The Lord's Visits to His People

At 4:00 o’clock this morning, the Lord awakened me with a very intense presence. As a result, instead of speaking what I had planned, I will share along the line of the Lord’s visit, as I feel the Lord would very much like to visit us. “But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that You are mindful of him? Or the son of man, that You visit him?” Hebrews 2:6 It is very obvious that there is such a thing as the Lord visiting His people. “What is man that You are mindful of him?” – or, “that You even think of him?” Naturally, we can have different ideas about the Lord’s visit, and I will mention a few of them, then we will bear down on one particular line of truth. In I Samuel 2:21, we have the statement: “And the Lord visited Hannah.” She received from the Lord the answer to her prayer, after all natural possibilities failed. She cried to the Lord for her need (that can be any need), and in response to her intercession – the Lord responded. This response is clothed in the term ‘visited.’ “And the Lord visited Hannah.” In other words, the Lord visits us, so to speak, in answer to earnest prayer. This would apply to any legitimate need. Again in Zephaniah 2:7, “For the Lord their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.” Are any of you in ‘confinement’ - the confinement of circumstances or environment, or spiritual bondage, having no freedom in the Lord? Well, “The Lord their God shall visit them.” A number of years ago on one particular Sunday morning, the Lord bore down on liberating us from our bondage. For a long time we called that day: “Liberation Day.” We became very free in the Lord. Some were set so free from their timidity, that in this particular service we had two lines of students waiting to get to the mike. The lines on either side reached back more than halfway, the fellows here and the girls there. I had to sit and say, “you are next.” Among them was a timid girl, and did she let go. It was one of those days in which the Lord came to liberate from bondage. He might do this again, and I am not trying to reconstruct anything. If you have any friend that loves to visit you, that friend would desire to visit again. If I know anything about the Lord, He likes to do it again. Did you ever get an unexpected visitor? I do not like their coming unexpected at 10:00 o’clock at night. But I do not mind the Lord doing this. “And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And He delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all; and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and that God has visited His people.” Luke 7:15-16 I would simply say that this was a visitation of God in the supernatural manifestation of His power. One that was dead, sat up, and began to speak. I do not know what he said, but if I were dead and sat up, I think the first thing I would say is, “Hi.” Here, the Lord visited His people in a supernatural power that raised the dead and manifested His power in meeting their needs and glorifying God. God still visits His people in supernatural ways. “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.” John 14:21 This speaks of a visit from the Lord in a personal way. If you make a search of this word “manifest,” you will be surprised at what you find. I have not memorized the translation of this word, but I know it reads like this: “I will reveal myself to him; I will make myself known to him; I will show myself to him.” The Pulpit Commentary will tell you that this word “manifest” in the Greek is so strong that it means nothing less than to make apparent to our natural senses. It is so strong that it means nothing less than the Lord making Himself known to those who qualify - the qualification being love and obedience. This is not the kind of love when couples sit on a bench and hold hands. It is the love that results in obedience, and to these the Lord has promised to visit in a manner perceivable by their natural senses. He made it as strong as He could to let us know that there is such a thing as a personal visit from a personal Christ. I want to deal with attitudes, which are of tremendous importance. We can hold certain attitudes toward things, but here it is toward the Lord’s visit. Suppose John and Myra lived 500 miles away, and wife would say when I came home, “Daddy, you know we received a letter from John and Myra. They are going to be here next week.” I would not say, “Oh, them again?” How do we feel toward a visit from the Lord? How would you feel, if the Lord paid us a visit this week? A visit from the Lord cannot be manufactured, but can be hungered for and received. When we have an attitude of desire, of yearning for His visit, the Lord will say, “I was going to go there, but over here, they are so expecting Me that I am going to visit them instead.” Would you go where you are not appreciated, or wanted? I would go where I am wanted the most. One of our graduates recently said, “Brother Beuttler, I want you to come for a weekend.” I said, “I do not think there is one left. I will see if I can shift something.” So I did. He said, “You know Brother Beuttler, I remember what you said in class about preachers asking you to come, but they really do not want you.” They say, “Come to my church sometime when you have time.” He said, “I knew you would not come. I told you once to come and visit me, but I knew you would not come, so I am here to tell you I really want you to visit us.” So I said, “Okay, I will come.” I never will forget one of our preachers in Council Meeting. He came to me in a casual manner and said, “Well Brother Beuttler, I suppose you are all booked up for the year.” “No, I am not. When would you like me to visit you?” He responded, “I will let you know.” That was almost three years ago. The Lord does not respond to that kind of an attitude. If you really desire His visit, He will make room on His calendar for you. You only need to convince Him that you want Him. The other day, toward the end of a class, there was something building up and I was right in the middle of something. I knew where I was going, and I also knew that when I finished, the Lord would give us a word. The bell rang, and they were beginning to pack up. So the Lord said, “you could have had something, but you are more interested in something else. Go right along.” Then they sat there, all still as if to say, “Oh we’ll wait.” But it was too late, as there were other interests that had priority. If you will give Him priority, He will give priority to you. Did you hear that? You give Him priority, and He will give priority to you. There are some attitudes that I would like to draw your attention to. One of them is in Mark 5:17: “And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.” The Lord had cast out some spirits, and they went into a herd of swine. They went into the lake and drowned. Then the people said, “Lord, please depart, we do not that.” In this particular instance, the Lord was unwanted. “Yes, we want the Lord to visit us, if He will come in a way that we want.” He came in supernatural power, and they did not desire the results of His working. They were more sorry for having lost those pigs than they were glad that one man had been delivered. They were more sorry about an economic loss than they were glad about a spiritual gain. In other words: They attached more value in this herd of swine than in one human being. So He went. “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord does come.” Matthew 24:40-42 Here, the Lord came unexpectedly. What was their attitude? It may have been one of indifference. Two women seemingly were doing the same thing, but one of them was taken. This brings back to my mind the scene in India where I watched two ladies in a home that was made of cow manure. They were sitting on the floor grinding at the wheels, making their flour early in the morning. I thought to myself, One shall be taken and the other left. They were both occupied, but one of them was not only occupied, she was preoccupied. I think that this is the difference because the Lord said, “Occupy until I come.” There is a difference between occupying and being preoccupied. When we are preoccupied, the work dominates us, like children at play. Norma was playing with the boys, and Mother calls, “Norma.” No answer. “Norma” louder. No answer. “Norma” even louder. Norma finally says, “did you call?” Well sure I did. Haven’t you heard?” “Just now,” she answered. They were so absorbed, that they were all but dead. We can be preoccupied, and He came unexpectedly. The Lord does not gear Himself to our schedules. Our part is to notice and respond. Our 1951 revival started before the semester change, which brought a cessation to activities. We had to have our tests, and then go home for a long weekend. We wondered, what will happen when they return? It continued after they got back. We would have never chosen a revival right over a semester change, but the Lord did. “Why?” is His business. I do not ask, “Why,” I simply respond. Does the Lord ever take you by surprise? We can have one of the driest days in school, when it is even hard to breathe, spiritually. We have those days, and yet the Lord suddenly appeared on the scene and moved in. Do not put it past Him to come unexpected. I have seen visitations of the Lord start, not when special evangelist is in the pulpit, but rather, when an ordinary person is there, who can hardly speak. We have had some surprises here, as the manifest presence of the Lord came. He does this to show us that “it is not by might, nor by power, not by this one, not by that one, but it is the Lord Himself.” Two will be doing an assignment, the one shall be visited, and the other one not. This happened to me while in Bible school. I had a roommate with no interest in the things of God. He was good and I liked him as a roommate. One year, I even asked that he be my roommate. But his interests were not where my interests were. One evening I was sitting next to him at the table, and something stole over my soul – the presence of the Lord. I said, “John, I do not know what it is, but something is going on.” He said, “I feel nothing.” Then we heard something in the washroom. I went out and saw two fellows around each other’s neck weeping and laughing at the same time (you know that strange mixture), under the power of God. Then the flames came out of the girl’s dormitory. I do not mean fire, but the fire of the Spirit. For three days, we had such a visitation of the divine presence that we walked tiptoed. We talked in whispers in the dining room. I have often thought and have said once or twice, “You can measure the spiritual level of a Bible school by the noise in the dining room.” When there is a move of the manifest presence of the Lord, things change in the dining room. It was totally unexpected - in the evening. “Watch therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord does come.” I am not speaking about the Second Coming of Christ, but of the Lord’s visit. “Well Brother Beuttler, what gives you the idea that He will visit us?” I did not select this message, as I had something else. But the Lord came and directed me to this message. He does not speak this way to tantalize us, as that would be cruel. When I was a boy, I tied a frankfurter on a string when my dog, Peter was under the table. I would let the frankfurter down on the string in front of his mouth. When he went after it, I would quickly pull it up, until the poor fellow actually drooled. Then I would take the frankfurter and eat it myself. The Lord had said to me, “You talk about this, as I want to see how they feel about it, as though you were writing to a person that you were not altogether sure of.” I have done this several times - “You might be interested to know that I am passing through Australia at such and such a time.” I wrote that just recently because the party told me to write them sometime. I will wait and see what I get by way of reply, such as: Dear Brother Beuttler, “We were glad to receive your letter and I trust that you will find time in your schedule to pay us a visit.” Then, I will make time. But if they write: Dear Brother Beuttler, “Glad to receive your letter. It is nice to hear that you are passing this way again. The Lord give you a really nice trip.” I would pass right by and say nothing. It is as if the Lord wrote to us and said, “I am on my way through Pennsylvania. I thought you would like to know that I am in your neighborhood.” He says, “Now, I will wait and see how they react.” This is some of that Beuttler mysticism you know - but it works. “Watch therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord does come.” John 6:60, 66: “Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? …From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with him.” John 6:60, 66 Here the Lord is talking about this highly mystical truth of eating His flesh and drinking His blood. The Lord came with truth that was beyond their comprehension, and they went their way. Can you imagine how He felt? He came to visit them with truth, and they would have none of it. So they went back and walked no more with him. They failed to understand because they were out of sympathy with both Him, and with what He had to say. Did you get this? They failed to understand the spiritual verities (truths) of enormous benefits. It makes all the difference in the world. “And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.” John 20:14 Do you know that it is possible for the Lord to visit us, either collectively or individually, and we fail to recognize Him? Some years ago, we had a weekday chapel. I happened to be chairman. Just as the boy finished his message, I perceived the Lord standing there. I could walk down now and stand within an area of about one foot, and tell you where He was standing. I did not see Him, but I perceived Him. It was so real that I could have walked up and touched Him with my finger and said, “Lord, this is You,” as though a person stood there. Well, a Person did stand there. Obviously, the Lord will not come in this level of presence, just to walk out. There was only one reason that the Lord was coming - to do something. I watched this leader and he said, “Stand and be dismissed.” I said in my heart, “Oh Lord, are we going to walk out on You?” Obviously he did not notice what I noticed. So he went through his prayer and finally said, “In Jesus Name, Amen.” I stood there, put my hand up acknowledging His presence, whatever signal it might mean. I said in my heart, “Lord, I want You to know that if everyone walks out on You, I will not.” When the boy said, “Amen,” I had my eyes closed, but I could hear the rustling and the turning around in the seats. I would not budge, as I was supposed to walk out first. The faculty member was to get off the platform first, and the rest follow. When I did not move, they did not move. I knew that a chapel full of eyes was looking at me, but I stood there, hands up, eyes closed in recognition of Jesus as a Person, being there - I just stood. He was there and I was not going to walk out on Him. Fortunately, the students recognized something must be up. The Lord bless them. I do not know how long it was, but to me it seemed like an eternity because everybody was looking at me. Suddenly, the power of God hit this chapel and we were there until dinner time, and had a powerful move of the Lord’s presence that morning. We almost failed to recognize Him and walk out. That would not have been the first time. It is possible for the Lord to visit us and be in our midst to do something, and often because of prior, or other interests, we would be totally oblivious to what was happening. As a consequence, we let Him stand alone, grieved in heart with a bowed head in disappointment. Mary “knew not that it was Jesus.” He can come and remain unrecognized. I want to chat a bit about His personal visits. I do not think I will share everything, as it is difficult speaking this morning. I am having to push every word uphill. We need a visit as I should not have to push this message uphill. How can a fish swim on dry land? He can be the best fish, but all he can do is wiggle and jump, hoping to somehow get to water. “Lord, visit us with streams of living water, waters to swim in.” “And the Lord appeared to him in the plains of Mamre; and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.” Genesis 18:1 Notice that the Lord paid Abraham a visit. Abraham was not sitting there with clenched teeth and fists saying, “Oh Lord, visit me.” Abraham simply sat there at leisure. I assume his heart was occupied with God. I think in light of some Scriptures that probably he was thinking of a city that had foundations, because this was the aspiration of his life - to move toward that city, the city of God. He was meditating, thinking about God in perfect relaxation, waiting for the heat to pass. All of a sudden three men came. He recognized them as being the Lord. The Lord paid him a visit while he sat in the door of his tent at leisure without strain, without effort, without working, without doing. He just had a heart of anticipation, and was contemplating Him. The Lord visited Abraham when he sat. This tells us that we are in the right position. “And the Lord went His way, as soon as He had left communing with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.” Genesis 18:33 Did you notice this? Apparently Abraham was alone. Nothing else is said, as the Lord just came. Maybe some of you are in the situation found in Matthew 14:25. “But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves; for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.” Matthew 14:24-25 These disciples were in trouble. Is anyone in trouble this morning? So were they. Is anyone in the dark? So were they. Is anyone in rough seas? So were they. Is anybody in fear? So were they. Jesus came to them walking on the sea. Do you notice that the very waters that jeopardized them, which caused them to be filled with fear - those same waters were the very element on which He walked? The very thing which so distressed them became the medium of His approach. He used the waters that shook the disciples so in the boat, yet those very waters were the thing on which He walked to come to them. The very same waters that caused them distress and fear and jeopardized their lives, those waters constituted the very element on which He walked to them. He visited them in the night, in the storm, in turbulence, in fear. The Lord visits His people. “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith to them, Peace be to you.” John 20:19 This is where we are. He came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace.” In verse 20 He identified Himself, “Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.” He came, and He identified Himself. Two more examples are in Luke 24. I will not read the entire passage, but the idea is found in 13-15. These disciples were walking together, talking about the things that had happened – all of the misfortunes that had overtaken them, as they viewed it. Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. Notice that the Lord visited them during a journey, they were not in church. They were just walking along, talking - “It is terrible what happened, as something went wrong. I do not know what we can do.” A man began walking alongside and said, “Hi fellows, what is your problem?” “Haven’t you heard?” He answered, “Heard what?” “Why it’s about this Jesus.” “They put Him to the cross. We thought He was the Christ. Then He died and was buried. He is gone and we are here, left alone.” And they walked along, the disciples and the Lord. They still did not know Him. They came to the place where they lived, and slowed up. Jesus made “as though He was going further.” Can you picture this? He kept walking on while they began to linger behind, because they had arrived. This could happen this morning. They asked, “where are You going?” He did not know where He was going, as He had no place to go, but He did not ask for a room, “I will be staying up yonder.” “Oh no stranger! You come and stay with us, as it is getting dark.” So He abode with them. Why did the Lord act as though He was going further? He was not going to pay them a visit until He knew that they wanted Him. He would have gone right on, but they constrained Him, “You stay with us.” We can let Him go by, but He wants to be constrained. “Why would He go on if He wants to abide,” you might ask. “Because He wants to be wanted,” is the answer. Picture a man and his wife (or anybody) who desire to visit some people they have a liking for. They stop at the house. They say, “We will ring the bell and tell them we are going down to the park to do a little boating. If they invite us in we will stay. We hope they do, so we will try it.” So they ring the bell and the people say, “How are you?,” a little cool. “Where are you going?” “We are on our way to the park to do a little boating.” “It is a nice evening for that, thanks for letting us know, Goodbye.” They do not want you, and are probably relieved that you are going on. But if you stop and they say, “You’re going boating? Oh no, please come on in. We have a pot of coffee ready (or tea, if you are English), and we some cake. Give me your coat and hat, we are glad to see you.” The Lord desires to be wanted. They constrained Him, so He went in, and began to speak to them. Then He took bread, blessed and broke it and their eyes were opened, and they knew Him. “What is man, that You are mindful of him? And the son of man that You visit him?” The Lord visits His people under all kinds of circumstances, and uses the very circumstances they are in as a means of conveying Himself to them. But He wants to be constrained. He wants to be wanted, for if we do not want Him, there are others who do. Prayer Father, we believe that You are knocking. As it is written, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him and sup with him, and he with me.” Father, we pray that within our hearts shall be generated such a yearning, such a cry, such a constraining that You will feel constrained to visit afresh Your people in this place for Your glory. Amen.

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The Lord's Visits to His People

Walter Beuttler

Walter Beuttler (1904 - 1974)

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