My presence will not be taken lightly.

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain (De. 5.11).

The name of the LORD is representative of all He is. Without Jesus having been on the cross, becoming sin for us, the best experience we could have of God's existence would be academic knowledge of His name, which He commanded to be kept holy.

Now, after the cross, after Pentecost, we have the presence of the Holy Ghost. The command is still the same. We, however, realize His presence is, indeed, represented by His name. His presence is not to be taken in vain.

We are called to be taken into His presence. Jesus said, no man cometh unto me, except the Father draw Him. Psalm 65.4: Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts. Having been with Him is the only way the World will hear our message because His Truth cannot be revealed in the flesh. It must be revealed by His Holy Ghost which dwells in His holy temple. Our bodies are His temple. Our flesh resists the Spirit. The only way His Spirit can be recognized is from intimate fellowship with Him.

His Word to us, "My presence will not be taken lightly." We are to become less like the world, that is, transfigured into His likeness from glory to glory, as by the Holy Ghost. Our lives are to be a living sacrifice. Not a blemished offering half devoted to the world and half devoted to Him, an impossibility, yet ever attempted among us.

Our call, as with Moses, is to come near. And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him (Ex. 24. 1,2).

You have been chosen. You are called to come near, to be shut in with God, to shut out the world. It takes time, determination and effort, as Moses had to ascend the mount, giving no concern for time, food and water.

As the presence of the LORD was obvious on Moses, afterwards, so the presence of the Lord will be obvious on us. Beloved, this is up to each of us individually, not for us to expect the pastor and music minister to have it. Tragically, a blemished sacrifice and strange fire before the Lord seems to be all we get anymore.

We come casually into the place designated as His House of Worship. Conversation is seldom of the Lord but of all things other than our Lord. We choose, in our flesh, who we like and dislike. Are we not the temple of the Living God? How can it be that we ignore some, disdain others and love whom we will? It seems the presence of the Lord is not considered or will be considered at 10:00 o'clock, maybe 10:01. I'm pleading with you, beloved, let not our entry to His House be casual. Almighty God will meet with us but we must expect Him to be there and not grieve His Holy Spirit.

Lev. 24. 2: Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually.

By entering into the presence of the Lord daily, we obtain oil (the presence of the Holy Ghost) to tend the lamp (the evidence of the Holy Ghost in the church). Jesus gave us the example: And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed (Mk. 1.35). Luke indicated rising early and departing to a solitary place was His manner. We ought not think we can do what Jesus would not. He received His power for ministry from the Father by departing to a solitary place. Jesus said, "I do nothing but that which the Father giveth me." As temples of the Holy Ghost, we should present nothing in the church, to one another and to the world but that which the Father gives us. By entering the presence of the Lord, we receive that which the Father will give us.