Maria Woodworth Etter- To See the Lord our God in the Secret Place

Jesus said-

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Matthew 5: 8

There is something about purity that each one of us knows its worth deep inside of us, and the enemy hates it. In this fallen world, purity is lost and belittled, yet our inner being longs for it.

If we look at Exodus chapter nineteen, we see how God wanted to come and have an encounter with His children at Mount Sinai. He told Moses-

“Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments, and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.”

Exodus 19: 10-11

Here we can see a prophetic statement regarding this hour and His gathering us together unto Him. We know He is coming back for a Church without spot or wrinkle. He is looking for a pure Bride. When the Children of Israel were looking at animals for the sacrifice, they had to find one without blemish. Maria Woodworth Etter explained-

In the nineteenth chapter [of Exodus], God came again in the bright cloud. In the fourteenth verse, Moses came down from the mountain and the people washed their clothing. This was the emblem of purity. This was the sign of the inward cleansing. We must be sure we have a pure heart. We can never expect to have these visible manifestations of God unless we are children of God. The people were in a condition to meet God—clean bodies, clean garments. God help us to get the cleansing power.

Jesus presented Himself at the Temple in those final days before becoming Our Passover Lamb. He showed Himself as pure, without spot or wrinkle. He set the standard for true purity. Etter added-

God wants you to be pure and holy, filled with the Holy Ghost; but the devil is right here, too, and if you do not know the difference you will be listening to him. He comes sometimes as an angel of light. One word in the Garden of Eden upset the world; the little word “not.”

It is critical that we abide in the Secret Place of His Presence, being transformed daily. Many feel the stress and pressure to be pure, and one can’t, by their own doing, become pure.

We are purified by His blood and cleansed by His Word.

“You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken.”

John 15: 3

The Greek word for “clean” here is ‘katharos’ meaning to be pure or clean. His Word must be the foundation of our lives in these Last Days. Etter explained-

When God talks to you, the message agrees with the written Word. The Holy Ghost never says anything that doesn’t correspond with the Word. A message that comes from heaven must correspond with the Word; if otherwise, do not accept it.

The Lord declared His Word finished, completed, and perfect. His Word is life, and as we abide in His Word in the Secret Place, it purifies us. In the Secret Place, we surrender all and yield as we experience the depths of His heart. We discover the true power and beauty of His purifying Word. We also discover how the enemy seeks to hinder, steal and destroy the Word from working in our lives.

Etter said-

The Church will soon leave this world in a cloud of glory. God is calling out a people for a prepared place and preparing a people in the Church of the living God to finish up His work. She must be a glorious Church, pure and white, and clothed with the power of Almighty God: a prepared people; a peculiar nation; a called out nation, from all the nations of the earth; a separate nation; a holy priesthood; children of the living God—God’s sons and daughters.

This impossible task to us is not impossible to Him, and as we abide in Him in the Secret Place, His Word has a free course to transform us. Further, the purity He brings us into is His standard of purity. By the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we are brought to the place that as He is, so too are we in this world.

But in this hour when so many are being offended and falling away, He calls to us to abide in the Secret Place. Etter said

God is asking us that question, “Will you also go away?” Is the way too hard? Is the price too great? Make up your mind you will stand on the rock. And if the whole world should leave, you will stand firm because Christ is and will be sufficient. We are going to be tested as never before. It is going to be harder every day, even among the people of God if only because so many false teachers are coming in. It is a day of delusion—all kinds of delusions are coming. Keep under the blood, keep white, keep holy, keep pure, and God will give us wisdom. Glory to God!

Will we choose in our secret time in this late hour to pursue Him, or is the noise and deceitfulness of the hour capturing our attention?

Many feel led to preach an inspirational message and brain-tissue revelation. But if we are to impact people, it must be by the Holy Spirit. If we are to preach a pure Word that impacts others, then the pure Word must impact us first. Etter said

God is asking us that question, “Will you also go away?” Is the way too hard? Is the price too great? Make up your mind you will stand on the rock. And if the whole world should leave, you will stand firm because Christ is and will be sufficient. We are going to be tested as never before. It is going to be harder every day, even among the people of God if only because so many false teachers are coming in. It is a day of delusion—all kinds of delusions are coming. Keep under the blood, keep white, keep holy, keep pure, and God will give us wisdom. Glory to God!

As we study revivals of the past, the power of purity is underlined, and it is often the missing ingredient today. Many believers fail to experience the beauty and power of seeing the Lord God in the Secret Place because so few preach the pure Word. Etter explained-

The question has been asked, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?” The answer is, “He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart. “The pure in heart shall see God.”

In these Last Days, may we impact and see the lives of our families, friends, and neighbors transformed by the Gospel. But for those who have tried and failed, the question arises, “how?” There is power in purity. Purity brings confidence and boldness before the Lord God. Etter said