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Waiting
On The Lord
Walter
Beuttler
Comments:
1)
All
scriptures are from the KJV except where noted.
2)
This
message has been transcribed word for word (from Walter
Beuttler’s own teachings)
as accurately as possible (due to the
quality of the recording).
3)
Walter
Beuttler had his own dictionary of favorite words he used throughout
his messages, and they have been transcribed and spelled out accordingly.
4)
Spelling
on certain proper names, airports, hotels, locations, etc. may not
be exact.
5)
Messages
were spoken late 1960’s, early 1970’s.
6)
Walter
Beuttler was a Bible teacher at NBI (a.k.a. EBI,
Eastern Bible Institute)
for 32 years traveling worldwide since early 1950’s until a year
before he went to be with the Lord in 1974.
Now
then this morning, I’ll chat with you about the price tag attached
to entering the King’s College, the School of the Spirit.
The
other evening, if you recall, most of you will I would assume, I
also spoke on the School of the Spirit, and mentioned, as I had
done on a number of occasions when coming to New Zealand, to Auckland,
I had made reference to the need of learning to “wait in the
presence of the Lord.”
Someone
of you wrote me a letter and made reference to a personal experience
of the Lord awakening him during the night, yet him not knowing
what to do, what it was for, assuming it was for prayer.
Well, very often, it is not for prayer at all.
I’m
going to go into this a little bit.
Remember
also what I said - you see I repeat things purposely - that’s how
we learn. I try to speak, that’s my work, to give
help to individuals, so that things that are said in the Lord will
help some people, more or less, all of them, some in particular
in the audience who have personal problems, situations, dealings
of God they cannot understand. I like to give light in those areas.
Of course, I do not know what bothers you, or what problems
you have, but the Lord does.
Now
with this waiting, say the Lord awakens you during the night. Now He might do this in a number of different
ways. One of them might
be a sense of His presence so strong within you, or about you, that
it breaks your sleep, and you have an awareness of the presence
of God. You might simply have, what I would call,
an inner glow, a Spirit of worship, could be a Spirit of prayer,
could be a combination.
Now
when I was teaching in school yet, we had a president who really
loved the Lord. He
was all right, but was very legalistic.
We had a pre-chapel prayer meeting, the faculty did.
One
day he said, “I want every one of the teachers to pray audibly,
first one, then the next, all around in a circle.”
Well
I didn’t and he wanted to know why.
I said, “Brother, usually when I come over to school,
I get a presence of inner worship and intercession, and when I get
that, I must not pray audibly, for if I pray audibly, under that
condition, I tear up the inner presence, I destroy the thing.
I cannot tell you why.
I can only tell you what’s happened.”
And
he said to me, almost nasty, “Oh, I suppose.”
Well
the man obviously didn’t know what I was talking about. But believe you me; especially when the
Lord awakens you, and there are other times when you are awake and
you have that inner glow of His presence, very often it is not for
prayer at all. It may be sometimes, but very often it
is not. It is an inner
presence in your spirit, a worship, a hunger, a thirst, an adoration,
that you simply let go up to the Lord.
You direct it toward Him.
There is an inner, “Praise God, Hallelujah, Oh Jesus.”
You just let that thing go up to the Lord and out of it will
come something that the Lord wants to do for us that we have never
even thought of.
I
related in this church one year (in fact, twice),
when the Lord had sent me to Europe, and I’m not repeating it now,
only making reference to one angle so you will understand. In Germany, the Spirit spoke to me in
words, not audible words though.
The words stood before me like, I didn’t see them to look
at, yet I discerned them before me.
It’s peculiar how the Lord does that.
There
were these words, “Go to Amsterdam on New Year’s Day about the
middle of the afternoon by air.”
Now those of you that remember it might remember I protested;
I didn’t want to go; I finally went.
Some of you might remember how I sat on the plane, British
European Airways, flight to London, and they didn’t take off because
of a fog.
We
went back to the room where they gather the passengers that were
waiting for a flight and I got a great Spirit of worship, intense
worship and intercession combination.
I just sat in a chair (turned out
to be 5 hours),
and all my spirit could do was go up with “Hallelujah,” not
with the words, but on the inside.
I never, never utter the words to my recollection - an inner
“Hallelujah, Hallelujah.”
That went on for hours.
Then
later the Lord brought me in contact with a Mohammed from East Africa
who had been praying for years, “Oh God, if there is a God, show
me the way to true peace.”
Now
I sat there and had that inner presence and worship-intercession
combination that I believe had to do with what was to come. God working out, the Spirit Himself engaged
in worship and intercession to work out an unusual thing that involved
the angel of the Lord visiting me in the airport to bring me back
into the will of God when I had lost it.
You
can sit there in the presence of the Lord with that inner presence
simply directing it to Him, “Hallelujah,” spoken or unspoken. That could go on for an hour, it could
go on for two, it could go on for less.
It gradually might subside, well it will sooner or later,
and vanish. Then what? Go back to bed and have another snooze.
Now
that brings me to Isaiah 30:18:
“And
therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you,
and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you;
for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait
for Him.”
This
morning, you recall, we talked about the tuition, the price tag,
and if you will recall, to break it down into specifics, this involves
obedience, submission, confidence, determination and assurance.
I’ll refer to that and point it out so you can grasp it.
In
Isaiah 50:5-7:
“The
Lord God hath opened my ear and I was not rebellious.” There you have obedience.
“I
gave my back to the smiters.”
There you have submission.
“For
the Lord God will help me.”
There you have confidence.
“I
have set my face like a flint.”
There you have determination.
“I
know that I shall not be ashamed.”
There you have assurance.
Now
these are essential elements:
1)
Obedience
2)
Submission
3)
Confidence
4)
Determination
5)
Assurance
With
the tuition paid, God brings us into the classroom. This is the classroom of waiting, not
experimentation, but waiting.
Referring
again to Isaiah 30:18, “Therefore will the Lord wait.”
God
is a great waiter; that is to say, “God can wait a long time.” The Lord is looking for waiters, “People
who can wait with Him, who can wait for Him, and who can wait on
Him.” There is
a distinction between the three, though there is a fine line only
between them.
Now
look here folkses, when the Lord awakens you, or when the Lord draws
you aside while you are awake (He does that
also),
and you go before the Lord in His presence, you might wonder, “Now
what am I supposed to do?”
Well the first thing we’re supposed to do is to do nothing
and wait. You know, people just don’t understand
this. There’s a reason
why they don’t.
I
attended a camp meeting in the States and they had an altar service. I went to the prayer room, and I had a
wonderful presence. Oh,
the Lord was so real. I
was kneeling there, had my elbows on a railing like, and my hands
under my chin, and my spirit was aglow with the presence of God.
Oh what a presence!
The evangelist came along and said, “Brother, put your
chin up, put your hands up.” And he took my hands and put them
up saying, “You’ll never get anywhere looking down.”
I packed up and went home.
That man didn’t have the least idea of what I enjoy.
We
don’t always have to turn summersaults, break the chairs, rock the
boat and carry on. Oh
people are noisy, especially in the States.
Oh, how they carry on, “Come on, everybody.” Oh, brother! “Now turn around, now shake hands,
now have a march, now go around the place, now shout.” You wonder what those fellows think a
congregation is, a bunch of bellhops or what. I get so fed up with that.
I
had a meeting and the people came to the altar. It’s not always necessary for people to
come to the altar. In
fact, the British say, “The altar service is an American invention,”
and they have something. There’s
a place for it, but they think, “Everybody comes to the altar
or something’s wrong.” Well, it doesn’t mean that at all.
We
had a wonderful meeting and people just came up by themselves. Anyone who would like to spend a little
time with the Lord, you’re free to come.
And a whole bunch came.
We had a wonderful presence, believe you me.
It was such a presence; it seemed vulgar to say, “Hallelujah.”
A
young pianist fellow came along and tried to “rescue” the
meeting, or rescue God. He
got behind the piano and the first thing he did was “rrrrriiiiiippppp.” They were in the upper chamber - “rrrrriiiiippppp.”
They were all of one accord - “rrrrriiiiippppp.” He killed the whole thing dead, and I
asked the congregation to stand and be dismissed. He didn’t rescue God - he buried Him.
When
the Lord awakens me, (He does that)
and I have that presence, I get myself comfortable (you can ask
Wife). Down at the hotel at the South Pacific
the evening before I go to bed, I put two chairs there in a certain
way where I can sit comfortable, put my feet up.
I have a cover there waiting so I can cover myself up a bit
if I’m chilly, get two pillows, get nice and comfortable and then
just sit there in the dark waiting on the Lord.
Those chairs are all ready when I go to bed in case He comes. Or if He doesn’t come and I wake up and
can’t go to sleep, I may just decide, “Now I’ll go and spend
time with the Lord.” Usually
the first thing I do is to do nothing - just sit, waiting on Him,
waiting for Him, waiting with Him.
Look
at these words, “Therefore will the Lord wait.” You know what, “God waits for you and
me to wait for Him.” He
has so few waiters, people that are willing to sit still for once
and keep their mouth shut, and let their spirit and heart go up
to Him in utter silence. Believe you me, folkses, that waiting
period, when nothing seems to happen, is the Lord’s workshop in
which He is doing a work within us that cannot be done in any other
way.
“Therefore
will the Lord wait that He may be gracious unto you.”
He
will do a work of grace. You
might sit there for an hour or two hours and seemingly absolutely
nothing has happened, but don’t you believe it.
That thing can go on for days and weeks, but sooner or later
something is going to eventuate.
You will discover that something is indeed taking place.
Here
I want to turn back again as I did the other night to Isaiah 64:4. I want to add something to what I had
given you then. This
is a marvelous verse you know.
I assume most of you were with me when I touched on this,
but I’ll just restate this briefly.
God
has things in store for those who will learn to wait for Him in
confidence, in faith, in expectation - without strain.
God has things in store for them about which they would never
dream, which they would never hear, which they would never imagine
in their hearts - they simply wouldn’t think of it.
And yet God has such things in store for such people. Here it is:
“For
since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived
by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what
he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.” Isaiah 64:4
I
want to add something here - in the Hebrew it reads, “Who worketh
for Him that hath waited for Him.”
That’s deliciousmous, super deliciousmous! “Who worketh for Him that hath waited
for Him.” In other
words, as we begin to wait, God will begin to work.
Let’s
assume it this way. Suppose
you desire a new thing from God, a new experience. Most of us just go on; we have reached
a certain plateau, or a certain valley, a certain level. We never rise above it; we’re content.
We have reached a certain height and now content to maintain
it, but there is more.
Now
say God has birthed in your heart, even as a result of this week’s
Bible study - it could well be, that the Lord has birthed or put
into your heart a hunger, a thirst:
“I want to enter the school of the Spirit.
I am making myself available to God as a candidate.
I want a new experience from God, a new thing.” You may not know what it is. It’s better not that you find out. It’s not good to dictate to God, but you
have a hunger, you want more of God.
Let’s
say you get up in the middle of the night on your own, not awakened,
but you just get up. You
wake up, “Wow! 3 o’clock, boy, I can’t go back to sleep.” Okay, start waiting. You might as well put in time somewhere.
“Father, I’m now waiting for You to do for me a new thing.
I don’t know what it is, but something new. I want a new experience. Your book says, ‘What he has prepared
for him who waiteth for him.’”
Things are already prepared by God, but they are made available
only to those that do the waiting.
All
right, you spend a half an hour, “Father, a new thing.” And you say no more for half an hour or
an hour, but just let your heart go up with that desire. Once in awhile, to refresh your own mind,
“Father, I’m waiting for a new thing. I want a new experience. I want a deeper knowledge of Yourself
(whatever it
is). Father. Whew! It’s 4 o’clock. Boy am I getting sleepy. Lord, I’m going back to bed.”
And
the next night, “Father, I’m still waiting for a new thing.” Or the next day, it doesn’t have to be
the night, but often that’s the best time for us, depending upon
our circumstances. You
cannot do that indefinitely without something happening.
You cannot carry on like that without something happening
sooner or later.
“Blessed
are all they that wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18
“Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart
of man (wouldn’t come
into man’s imagination),
what God hath prepared for him that waiteth for him” - or “who worketh
for him that hath waiteth for him.”
Isaiah 64:4
As
soon as we begin to wait, God begins to work on our case, and that
thing works as surely as you are sitting here tonight; as surely
as the Book says it works, but there are so few who do the waiting.
Years
ago, I asked the Lord the same thing.
I got such a hunger.
I said, “Father, Oh I want a new thing.”
I said that to the Lord for a long time. I do not remember how long and I spent
time waiting - nothing happened, but don’t be fooled, God’s working.
One
morning I went to church.
There was an utterance in tongues, and when the utterance
was given, I knew instinctively it was for me, and sure enough.
Nobody knew what I had been asking the Lord.
The
pastor came out with the interpretation, “Thou has asked for
a new thing. A new
thing would I do for thee, (see God heard
all right)
but it will call for humiliation, for obedience, it will call
for self-denial, it will call for suffering...” and so it went
on, a whole catalog of things.
When I heard that, I went into reverse.
I backed up. I
said nothing anymore.
Many
years went by. I cannot
tell you how many. I
do not know, but it’s over 20 years, that I know, before a new hunger
came back. I was long in the ministry then. And I started all over again. God brought it to pass - and how.
“Friends,
this works.”
“Therefore
will the Lord wait...” Isaiah 30:18
God
waits for you and me to begin to wait.
And I’m telling you the truth.
I’m not just talking.
I’ve experienced it; I’ve practiced it.
I spend oodles and oodles of hours waiting. I’ve sat before the Lord a whole week
in fasting and prayer, and got nothing, and saw nothing, and felt
nothing, everything was nothing - dead, empty, dead, absolutely
nothing.
Almost
night and day, I lay on the church floor in the summer - it was
cold weather we had - and was so cold, I went out to the ladies’
room and gathered napkins, paper towels and what have you, and came
back and put them over my back, shoved them under my coat to try
and keep warm; and gathered song books and put the song books on
top of my back to make a little blanket out of them.
That’s
how I spent the night waiting, for a whole week. I went over to the house for a few hours
sleep, but most of the night I was on the floor - or walking to
change my position. A
whole week! I had no presence, nothing, dead, empty,
dry, brutal. I wouldn’t
give up. I’d stand
there against the wall, changing positions, and eating nothing all
week. OH, BUT I WANTED SOMETHING FROM GOD!
I
sat near the front. It
was Friday evening around 6:30.
I just sat there still waiting for a week now.
What would you do inside a week?
And all of a sudden the Lord came.
He came from the ceiling at an angle like this, about that
speed, and stood behind the altar railing, full size, dressed in
white. I jumped up from my seat, ran up like,
hurried up, knelt down in front of Him.
He was life size. I
could tell you whether His eyes were blue or brown, but that’s my
secret - I don’t tell everything.
I merely say that to let you know how distinctive it was,
not something fuzzy, but clear as clear could be - just like a person.
And
I knelt down before Him, shut my eyes and put my hands over my face
and that’s the way I was, right down on the carpet leaning forward. Even though my eyes were closed, my hands
covered them up, smack down on the floor, I still saw Him stand
there, full size.
He
looked at me. He never
said a word, but I knew what He said without saying a word. I could read it off His face - 5 words.
I could tell you in five words exactly what He said, but
that’s my secret. I’ve never told anyone.
“Who
worketh for him that hath waiteth for him.” Isaiah 64:4 Hebrew
Now
I would not suggest that any of you say, “All right now, I’m
going to go someplace for a whole week, and I ask the Lord to visit
me. I’ll ask Him to come from the ceiling
and stand there.” You’re
wasting your time. You
might as well go to a restaurant and have your crumpets.
You
cannot tell Him how He is to visit you, or what He is to do for
you, except in a general way, “Lord, I need a new thing.
I’m hungry for you.
Lord I want to enter into this School of the Spirit, the
School of Revelation, the School of the Knowledge of the Lord.”
How He does that is up to the Teacher. You present yourself.
Remember
what I said the other night, “Make yourself available.” Have you?
Make
yourself available, if you want to, before you go to bed, if you’re
interested, “Father, I’m making myself available in case You
want to do something for me.”
I
have a scripture here if I can find it.
I was going to use it this morning and have my tag in there. Oh yes, Psalms 17:3, “Thou hast proved
mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night.” Hallelujah! I’ve got a scripture available.
“Thou hast visited me in the night.”
You
could say before you go to bed, “Lord, I’m not dictating to You,
but I just want to tell you one thing, I sure would love a visit
from you. I’m only going to tell you that I’m available
in case You want to pay me a visit. Lord, I’m interested. I’m available to having You wake me up
or whatever You want. Father,
in case You want to visit me tonight, it will be all right. I’ll be delighted.”
“Thou
hast visited me in the night season.” Psalm 17:3
Now
part of this blessedness we find in I Corinthians 2:9-10. We’ve touched on that a little bit. I’m now adding some to it. I told you the other night, Paul is now
quoting from Isaiah, and I also told you why Paul is changing Isaiah’s
words. I’m not repeating
that.
“But
as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared
for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his
Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things
of God.” I Corinthians 2:9-10
Now
this waiting as used here is a precondition to revelation. In verse 9 you have the waiting for Him
as a yearning lover, not a selfish beggar.
This waiting, this spending time in His presence is a precondition
for revelation. I’m
going to tell you something.
When
I was with you last year, I also stayed down at the South Pacific. That’s a nice place to stay - what lovely
rooms. They’re large
and have a refrigerator. You
can save money by making yourself a little lunch.
That’s what Wife and I do.
We have lunch up in the room.
We buy some food and have lunch to cut expenses.
I
was in that hotel last year getting into real trouble physically,
and I mean real trouble. I
had planned to go to Sydney as soon as I got done with you Sunday
night. On Monday morning I had planned to go
to Sydney to the Oriental Hotel and spend a week in fasting and
prayer. That was part of my plan, but I was up
very early that Monday morning after I had finished with you. I was up early with the Lord. I do not remember whether the Lord had
awakened me or not, but I do remember there was quite a presence,
and the Lord was dealing with me not to go to Sydney.
I
had an argument with the Lord.
I said, “I’ve already booked the hotel, a flight is confirmed,
and besides, I want to go to Sydney.”
I planned to do my fasting and praying there, not in Auckland. There’s one reason for it - more than
one, but one of them - nobody in Sydney would know that I’m there. I didn’t let anybody know.
When
you’re in a city like this with meetings, people find out where
you’re staying, and before long, you have so many visitors you can’t
keep up with them. I can’t engage in counseling. I just can’t do that along with the ministry.
Then you get disturbed, “Oh Brother Beuttler, could I
talk to you. It will only take a couple of minutes.”
By the time you get done a couple of hours are gone.
Those things don’t take a couple of minutes.
So
in Sydney I knew I would be safe - from you. Ha, Ha. Anywhere I would do that. Do you see what I mean? I thrive on solitude. I need to spend time with God undisturbed,
unseen. I knew in Sydney
I’d be safe. Nobody
would know I was there.
But
the Lord dealt with me not to go, and I got almost rambunctious.
I
said, “Lord, the flight’s arranged, the hotel is booked. I’m going to Sydney.” He dealt with me not to go. Ten minutes before I was to leave, I finally
agreed that I would stay in Auckland, and called up the airline
10 minutes ahead of schedule to go to the airport (I took their
bus)
to let them know I wasn’t going.
They thought it was a little late, and I agreed.
They
said, “Will you take our next flight?”
I
said, “No, I’ll take your flight, but I don’t know when I’ll
be going.” So they
went without me. They
got along all right.
It
wasn’t very long before I got into real physical trouble - and I
was in trouble!
What
will I do down in the South Pacific?
I called on this pastor of yours and said, “I’m in trouble.” I told him my trouble, but I won’t tell
you.
He
said, “I’ll be down this afternoon.” Well this afternoon was a long time, but
I didn’t question it. I
needed help. He came
in the afternoon and sat on the bed.
He
said to me, “Brother Beuttler, ever since you called, I’ve been
looking to the Lord about you.”
How he did it, I do not know.
Evidently he held this thing before the Lord.
Whether he shut himself up or went on with his other work,
I don’t know, but he waited on the Lord on my behalf.
He
said to me, “The Lord showed me what’s wrong with you, and we’re
going to pray and by tomorrow morning you’ll be all right.” He said a very short prayer of deliverance
and then he said, “Tomorrow you’ll be all right.” The next morning I was just fine.
“Blessed
are all they that wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18
In
the first place, I had to wait down there in the hotel, and he did
his waiting on my behalf - in what form, I do not know. Was I glad that I had stayed in Auckland.
On whom would I have called in Sydney?
I know people there.
I know preachers there, but I would not have called on one
of them. I knew your
pastor had what it took from the Lord. Sometimes we’re just too much in a hurry.
“Blessed
are all they that wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18
Now
this waiting is a precondition to revelation.
“But
God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; (that’s the
context)
for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” I Corinthians 2:9-10
Friends,
waiting for God is a precondition for God taking us into the depths
of the knowledge of God and the knowledge of His Spirit. We’re told the Spirit searcheth the deep
things of God, and God will disclose these deep things concerning
God to those who wait for Him, who learn to sit in His presence. The crumpets can wait; other things can
wait while we wait for the Lord.
I have spent hours and hours sitting in naked faith knowing
that,
“Blessed
are all they that wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18
Somebody
asked, “What am I supposed to do when the Lord awakens me? Should I pray, should I shout?” No, just sit, keep still. Let the heart go up, as I told you, in
adoration, in worship, in admiration, maybe a breath of praise,
heart going up. It’s
this attitude, which principally counts with the distinct objective
in mind, namely that in some way God will share with me that blessedness
that awaits those who wait for Him. I dare you to try it and keep it up.
So
here is the Spirit that will share with us the deep things of God,
secrets of the knowledge of God, which He does not share with everyone. These things do not lie on the surface,
but of course, there’s a price tag.
Remember we talked about that?
“For
what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which
is in him? Even so
the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” I Corinthians 2:11
In
other words, to those that wait for the Lord, the Spirit of God
will share with them what He knows concerning God; He will disclose
unto us the Father, the depths of the knowledge of God.
Notice
verse 14:
“But
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for
they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned.” I Corinthians 2:14
Those
who are not spiritual consider these things absurd, ridiculous,
foolish. They’ll be mockery, oh yes. People will mock you. They’ll call you a mystic. They’ll call you coo coo, and what-have-you,
but that’s all part of the price.
Jesus
said:
“I
hid not my face from shame and spiting.” Isaiah 50:6
“Neither
can he know them.” - The unspiritual person is incapable of
receiving these things. “Neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
I’ll
tell you something. In
the sitting in the presence of God, God will impart, will cultivate
within us, a spiritual discernment that we can even discern the
mood of the Spirit. I’m not saying, “The Spirit gets moody.”
I don’t mean that. But where we can discern the mood of the
Spirit. We can sense
when He’s grieved; we can sense when He’s agitated; we can sense
when He wants to teach us; we can sense when there’s an utterance
in a meeting or when we should give an utterance.
Through this waiting in the awareness of His presence, our
spirits become sensitized to the Holy Spirit, God imparting to us
an increasing discernment in the things of the Spirit of God, and
they can be ever, ever so sharp.
We
had a revival in our school.
I was put in charge of leading it by the faculty. For that revival, the Lord had given me
a discernment so sharp; I could detect the slightest things in a
meeting. Now I do not have that today; that was
specially given for that occasion because the revival demanded it.
The
president of the school who was with me was sitting on the platform,
but the meeting got to the place where I had to discern the human
spirit from the satanic spirit, the ways of the Spirit, and even
the purposes of Satan. On one occasion I could discern a coming
attack of Satan. I
could discern it. I
stood behind that pulpit on tiptoes.
I expected momentarily an interference by Satan.
I can’t tell you how; all I can say is that I could sense
that Satan was coming to do something to disturb this meeting.
I was on the alert as sharp as could be.
Sure
enough, one of the boys jumped to his feet and gave a false utterance. I was ready for him. I slapped that boy down with a stinging
rebuke. I was ready
for him. It was no mistake, and the move of the
Spirit went on. That
was unusual.
Well
the president sat on the platform, and because of this high sensitivity,
I could sense (how shall I
put that),
the activity of his human spirit.
I caught it and he was sitting about as far away as your
pastor - 10 feet. I said to the president, “Brother,
would you be so good as to get off the platform and sit with the
students?”
He
said, “Why?”
I
said, “Because the proximity of your spirit sends me signals
that interfere with my discerning things that are going on in the
assembly and it makes a problem for me.”
And he was the president!
He
said to me, “Brother Beuttler, I can understand that. It’s perfectly all right.” Then he sat with the students.
I
had such sharp discernment, and that took waiting before the Lord
every night from 2:30 sharp till chapel time at 8:00 a.m. I do not know whether I had breakfast
or not, but I had to get dressed and shaved.
Except for the absolutely necessary things to get ready,
all the time was spent in waiting, simply sitting in the conscious
awareness of His presence.
The
revival lasted ten days, and every morning at 2:30 on the dot, the
Lord would awaken me. I
knew it was time to get up and stay up.
Time passed, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, 6:30, let’s say 7:00.
Then I had to go about, get dressed and get ready for school. It happened every night for ten days.
During those times, the Lord would let me know what He was
going to do in every single meeting, a meeting at a time.
It’s true.
I
would go to chapel and say, “Students, this morning is going
to be washday.” The
Lord was collecting our laundry.
You don’t understand that, do you? He was dealing with things
in the heart that needed cleansing.
Or
I would say in a meeting, “Today is going to be victory day”
or “Today is going to be this day.”
I had a name for every service.
The Lord would give me what to speak on.
He would give me who should sing a solo, and what they should
sing. I had to get the song for them, or request
what to sing. They
were not allowed to choose their own (Normally they
were.). I would get it from the Lord and I would
give it to them. The
Lord even let me know what stanza not to sing, what stanza to skip.
Time
and again the Lord would give me minute details, even in the meetings
where I was to stop and let Him take over the meeting completely. I’d sit down and He’d carry on the meeting
on His own.
In
one place I missed the signal.
I knew where I was to stop doing anything on my own, and
somehow where I was to stop, I messed up and kept talking explaining
to the students what the Lord was doing.
After awhile, our dean of women stood up and gave an utterance
in prophecy, “O that thou would keep silent, then He would speak
for this is His day.” She didn’t know whom it was meant for,
but I knew.
And
I sat down, humiliated. For
two hours I didn’t say, “Boo.”
I said, “Lord, You took the meeting out of my hands. I’ll not touch that meeting no matter
what happens until You give it back again.” He gave me the meeting back after two
hours. You see the
meeting went all morning long, sometimes way into the afternoon. We start at 8:00, usually it went till
dinnertime or later; that’s 4 hours or more. For two hours the Lord carried on in that
meeting. It was marvelous.
Then He gave me back the meeting and I could go on with it.
And
the Lord would share those things during the night.
Honestly
folks, I had a complete program (so to speak)
of what He was going to do.
I think I had what Jesus talked about, “The Father worketh,
and I work hitherto.”
The Father let me know what He was going to do in the meeting,
and all I had to do was cooperate with Him to get His work done.
All this during the night from 2:30 until about 7:00, just
sitting, sitting, waiting, waiting, worshiping on the inside, a
spirit going up in communion, in worship, in adoration, in admiration
hour upon hour, night after night.
Now
this is unusual, but I hope it inspires your heart. Remember what we read this morning?
“He
awakeneth morning by morning,” speaking of Jesus. “He awakeneth my ear to hear as the
learned” - that’s what I had - “morning by morning, night
by night to hear as the learned, to hear as those that are taught.”
And
David said, “Thou visitest me in the night season; therefore
will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you; blessed are
all they that wait for Him.”
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