
the Lord was diligently at work, deep within her being. He was enlarging
within her the desire, and the capacity, to maintain an attitude of expectancy
concerning His visits to her. Along with this, He was creating within her
the ability to better respond and move with Him in the outworking of His
purposes, when He came to her in His manifest presence. These watchmen
could only see the surface problem, which was not the true, inner need that was
disturbing her. Therefore, they made her condition worse. There are
times when the Lord alone can help us through difficult circumstances.
The Lord left her in this
condition for awhile. This time, her visit to these watchmen had a
different outcome. Her heart had been captivated by the Lord and she was
earnestly searching for Him, rather than frantically seeking for His blessings,
as in the past. Therefore, she recognized that the Lord was allowing her
to be chastened through the ministry, that she might be inwardly
changed.
For whom the Lord loves He
chastens. Hebrews 12:6a.
Because she now understood
that the Lord works all things together for good, she was able to
maintain a good attitude toward these watchmen. We too should be careful
about giving _expression to our feelings, concerning difficult situations in
which we find ourselves, especially when we know that others may not
understand. If we do express our need irregardless, our spirit may be
damaged and our spiritual perception decreased. It is exceedingly
important that we discipline ourselves in order to maintain the sensitivity of
our spirit to His presence.
Two Different Types of Christians
After this experience with
the watchmen, she turned to those who should have been seeking Him with her,
and said to them,
I charge you, O Daughters
of
There are two different
categories of Christians within the Church. This is clearly demonstrated
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 bore her. The Daughters saw her, and blessed her. Song of Solomon 6:9‑10a.
The first is the Bride,
who can be identified as being The Church within the Church.
This hidden Church within (Bride), first relates to the Lord,
and then through Him, to others. The visible Church (Daughters
of Jerusalem), first relates to others within the church, and through them,
to the Lord.
Capturing His Singular Attention
The Bride has captured the
singular attention and interest of the Bridegroom and said to Him,
Tell me, O You Whom my soul loves, where You feed, where You make Your
flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turns aside by the
flocks of Your companions? Song
of Solomon 1:7.
She is no longer content
with simply enjoying all the blessings of salvation, or with just having a part
in the program of the Church. She is reaching beyond this to the Lord
Himself, and will only be satisfied with a personal relationship with Him.
The second group, the Daughters of Jerusalem, are saved and
have some understanding of the things of God. They attend Church and
become involved, but they are satisfied with being saved, healed, and
blessed. These say to the Bride,
What is your Beloved more
than another beloved, Song
of Solomon 5:9a.
They are saying, We have
gone as far as we are willing to go, we will stay here. Besides, we do
not see why we should go through all those dealings, like you do.
No Longer Satisfied without His Manifest Presence
The Bride was seeking the
Lord because He had withdrawn His manifest presence from her.
She could no longer be satisfied with the Church program, and only fellowship
with those within the Church, as the Daughters of Jerusalem were doing.
Therefore, as she desperately searched for the Lord of the program, she spoke
to the Church visible - portrayed here as The Daughters of
Jerusalem, and said,
I charge you, O Daughters of
The Daughters of Jerusalem (Church
visible) answered her and said,
What is your Beloved more
than another beloved, O you fairest among women? What is your Beloved more than
another beloved, that you do so charge us? Song of Solomon 5:9.
They only saw the benefits
of being a Christian. To them, going to Church represented an obligation,
or duty fulfilled. Also, it provided them with a time for social
fellowship and activities. The thought of entering His chambers for
fellowship and communion with the Lord Himself was far from their minds, or
interest. They 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 we have? We are satisfied and content. We are the Daughters of
Jerusalem (saved), and it is enough. Do not bother us with your
seeking of the Lord, you are trying to be too
spiritual.
They were as those in the
Because you say, I am rich,
and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you are
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Revelation 3:17.
The Bride's Heart Change
But something had happened
within the heart of the Bride. She had been in the garden alone with
Jesus, and experienced the joy and the satisfaction of communion with
Him. Now, she longed for the continuing experience of His personal
presence and friendship. She felt incomplete when she was apart from
Him. When the Daughters of Jerusalem said to her, What is He more
than another, she did not tell them about all the blessings she had
received from Him. Rather, she began to extol 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
This is my Beloved, and
this is my Friend, O Daughters of
The Daughters' Heart Change
She had been spending time
alone with her Beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ, and was able to give an intimate
description of Him. She could clearly describe His Person because she had
a single eye towards Him. She knew Him as an intimate Friend, and could
give clear, authoritative _expression to His beauty and to His desirability.
The Daughters of Jerusalem
had said,
What is your Beloved more
than another beloved, that you do so charge us? Song of Solomon 5:9b.
Due to her personal
knowledge and relationship with Him, the Bride, with heart authority, 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, which is
so needed in our day of special gimmicks and programs that are being used to
build up the Church.
Where is your Beloved gone,
O you fairest among women? where is your Beloved
turned aside? that we may seek Him with you? Song of Solomon 6:1.
Their spirit had been
stirred by the testimony that flowed out as a river from the inner depths of
the Bride, as she gave _expression to her love for Him. She set forth the
Lord Himself in evident view for the Daughters of Jerusalem to behold. In
Acts 1:8 the Lord said, But you shall receive power, after that the Holy
Ghost is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses to Me
... We ourselves are this witness. Only as we become so close to Him
that we can express our love personally to Him, will His beauty then
be reflected through us, for others to behold.
The Value of Time Spent with Him
The enemy of our spiritual
life continually seeks to turn us aside from this, and will try to tell
us: It is selfish to endeavor to become spiritual,
or to spend time waiting on the Lord. Rather, go out and do something for
somebody else. Get so busy working for the Lord that you have no time to
prepare yourself to work with Him.
The enemy knows the power
that can flow through the life of the one who has been alone with the Lord, in
His chambers. He knows the heart cry of those who will eagerly respond
after they witness the beauty of Jesus being expressed through the
life of His Bride.
Where is your Beloved gone
that we may seek Him with you. Song of Solomon 6:1.
We must purposely set apart
time to wait upon the Lord. As we do, we will fall so completely in love
with Jesus and become so like Him, that it will be He that is seen, rather than
us. Then, wherever we go, His presence that abides with us will penetrate
through every hindering bondage and fear, in those who are witnessing the
result of His life in our life. This will bring others to a knowledge of Jesus Christ.
For many are called, but
few are chosen. Matthew
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 from among them, because she has become willing to come apart
and seek Him.
There are threescore queens
... My dove, My undefiled is but one. Song of Solomon 6:8a-9a.
Here again, two different
categories are expressed. The called, and the
chosen. The called includes all Christians. The chosen
refers to those who have pressed on to know the Lord Himself. These
chosen ones have discovered The Secret of the Stairs, and have begun
their upward climb into His chambers, to be with Him.
Do you want to be His Bride?
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 and are willing to only go so far.
They draw a line, and refuse to go further. They say, I will not
become one of those fanatics. They know there is a price to pay in
order to enter His chambers, and they are not willing to pay it.
The Daughters saw her, and
blessed her.
Song of Solomon
6:9b.
They realize that the Bride
has something they do not have. They have enough spiritual capacity to recognize
the Bride, and enough spiritual sense to know they should bless her. They
can only see the Lord through the description that the Bride willingly shares
with them when she, with a glow within her being, says to them, This is my
Beloved, and this is my Friend, O Daughters of
How much better it is to
arise from our bed of indifference to respond to His knocking on the door of
our heart, and then allow Him to guide us upward on the stairs into His
chambers, that we might come to intimately know Him; and then, in the
manifestation of His presence, share together with Him in the outworking of His
purposes.
Now, He can say to us:
Come, My beloved, let us go
forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the
vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear,
and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give you My loves. Song of Solomon 7:11‑12.
And now, we as His Bride,
can respond, knowing we have found that for which we had been searching, our
Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ.