His Manifest Presence - Part 4 — Walter Beuttler

Four Ways of Losing God's Presence

I felt that I would like to point out to you and comment a bit on four ways of losing God's presence. I'll enumerate them for you first so you know which way we're going, and then I'll go back to each one.

Loss of Consecration and Samson's Fall

1. Loss of our consecration. Disobedience. Substitution. Neglect. Not suggesting there are not any others, but these are four that we're going to use based on the Word of God. Turning first of all to the book of Judges, chapter 16, I'm going to take verses 2 -4, 16 -20.

2 -4 I'm in error, 4 -5 it is. And it came to pass afterward that he, that he refers to Samson, loved a woman in the valley of Zorak, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her and said unto her, Entice him and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may find him to afflict him, and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.

Now these Philistines obviously valued Samson, otherwise they would not have paid such a mention in order to get at his strength. 16 -20. And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, so that his soul was vexed unto death, that he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head.

17 -21. And Delilah cried unto God from my mother's womb, If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath told me all his heart.

Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand, and she made him sleep upon her knees, and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven knots of his head, and she began to afflict him, and the strength went from him.

And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wished not that the Lord was departed from him.

All of us, I think, know the story of Samson. Notice there, this word enticed him, and got him into a place where the man told her, Now what we have here basically is this, Samson lost the secret of the anointing, consecration.

He had to meet certain conditions, he could not drink wine, he could not eat grapes, he could not eat raisins, not even raisin pie. He had to wax as his hair grew, now in those days that was a reproach, it was the sign of reproach, and the nursemaid had to bear reproach for the Lord's feet.

Upon this man gave away the secret of his power. Now there are things I do not understand. This man traveled with the secret of his power. She said, Samson, the Philistines be upon thee. Then she did it a second time.

She did it a third time. Why that man did not come to his senses, I don't know. Perhaps the man was so overwrought, degraded, beauty, influences of the fact that he saw he was gravitating toward trouble, could not muster sufficient strength.

To get out of that place and run for his life. He played along and playing along he gravitated toward disaster. A year or two ago I watched a movie on television, and the movie was Samson and the Philistines.

It advertised over the years, but I don't go to the movies. But then they showed it on TV and I thought, I'm just going to see what this is all about. I was amazed at the reproduction of the times in those days it was an education for the times in which this story took place.

Well they showed how of course Samson was finally robbed of his power and eventually he was pulling there at this mill and the lords of the Philistines were laughing and drinking, making fun over Samson.

Spiritual Form Without God's Presence

Delilah stood by a pillar and you could tell she was very remorseful after what she had done. And here was the king of the Philistines. Some other kings had come and laughed about Samson and said to this king, and Delilah stood not far away, said to this king, Well, your army has finally been vanquished.

The king said very gravely, Now my army has been wrecked and broken up by Samson. Samson is especially anxious to get at a ministry if he possibly can. Get down and minister to many other people their confidence in him.

A soft drink, I like it very much, made from berries. I was sitting there. A lady walked along and she spotted me because you know an American stands out like a sword and an American is recognized everywhere.

And she walked up and said, How do you do, Mr. American? Fine. I knew right away what was up. Don't you kid yourself, I'm no fool. I knew right away what she was after, but I played along. Fine. How do you like me a visionary?

Are you alone? Now wait a minute, lady. Here is where we stop. I thought maybe you were lonesome and I could keep you company for a night. No, I'm not lonesome and I don't need company. After those things happened.

All the text has stories to tell along these lines, but still it's our consecration. Now our consecration may not be lost just along these lines. There are other lines, but let's look at Samson. Samson stated the secret of his power from him and I noticed he said, I will go out as I said other times before and shake myself.

He shook himself and his shirt was an empty chute. ...formula. ...suggestion at least. ...nearest the presence into the format. ...formulas. ...the power to effect any result. ...the baptism. I was under the power lying on the floor.

You know, we used to have that in Pentecost. I haven't seen that in many years. But I know there were days when the power of God shook people, knocked them off their feet, down on the floor. I've had that many times.

We've had it in school in the earlier days, not recent years. These two ladies worked on me. They wanted to give me the baptism. Well, they had a lot of soup, but nothing in their soup. One pound of my chest.

Bring it up brother, bring it up. ...shy head. ...to be fused. ...took hold of my Adam's apple, began to look for it and squeeze around there. Brother, how is it? Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo. I felt like saying, ...they rubbed me, they massaged me, they did everything.

Finally I was so disgusted I got up and walked away. I don't know, well I know what they were trying to, I don't know what they thought. You know, God might have, in the laying on of hands, with the power of God flowing through our hands, healing people, baptizing people.

And I have seen ministers go through what they used to have, ...and it's an empty Once there was the power, now there is the shape, the form, the format. We can lose the presence, being aware of it.

We will soon lose it, by losing our consecration, the secret. I came to one time in the year 1614. Here I need a little bit more time, perhaps. Here is something tragic. It came to my mind, but I thought I'll bypass it.

Moral Compromise and the Risks of Ministry

A very godly pastor, Brother Buechler, the devil tries to get a ministry whenever he can. He said, I was sitting in my study with the door open toward the street, it was a hot day. A woman came in to get some counseling.

You know, there is a great place for counseling, but counseling sessions can be extremely dangerous. He jumped up, sat on his lap, put her arm around his neck and said, Preacher, I've come to make you fall, how about it?

He said, I shook her off like a snake and chased her out of the house. And he said, Brother Buechler, just think, if somebody had walked past the house with the door open and had seen this at the right moment.

The risks that are in the ministry, it's an unpleasant subject. I wanted to shun it, but I'm not getting away with it. I was walking along a street in Rouen, France. I like to go for walks. Meandering up toward the central railroad station.

She came along and hooked me, you know, my right arm gave me a hold. She could hook. I turned, of course, and knew right away who she was, you understand. I had to pull my arm out, keep walking, and she walked right with me as though we belonged together, my right side.

You never do, you know. I was used every so often. I mean, you get it both ways. That's true. I used an equivalent to our animal. Except once with an Arab boy in Oran, Algeria. A little shoeshine fella that pissed at me, and they're racials.

Don't you get your shoeshine. You take your own shoeshine business with you if you want to know what's good for you. Oh, what's wrong with that? What's wrong? You'll find out. An American got a shoeshine in Cairo, and the fella charged him $5.

Just wouldn't pay. You'd pay all right, and you'd be glad to. Making you pay liquid shoe polish. Took the cap off and sent Mr. American. Give me $5, or have me throw this liquid shoe polish out your nice suit.

It was the only time this didn't work. But there in France, I was concerned. Somebody went by in a car, or a streetcar, and saw us two. Just the right moment, me having one of the street women on my arm, walked in several steps.

That afternoon, I said to the people, I want to tell you what happened to me in your nice city. And I told the whole story, just in case some, let's say, ladies didn't go by in a car and... Did you see it?

We saw him with our very own eyes. Would you believe it? What is this world coming to? To the whole Europe against. Should have told you that before, but I didn't want to. 1 Samuel 16, 14. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.

Disobedience and the Departure of God's Spirit

Now I have to try and satisfy, first of all, you theologians. I mean you students. Now, Brother Buehler, what does that mean, an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him? I'm not bothering with that, but I'm going to give you what I think, so at least your curiosity is appeased for the present.

I think we have here two possible explanations. I'll give you both, and I'll give you the one toward which I lean. You can take that to mean that God deliberately sent an evil spirit to trouble him. Personal feeling is that this spirit did not get at Saul right along.

He was the anointed of the Lord, of the anointed. If this spirit intervened, the spirit of freedom, and in this sense, I think we have these words, an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. Now, we'd be fools to argue over that, but this latter view, I personally prefer to the other.

But now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. It's a terrible thing to lose the presence of God. Now, he lost the presence because of disobedience. Take, for instance, the same book, chapter 13, and verse 13.

And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly. Thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee. For now would the Lord have established thy kingdom for ever. The kingdom shall not continue.

The Lord has sought him a man after his own heart, and so forth. Now, what happened was the disobedience of Saul. One year, the Lord gave me two definitions. One of pride, the other of disobedience. What the Lord gave me for pride was this.

Pride is the deification of self. Deification. And you know that pride is a terrible thing in the sight of God because when we are proud, we are becoming our own deity. And that infringes on the deity of good.

Pride, Humbling, and Obedience

You have read or heard of Madame Gayen, that French mystic, she is called at least, who knew God so well. She was rated as the most beautiful woman in Paris. The men loved to give her a second look. The ladies envied her beauty, and she admired it.

But she was a very spiritual woman, and kept seeking the Lord, and realized that her pride of faith was hindering her in her spiritual development. She asked the Lord to take away her pride, but her pride would not go.

One day she challenged God and said, God, do you mean to tell me that you are not strong enough to take this pride out of my heart? A smallpox. I told her what salve to use to save her face. She says, I'm not using any salve, I'm not saving my face.

God is answering my prayer. She recovered, but her face was full of marks. Her beauty was gone, but so was her pride. She had no more reason to admire herself in the mirror. Pride is a terrible thing, because the revival kept going all the day.

And I came back to chapel, and sat on one end of the, on the girls' side. I came in, just sat over there. One of the girls was sitting at the other end of the row of seats, nobody between us. And she was singing in other tongues, beautiful.

She was, I think, the greatest singer we ever had. Did that girl have a voice? She could sing way up to, I don't know how high you go, let's say way up to K, or someplace. I'm not a musician, I love music.

I know nothing about it. And did she sing? Chapel was quiet, everybody was listening, so was I. Oh, the little girl. And the Lord spoke to me. Call her Susie, and I try not to make a mistake by giving her the real name.

I want you to go over to Susie, and tell her that her singing is an abomination in my sight. Have a good relationship with the students. She has never done anything to me. That's a terrible thing to do.

I want you to go over and tell her that her singing is an abomination in my sight. Did that to that girl. She was one of those nice kids, you know. She'd take cookies from home from her mom, knock at my door.

Come in. Brother Buehler, got some cookies, likes them. Sure, I'll take the whole box. How about it? You know, that kind of a kid. And I should tell her that? The Lord dealt with me. I finally acquiesced, and when I wanted to go over, she was gone.

Oh, I felt bad. I said, Father, forgive me. I'm going to go up to the office, and if you will bring her my way, I will obey. I walked up, and down the hall comes Susie, and we passed outside my office door.

I said, Susie, would you mind stepping in my office a moment? I have something to tell you. And she said so nicely, certainly, Brother Buehler, in such a nice way. Now I felt all the worse if she only had the word, but so accommodating.

We went in, shut the door. She stood here, I stood here. I looked her in the eyes, said nothing. I guess she wondered. I said, Susie, whatever her name was, you know. The Lord wants me to tell you that you singing in chapel is an abomination in His sight.

I said, no more. See as thou lightning had struck her. Feel her sing, Brother Buehler, you of all people. What have I ever done to you? What could I do? Her head came down, and the girl began to weep.

She broke out into terrible sobs that I hear for the rest of my life. Oh, Brother. Her nose started to run, so I gave her my handkerchief. I told her, always have a clean handkerchief. She, too, got wrapped in her, oh, Brother.

And that girl wept her whole body in. I could have put that girl's shoulder, I could have, and said to her, I'm so sorry, but what could I do? But you can't do that, you know. There she was. And then she went, oh, oh, oh, down the hall.

Oh, did the girl start, oh, oh. Favorite singer. She was such a soloist. She was in duets, in triets, in fourets, in fiveets. But every night she was in it. Sang no more. She never told what happened.

Neither did I. Must let her name slip. Sing a solo? No. Why not? I'm not singing anymore. Well, what happened? Don't ask me. That girl refused to sing for about three months. I had chapel service, and the Lord laid upon my heart to ask her to sing a solo.

I looked her up. I said, Susie, I have chapel tomorrow. I'd like you to sing a solo for us. But you said you were asking me? She didn't say that. That's how I felt. She only said, just a bit. School was out.

During the summer, I received a letter from her. Dear Brother Buechler, To thank you for your faithfulness to God and to me. Singing in chapel. Not singing for the glory of the Lord. I was singing to have folk admire my voice.

She said, I knew everybody was listening in admiration while I enjoyed their admiration. She said, for some time pride had begun to build up in my heart, and I sang for my own glory. That made me realize the state I was in.

God humbled me. Took the pride out of my heart. Went to the radio station. Asked them to cut for you a 12-inch record on which I'm singing for you your favorite hymns. Dear, grateful student, Susie. She came back next year, and she was used again in singing, but her pride was good.

For obedience of disobedience. And I almost disobeyed the Lord. Who wants to treat a student that way? And yet, what are you going to do? I want to go to the fourth one. In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2, verses 42 to 46.

Neglecting the Presence of Christ

Now you understand we're dealing here with the principle. He, that is Jesus, was 12 years old. They went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus carried behind in Jerusalem.

And Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey. And they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.

And it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors and so forth. Now here you have a strange situation. The most unlikely parents, the parents of Jesus, lost the most unlikely son, the Son of God.

In the most unlikely place, the temple, likely day, their greatest day, their greatest religious holiday, the day of atonement. The most unlikely people, the most unlikely son, in the most unlikely place.

How come? They did not want to lose their son. They loved their son, but there is only one answer. Neglect. So preoccupied with meeting friends, with a holiday season, they noticed his absence, but weren't worried.

They supposed him to be in the company, but he wasn't. It was a religious holiday. And you think on a religious holiday, lose their son, but they did. That's what happened to me in Bible school. I was in Bible school in 1927, and we had four weeks of special meetings with Macalester.

Four weeks of special meetings. The school was connected with the church. And we students were asked to attend classes, do our assignments, be in every service every night, and be in the order of dealing with people.

If I could have told that fact...