Worship Thou Him... So Shall the King Greatly Desire Thy Beauty — Hans R. Waldvogel

Experiencing Christ’s Intimate Presence

Those know the difference who have fallen in love with him. If you've ever been in love, now I have nothing to say about that, but I've watched others. I noticed how they can hold hands for an hour without saying a word.

Had to get after some of them, not any that are here, but ministers, eh? After meeting, they'll take their girlfriend home and then they'll hold hands for an hour or two. I said, now cut it out, go to home.

How can they do that? Just hold hands. Because it's not safe, love. And gaze into my eye and hold my hand. Well, it's love, I guess. Sagan says, there lie my books, books my heart possesses now. The words are sweet that tell thy love, but there comes a time when you don't want to hear any more words.

You want to gaze into his eyes, you want to hold his hand, you want him to hold yours. You want to have that flow of his life. You want your spirit to lift itself into his presence. It's an operation of the Holy Ghost that only the Spirit of God can reveal.

But the wonderful thing is that he reveals it today. Not to the wise and not to the prudent. From them, God has hidden it. But to me, it's a never-ending source of wonderment how simple people like we are enjoy just himself.

And know him, really come to know him personally. Praise God, so that we don't talk about him only and sing about him. But we have himself. Oh, it's a very marvelous thing when God the Father reveals Jesus Christ the Son to the heart of a simple person, a child.

He says to children, to the faint-hearted, to the weary, to the weak. He has revealed it to babes. It's a revelation of which Paul speaks. When he says, I received it not from man, but by revelation of Jesus Christ.

Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Simple and Childlike

And so we begin to understand the song of Solomon where the bride speaks about him looking through the lasses. Haven't you ever had that experience? You have it right now if you're open to him. It is something that is absolutely essential to the experience of being filled with the Holy Ghost.

We used to think when we first came into Pentecost that power was only manifested in great noise or great shakings, great outward manifestations. Those things are nice. You know how babies like to go to mother's pantry and pull off and pull the pans out and begin to beat them together and make a noise.

Well, those pans are valuable. But to a baby they have no other meaning but to make a lot of noise. And to babes in Christ often, they don't realize that there is power until God begins to make a little noise for them.

But after a while, even noise doesn't satisfy. After a while, you want himself to know how precious his bride, the Holy Ghost, says in Psalm 45, He is thy Lord. He, what, what mystery, what power, what information that contains, He is thy Lord.

I'm not controlled by feelings or by words or by doctrines or by religion or by revival or by anything like that. He is when the inward man, the new man begins to function that with him personally, intimately.

Someone handed me a little booklet written by a Jesuit, but that Jesuit certainly knows the Lord. It's entitled, Intimacy and Identification. He tells how that first one that begins seeking the Lord, he begins to manifest himself intimately.

He becomes intimate with us. Oh, that burning heart. We know about it. Isn't your heart burning right now within you? Why, that's Jesus' intimacy. Jesus Christ wanting to get at your heart. This great lover of our souls is not satisfied to have us just talk about him and sing about him, but he wants to see our hearts burning with love for him personally.

That's the intimacy that we often find at the altar service when people weep and laugh, shed tears, and oh, all kinds of drunkenness in the spirit results. It's that intimacy of the great lovership of Jesus Christ, which the world and an outward Christian knows nothing about, absolutely nothing.

Pentecostal Experience and the Awakening of First Love

I remember when first became acquainted with Pentecostal experience, I was a Baptist at that time, and in the Baptist church, a prayer meeting lasted an hour, and then they had to take off time for lunch in between because an hour was terribly long.

I mean, figuratively speaking, of course, the circle. We always knew who was going to pray first and second and third. It was always the same spiel and always left you high and dry, and then I would run away after the meeting was over and run into a Pentecostal church, and soon as I opened that door, that breath of heaven met me, nearly knocked me over.

And just to get into that atmosphere was heaven. You can't explain it. It is something so marvelous. It's Jesus. Jesus was there. Glory to God. He attracted me and quickened me and healed me and anointed me.

Oh, it was the Son of God himself. That's what God says is the first love. It's the awakening of the soul to the wonder of Jesus himself. Jesus, he is thy lordship thou, him, that's the bride of Christ.

She has been awakened by the Holy Ghost to the greatest mystery of eternity, the great bright groom of heaven making love to his bride. Where is this bride? They are not satisfied with a form of godliness, but they want himself.

They seek to know him and the power of his resurrection, and they find him because he's been seeking them. Oh, wonder of wonders. And I like that sentence. He is thy lord. Wherein lies my salvation? Only when he really becomes Lord.

But why do you call me Lord? Do not the things which I say. I suppose you know that scripture. Let me turn to it quickly just to remind us of it. Hearken, O daughter. That is the wonderful thing. You don't need to turn to it.

Hearing the Bridegroom’s Voice

I'll read it to you. Hearken, O daughter. Pay attention, he says. Hearken. That word is strong. It's the heart that has been quickened by the Holy Ghost. The understanding has been quickened by the Spirit of God.

It is different when you hear the word of God, when you hear the bright groom speak. Madame Guyon tells how that when she was awakened to that wonder of Jesus, she went to church and she said she never heard what the preacher said.

She said inwardly Jesus was giving her his wonderful word. He was talking to her heart and her heart was burning within her. Hearken, O daughter. It's a mystery. You can't create it. You can't make it.

You can't give it to anybody. The Holy Spirit alone is that wonderful Eliezer who is seeking a bride for his heavenly Isaac. And he knows who he's dealing with. And when you begin to hearken, I tell you, don't go to sleep.

Bride says, even when I sleep, my heart wakens. My beloved says, call us. Oh, Jesus. Why don't we love you more? Why don't we enter into that lovership? That lovership. You know, when people fall in love, everything is easy.

Men have given their lives for it. They have suffered intensely. Oh, what they haven't paid for. I told you how when I was in the business, a man came and wanted a necklace for his love, his bride or whoever she was, his sweetheart.

And it had to cost a million dollars. He had the money and he wanted to show that girl how much he thought of her. And so it had to cost one million dollars. Men will go crazy for the lovership of their own hearts.

But oh, how Jesus loves. And you think you can satisfy him with words? Do you think you can satisfy Jesus by singing about him and making nice words? Oh, I tell you, you can't. He wants a heart that is ablaze with love for him.

That's why he baptizes you with the Holy Ghost and fire. Oh, he needs hearts that are not only all together his, but that say, Lord had I a thousand hearts to give, they should all be thine. And God has people like that in the world.

He's making them. Glory to God, where he sees a little turning of your soul to God. We read here about the king's doctors. And he says here, there are plenty virgins, but my beloved is Charles. Jesus Christ has got something to say.

Silent Worship and Recognizing Christ’s Presence

And silently he speaks. That's what these silent times come from. Oh, maybe you don't hear anything. Maybe you're bored with it. But somebody else hears the voice of the bridegroom, is quickened by it.

It's changed. I told a number of times an experience I had up in Brant Lake when we had a, or rather in Lake George, where we had a dance hall given to us for meeting place. And one time after a baptismal service, many strangers came and we sat around in the circle and to my great surprise, the power of God came upon that meeting in such silent worship that I couldn't move.

I sat there and I knew that these people were Methodist. They knew nothing about Pentecost. Alongside of me sat a huge husky Methodist woman shaped like the new Jerusalem too. She sat there, fell down, sat there a long time.

And one, the preacher, the Methodist preacher got up and walked out. He didn't understand what was going on. And so I wondered, I thought, well, maybe I better get up and make a little explanation. It was a long time we sat there, just found and held by the power of God.

And as soon as I opened my mouth, this fat Methodist woman said, Peace, be still. That meant more to me than President Eisenhower's farewell speech last night on the radio. Peace, be still. What was it?

Why it was a soul that had entered into lovership with Jesus. And she recognized Jesus. She recognized the presence of Jesus in that wonderful silence that had come over the meeting. I recognized it too, but I was fooled enough to think that Methodists didn't.

We'll be surprised when Jesus comes to find a lot of Pentecostal people spewed out of his mouth. And a lot of Methodists and a lot of Roman Catholics changed into his likeness in a moment in the twinkling of an eye.

Because Jesus Christ doesn't look at your outward manifestation of religion. He looks at the heart. He says, hearken my daughter, hearken. The bridegroom is speaking to your heart. What good is all our preaching?

What good are our conventions? What good are the 35 years of laboring in this place if Jesus Christ doesn't get at the heart of his people and wins the heart of some people? And he's going to win the heart.

Making Jesus Christ First

What happens when he wins the heart? Why, this is what happens, he tells us here. Hearken, O daughter, and consider. Incline thine ear also thine own people and thy father's house. It doesn't mean that you should run away from them, but it means that you should make Jesus Christ first.

And in case they're in your way, hating his own father and mother and his own life also will be inevitable when you hearken to his voice and when his lovership gets hold of your heart. That's what God is after.

I wondered when the Lord had awakened me. He did it through the instrumentality of a number of others, more than one. God somehow made me fall in love with Jesus head over heels. Really, I really believe that I hated my own life also because I nearly died seeking the Lord.

I was foolish. I didn't know how to pray. I did the best I knew how, but I had to take time out from my sleep and my eating to thank God, and I finally landed, nearly landed in the grave. But at any rate, I knew then what the love of Jesus can do.

Glory to God. Glory to God. Many waters cannot quench love. Impossible. And you know, it's the love of God that wants to grip our hearts. The lovership for Jesus alone. Heaven and earth may fade and flee.

Hell, that's the kingdom of God. And when the question came between my most beloved, my father and mother and brothers and sisters and Jesus, I had already decided it, even though it cost me many tears.

But there was absolutely no question as to what I was going to do. Jesus Christ was more to me than heaven and earth. And then I was surprised to find some of these very people that had instructed me and taught me running after things of earth.

Setting the Mind on Heavenly Things

Beloved, he is thy Lord. He is thy Lord. And then he says, and they mind earthly things. It doesn't mean that they join a circus or go to the movies, but to mind earthly things means to mind the things pertaining to this life instead of hearkening diligently to the bridegroom who says, I've come to receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also.

Beloved, we ought to quit talking glibly about the bride of Christ and about the rapture. We really should. We ought to tremble a little bit. We ought to save the right to scarcely be saved. Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

We ought to join the apostle Paul weeping over many who started out, but now their God is their belly. Yeah, but you find that everywhere today. It means earthly things are their God. They control them.

They do. Inevitably. You can't help it until here becomes your Lord. Then heaven is your Lord. Then you mind heavenly things. Then you set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Then your conversation is in heaven.

And then you wait for the coming of Jesus Christ who shall change this vile body. Then you're ready moment by moment to be changed into the same image from glory to glory. Oh God, what a wonderful word.

He is thy Lord. Somebody said a while ago, Jesus is mine. We sang Jesus is my loving Savior. Yes, he is. And that's wonderful. And when you can say, and I am his. He is mine. You know, but that's faith.

Worship, Surrender, and the Lordship of Christ

Worship thou him, for he is your Lord. And when he is my Lord. Now he's talking about the bridegroom. Sarah called Abraham Lord. That's significant. He is thy Lord. What a mystery. Man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife.

And they too shall be one flesh. And the apostle Paul says, this is a great mystery. But I speak concerning Christ and the church. Has he ever stood before your heart's door and knocked and said, I want you.

I want you. No matter what thousands do and millions do. I want you. He is thy Lord. Worship thou him. That's true worship. When your whole being is not only bowed in his presence. But when you come away down so that he really is up.

And he really is Lord. And glory to God. Oh, this Lord is my Lord. It means that all my will has been surrendered and he has taken hold of it. And in place of my will, he has put his will. That's what he means when he says, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.

That will never be until I worship him and recognize that he is my Lord. And there is no more power in me to resist him in the smallest matters. I know that where I know the will of God between myself and him, I will absolutely obey.

Abiding as a Humble Channel for Christ

Because the obedience of Jesus Christ has been given to me through the power of the Holy Ghost. Oh, how wonderful it is. In these weeks, last week, more than a dozen clamoring invitations have come to me from Europe, from Switzerland, from Germany, from China, from South Africa.

Come. We need you. Come quickly. All these doors are open. They leave me absolutely dead. They don't bother me one bit. I have nothing to do. Nothing to bring. I suppose that God will have me obey and fill some of those places and enter some of those doors.

But that's none of my business. I rest absolutely in Jesus Christ as if it never had happened. Glory to God. He does it. When he does it, then he goes before and then things happen. And you know, everything's so different when he does it.

I found that out in my life. Oh, how different when Jesus Christ takes over. And you know, I had to find that out when I was in the jewelry business. That's where God had me in his school. How different when I learned that lesson.

Now, Jesus, whatever I do in word or deed, I do all in the name of Jesus Christ. And I found out how marvelously the Lord could make jewelry. You wouldn't believe it, but he did. How marvelously God...

I told you how my bosses too, the best jewelers in the country were my bosses. And they had worked a half a year to create the flexible watch bracelet. We used to make them. They were worth a fortune.

Fixed with diamonds and rubies and emeralds. And the danger was, these links were soldered together that they would break. And so they wanted to make one out of a solid piece that would be flexible. And they worked for a half an hour and couldn't get it.

Finally, one of them came to me and he said, Get to work, see if you can develop something. And I didn't get to work. As soon as he was gone, I closed my eyes. I said, Jesus, how do you do it? A little Edwin comes around when I've shown the children a trick.

And when the girls are gone, he says, tell me how you do it. I said, Jesus, tell me how you do it. In less than three minutes, I had it. My eyes closed. The only solution. I went to the boss and said, look, this is the way to do that.

Oh, you got it. They immediately spent thousands of dollars to get a patent on this invention. The Lord has made. You'll be surprised. I could have worked a half a year. I could be still at it. And I could feel very important.

Christ’s Glory Rather Than Human Importance

My boss has given me a job. He has trusted me with something. How many people die with their own importance? We often see it in the ministry. They get so inflated. Jesus Christ will never let you feel important.

He'll always let you feel light. Channels only. Channels only. He is thy Lord. Oh, my Lord, I'm so glad that you are the Lord. People go through the world today and talk about authority. They make that a doctrine.

They call it dominion. They have power. I never would want any power since I found out that all power is his. I let him take over. I let him handle me. I let him handle my ministry. I let him handle my life.

I let him handle my mind, my mouth, my eyes, my hands. How wonderful. My body. All I know about divine healing is all that anybody can ever know. Jesus is my life. He is the health of my body. Praise God, because my body belongs to him.

It's purchased with a great price. And I didn't pay the price. He paid the price. Praise God. Oh, just to know that he is my Lord. And he says that when you do that and you bathe and you worship, then the king will greatly desire thy beauty.

Transformation by Beholding Christ’s Beauty

Oh, when Jesus desires your beauty, then you must be beautiful. Not by your own machination, not because you fixed yourself up, but because you see his beauty and meditating and contemplating his beauty.

It is communicated to you. We're changed into that same image as we gaze upon him. That's why we have such quiet times in our meetings. That's why sometimes we come to meetings and they say, why is that a funny minister?

He sits there and does nothing. One woman came from another work and she says, our ministers are on their feet all the time. Well, praise the Lord. If I knew something, I might be on my feet all the time too, but I don't know nothing.

Oh, I know Jesus Christ. And that's life eternal.