Maria Woodworth Etters Insight into a Divine Appointment in the Secret Place
“Now the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.”
Exodus 24: 16-17
On the Day of Pentecost, the Lord came to meet with the Children of Israel so that they might become His people. His wondrous glory marked the day. Then on the day of Pentecost, the Church was born. Paul wrote of the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Church:
“How will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious.”
2 Corinthians 3: 8
Maria Woodworth Etter said:
“We read with wonder the supernatural displays of God’s power and glory, but how many comprehend that we, too, may behold them? The people seem to think that these manifestations were for the early followers. We do not find any such teachings in the Word of God.”
We have been invited to come into the Secret Place of His Presence that we might experience the intimacy of fellowship with Him. Further, He calls to us to allow Him to come and invade the Secret Place of our hearts.
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God, and not of us.”
2 Corinthians 4: 7
We have lost sight of His glorious design and desire that we, His Church, might be to the praise of His glory. That we might be living epistles preaching in the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit. Not normal people, but extraordinary people by the abiding of His Presence in and with us.
Etter so wonderfully said:
“Lord, help us to know that our God is the same forever. God would ever dwell with His people. He does not want to live apart from them. His delight and pleasure are to ever be with them. He would walk with them; and wherever the footsteps of God have been among His people, He has left a beautiful pathway of light and glory.”
The Lord calls us to meet His Word in the Secret Place of His Presence, where His glory fills the room and consumes all who draw close. Here His love swallows us up and wrecks us.
“Knowledge puffs us, but love edifies.”
1 Corinthians 8: 1
How many can quote the Word but don’t have an abiding relationship with it that comes and makes them know His love in and through them?
“And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.”
1 Corinthians 8: 2, 3
Many are rich in their opinions and feel the need to tell people their opinions constantly. But it is not a head knowledge that He seeks but an encounter with Him because we love Him. His heart longs for precious holy communion with His people. Will we hear He call us to come aside and encounter Him? We each have a divine appointment with Him today if we will hear His voice.
Etter said:
“In all these exhibitions of His power, the people recognized the Presence of God and gave Him the glory. That there came a time when there was an interruption of communication of God with His people was not due to God’s plan. God has told the people if they would hearken unto His voice, He would give them counsel.
The Holy Spirit, whose name is the Comforter, or the One who calls us to come aside. Yes, we must come aside into the Secret Place even today.
“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.”
Song of Solomon 2: 14
O, may we hear His voice today and come aside. However, the voices of this hour all too often capture our hearts. Etter explained:
“But they apostatized, and God withdrew Himself. God will never dwell with an apostate people, nor will His voice be heard in their midst. God never speaks in the heart where the whispers of Satan are heard. It is only the pure in heart who shall see the manifestations of God.”
In this hour, He is looking for those who walk before Him with a pure heart. We need heart surgery, and we must allow Him to come in and clean the house removing all the leaven.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Matthew 5: 8
Do we recognize the hour and the call of Heaven that those who hold the hope in themselves purify themselves? Etter said:
“We are living in the last days, and the glorious times of the early Pentecost as for us. If, as in the days of Samuel, there could be a return of the ‘open vision’ and the interrupted communication of God with His people restored, the great decline of the power of the Church would be arrested.”
The Church is meant to be a mighty force turning the world upside down. But that will only happen when she individually returns with humble hearts, seeking His face. Here He exposes in us anything that hinders us or hinders Him from moving in and through us.
“Now, there is a reason why we do not see the wonderful displays of God’s power among the people. There is a hindrance. The trouble with the people today is that they believe that this power was for the early Church only, and we have taken the views of our ancestors and abided by them. We have not tested God and met His conditions and seen whether He would pour down His Spirit. We have not met the conditions such as God to display His power.”
He longs for us to come and see His glory so that we might be transformed from one level of glory to another. He wants His glory manifested in our frail earthen vessels so that the world would know the depths of His love. He longs for us to be revived, refreshed, restored, and renewed.
Etter explained:
“The glory of God was withdrawn from the temple because they had abandoned Him. He told them that so long as they would obey His laws He would be with them; but it was because they forsook God that He withdrew His Presence from them.”
Sadly, today many churches need to write “the glory has departed” above their doors. They walk with the form and not the power. The church has become an organization and not a living body. Today, we must come aside and diligently seek His face until we meet with Him. We don’t have anything to give without meeting with His and receiving the blessing. Our words will be natural with no life and power. Our power doesn’t come from our legacy, buildings, political connections, or money. He called us not because we were the greatest but because we were the least so that He would receive the glory. But when we abide individually in the Secret Place and gather together, it is not our size but our God dwelling amongst us Who makes us great.
Etter explained:
“God’s people are in the minority. Wherever God’s people were engaged in warfare, the numbers of the Lord were the smallest. But whenever the battle was fought in the strength of the Lord, then God fought the battles for them and delivered them. God will make the minority victorious when the fight is I the strength of the Lord.”
