The “Abiding
Presence” of Christ
By Robert Roach
(Part 2)
Over
my lifetime I have experienced on numerous occasions the “Manifest Presence of God.” These times are very
special to me, and I can vividly remember them to this day! I have been extremely blessed by my Lord in this area of my walk
with Him! These times have caused within me a hunger to experience more, and more, of Christ in my life!
If
you have ever experienced the “Manifest Presence of God,” you whereof I speak. Can you imagine what it would be
like; to experience, day after day, the “Manifest presence of Christ?” Jesus made a promise to us; a promise which
He has kept: But, all too often we forget what He said, and we fill our lives and our hearts with other things! (There are
other “presences” which lay hold upon us.) Near the end of His time with them, Jesus said to His disciples: “Instruct
them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up
to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20, MSG). Jesus has promised to be with us every day of our lives! Does this mean
that He is somewhere in the background, lingering around, out of sight?
In
the late 1960’s, I had the privilege of being taught by Brother Walter Beuttler; a privilege that extended beyond the
classroom and into His home. He discipled me in the miraculous, and in the understanding of the “Presence of God.”
The first time I visited Walter’s home was an experience I will never forget. I was instructed to arrive at 5:30 in
the morning, and was told to enter through the side door into the kitchen area. As I arrived in the dark, I saw the kitchen
light on. I went to the side door, knocked, and I heard him bid me enter.
Upon
entering the house, I was overwhelmed by the “Presence of Christ.” I could hardly move: The weight of the Presence
of the Lord was not heavy, yet it caused me to want to fall on my face before the Lord! I could see Walter at the table with
two empty coffee cups. Walter smiled, and told me he had just finished having a cup of coffee with Jesus! To some this may
seem out of place (even incomprehensible), but to me it was an introduction into the “Abiding Presence of Christ.”
Every time I thereafter set foot into Walter’s home, I was greeted by this “Abiding Presence of Christ.”
His presence was tangible, real; and we knew, that we knew, that indeed, Christ was present!
In
Walter’s classroom, I was to experience some of the most awesome miracles I ever witnessed! The “Manifest
Presence of God” came, and the Glory of the Lord was manifested! But day after day, as I entered into Walters’
home, I was greeted with the “Abiding Presence of Christ.” “Christ’s Abiding Presence”
was intense, personal, loving and intimate; it was a presence that penetrated deep within the spirit. Walter introduced to
me a Jesus which I had never known; a Jesus who wanted to manifest Himself to me every day! Jesus wanted me to
have an abiding, ongoing walk with Him, in His presence!
Walter
taught me the difference between the “Manifest Presence of Christ,” and the “Abiding Presence of Christ.”
I love and long to be in the presence of Christ! We do not have to wait until we die to experience the reality of His
presence. The times that Jesus manifests Himself to the Church are awesome and needed! They are times that bring renewal,
and often revival! They are also times that the “religious man” attempts to imitate and duplicate. The “Abiding
Presence of Christ” cannot be imitated or duplicated! Christ chooses where He will abide! He will not move-in where
He is not welcomed, or where there is sin abiding.
In
1 John 4:13, we read this: “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”
Many years have passed since my time with Walter, but the hunger for the “Abiding Presence” of Christ has not
diminished! I have found in my walk in the Spirit, only a few places where I can honestly say that I have experienced the
“Abiding Presence of Christ.” The duties and pressures of ministry, often rob from me the “Abiding Presence
of Christ,” which I so love and desire. When I become aware that I have lost, and missed His Presence, I return to my
“First Love!” He is there: After all, He did promise that His “Abiding Presence” would be there awaiting
me (and everyone of you).
It
is my desire for all of you to experience both the “Manifest and the Abiding Presence of Christ.” I sincerely
believe that if we live every day, in the “Abiding Presence of Christ,” we will experience more, and more,
of the “Manifest Presence of Christ” in our meetings! What I experienced in Walter’s classroom was
the fruit of what was manifested in His home and life” “The Abiding Presence of Christ.”
[Brother
Walter Beuttler was for many years what many believe to have been one of the greatest Teaching Ministries of the Twentieth
Century. It was his privilege to serve faithfully, for many years, upon the faculty of the Northeastern Bible Institute (Assemblies
of God) at Green Lane, Pennsylvania.]
