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OUR ACCESS INTO THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Hebrews 10:19 - 22; 1 Corinthians 12:13; 2 Timothy 2:19 - 22

As we proceed I shall want to read more scriptures, but I have read these first because they tell us of the great privilege we have and which belongs to all who believe in the Lord Jesus and have received the Holy Spirit. We have access into the very presence of God. We have a nearer place to God than any other creature could have, nearer even than angels. The Lord Jesus said to His Father, "I desire that where I am they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory". Our place will be with Jesus for ever in the very presence of His Father and God. No angel has a place like that; none draw near to God like we can, nor any other family of men nor God's earthly people. We are a heavenly people. The apostle says, "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling", Hebrews 3:1. We are heavenly, and the nearest place we could have to God is to be with Jesus where He is.

That is what the apostle means when he says, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness for entering into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus". In Old Testament times nobody could enter the holy of holies except Moses, who could go in at any time, and Aaron who could go in once a year; but we can go in every day, many times a day, we have boldness by the blood of Jesus. God wants us to enter His presence morning, noon and night, to be with Jesus

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in our spirits, and soon our bodies too. We shall soon have bodies like His body of glory, but now God wants us to draw near. The blood of Jesus has made the way to go in through the veil, His flesh. No one but a Christian can go through the veil. How Jesus has loved us and died for our sins! He was made sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, and to open up the new and living way whereby we can draw near to God now. When we come to Jesus where He is, we find ourselves in the presence of God. We come to Jesus glorified and we see God's glory shining out, God fully made known, in Jesus. Boys and girls who have received the Holy Spirit through believing in Jesus can come into the presence of God. Our right to be there is because Jesus is there. Nothing we could do could give us that place. It is what He has done. Let us approach with a true heart. The youngest believer can have a true heart and full assurance of faith -- full confidence in Jesus and His finished work.

The more we go into the presence of God and enjoy our place with Jesus, the more we shall desire to please Him here. We should walk down here as those who belong inside the veil.

If we want to please the Lord Jesus down here we have to remember we belong to the one universal -- all over the world -- church. The Bible only speaks of one church. People sometimes say. 'What church do you belong to?' But we belong to the one church, or we are not Christians at all. Men speak of the Baptist church etc., but they have no right to call these systems of men churches. They are only human organisations. The Bible speaks of one church only, composed of all who have believed in the Lord Jesus

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and have been baptised into one body by the Holy Spirit.

God has given us the Holy Spirit and thus we become members of the one body on earth, all over the earth. God has made us members. We do not become members by applying to men for membership as in human organisations. Every believer in this room who has the Holy Spirit belongs to the church. It does not matter what nation we belong to. "In the power of one Spirit we have all been baptised into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bondmen or free, and have all been given to drink of one Spirit", 1 Corinthians 12:13. If we belong to that church we ought not to belong to any human organisation. Every member of the true church should come out of those organisations and be separate. We cannot enjoy our membership of the one true church if we are not separate. So the word in 2 Corinthians 6:17 is: "Come out from the midst of them, and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not what is unclean, and I will receive you; and I will be to you for a Father, and ye shall be to me for sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty". God says there that He will dwell among us and walk among us and He shall be our God and we His People -- 2 Corinthians 6:16. The true church on earth is the dwelling place of God who dwells among us and walks among us. What a favour to have God in our midst!

Because we belong to this one universal -- or all over the world -- church, Christians should meet together as walking in the light of this in every place; so that, in every city or place there would be an expression of the one church. That would mean that in every place we would all be saying the same thing.

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Corinthians tells us how every local church should behave so as to be in accord with the whole church on earth; so that, while the church is formed of that one universal body, yet Paul says, "Now ye are Christ's body, and members in particular", 1 Corinthians 12:27. In that city they were an expression of the body of Christ. Whether we live in Singapore, London or Sydney, we are members of the same body and we should all be thinking in the same manner, and worshipping in the same manner. The body of Christ is the same everywhere for the one Spirit will lead us to think alike, walk alike, speak alike, and worship alike.

In the beginning everyone knew there was only one church, for all were led by the same Spirit so that all were acting alike, so that if we went among the Christians, we would have seen the body of Christ functioning on earth. But now men have brought in all kinds of organisations. That is why we are living in difficult days. True Christians are scattered about in human organisations where men tell them what to do. They listen to and obey men rather than the Lord. The first point at the present time for those who love the Lord Jesus is to say, 'We are not going to obey men, we are going to obey the Lord'. The whole of 1 Corinthians is the Lord's commandment -- see 1 Corinthians 14:37. So the Lord would appeal to us, telling us about the one body and one Spirit. His commandment is that we should act as members of that one body and be guided entirely by that one Spirit.

So we find in 2 Timothy that the Holy Spirit, through Paul, tells us what to do in a difficult day. Although difficult, God has made our path very clear.

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2 Timothy 2:19: "Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity". All the organisations that men call churches have man-made rules and have set aside the Lord's commandment. Men have taken the place of the Holy Spirit and have forced their own teaching on men in place of the holy scriptures and the Holy Spirit's teaching. The only thing a faithful soul can do is to withdraw from iniquity. We must be free from these things if we are to understand and get the gain of the Holy Spirit who is here to guide us into all the truth, and the full gain of the word of God.

2 Timothy 2:20 and 21 show us that we not only have to withdraw from iniquity but from those who refuse to separate. The Lord knows those that are His. Not one will be lost. When He comes the church complete will be raptured. Only thus do we become really "serviceable to the Master, prepared for every good work". "Every good work" is a full thought reaching out to what is Godward, saintward and manward. The worship of God is the greatest good work that we can do. The Lord Jesus said of the woman who anointed His head, "She has wrought a good work as to me", Mark 14:6. Our first and most important good work is to worship Jesus and worship God. Jesus must be supreme in our hearts, then we shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, and God in His greatness and majesty. The second is to serve the saints. As members of Christ's body we shall always be seeking the good of the other members. Then the third good work is to do good to all men and to preach the gospel.

If we withdraw from iniquity and separate from

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everything dishonouring to the Lord, we shall be able to meet together as at the beginning. The Holy Spirit will be free and we shall be able to do all these good works. If we do not, the Spirit will be grieved and the first thing that will suffer will be the worship of God. And how can we lead others into the truth if we are not in the good of the truth ourselves? The most we could preach is the forgiveness of sins. How many around us belong to Jesus, yet the only good work they know about is to seek to save souls for eternity? They cannot help them as regards the true knowledge of God. We would like to do every good work; the worship of God, helping the saints, and preaching the gospel that men may come into the truth of the one body as well as go to heaven when they die; so that God may have a present portion, an inheritance all over the earth now.

The Lord would encourage us to be faithful to Him so that in every place we should be thinking and saying the same thing and worshipping in the same way. We should all be saying that women should be silent in the assembly; we should all be saying that women should be covered. This is all part of the Lord's commandment -- 1 Corinthians 14:37. God has restored in these last days the truth of the universal fellowship, so that we can go to places all over the earth where there are souls seeking to live in accordance with the Lord's commandments. In whatever place they are they think and say the same thing because they are led by the same Spirit and obey the same Lord. The Lord would say to us in these last days, "Hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown", Revelation 3:11. He is coming quickly and He wants us to be doing what He desires when He

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comes, as those that wait for their Lord.

Note: In modern English the word 'universal' usually means 'all over the earth'. It is seldom used to mean 'all over the universe'. Also the expression used above -- 'universal fellowship' -- is not intended to mean a fellowship exclusive to a certain set of Christians; for all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who have the Spirit belong to it. They are thus members of the one body of Christ -- though scattered all over the world -- and they have been called into the fellowship of God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord; see 1 Corinthians 1:9. Have we all understood and consciously answered that divine call?

Singapore -- 4th June, 1959, G. R. Cowell, Address, Haddad Books, Divine Provision, 11: 23 - 28